Free template · late payment email

The late payment email that actually gets you paid

Invoice is 14 days past due. You've sent one friendly nudge. Silence.

The email

Subject: Invoice #[NUMBER] — payment status

Hi [NAME],

Invoice #[NUMBER] for [AMOUNT] was due on [DATE] and is now 14 days
past due.

I need it settled by [DEADLINE]. Link: [LINK]

If something has changed on your end — budget frozen, approval stuck,
invoice never reached accounts, or you need something from me to get it
processed — tell me and we'll work it out. I'd rather know than keep
sending these.

If it's already been paid, forward me the remittance and I'll close
it off.

[YOU]

Replace everything in [BRACKETS] before you send it. A stray [NAME] is the most expensive typo in freelancing.

Why it works

No apology, so nothing signals that asking to be paid is an imposition. One specific deadline, so there is a thing to be late for rather than a mood to manage. And an open door that makes it easy for them to tell you the real reason — because the real reason is nearly always a frozen budget or a stuck approval, and neither gets solved by another nudge.

What most people send instead

"Just circling back — no rush, whenever you get a chance!" This fails because it gives them permission to keep ignoring you. It is also the same email as day three, and the day-three email has already been tried. If a gentle nudge were going to work here it would have worked the first time; what is left is either a date or a decision.