Last Updated January 29, 2026
Business owners often only get paid when their clients pay, which can be inconvenient due to long payment terms, past due invoices, and forgetful clients.
If you’re finding that your invoices aren’t getting paid on time, you’re not alone. One Quickbooks study showed that 56% of small business owners are owned money from unpaid invoices, and on average, these businesses were owned $17,500 each. A separate Xero study revealed that small businesses get paid, on average, 9.1 days later than the agreed deadline.
Unfortunately, drafting a past due invoice email can be awkward. Nobody likes to be in the position where you’re owed money and have to send a payment request email.
Below are some polite past due invoice reminder email templates for business owners trying to figure out how to professionally ask for payment in a message, whether the customers are just a few days late, two weeks late, or 30 days late.
Key Takeaways
- Late payments can hurt business growth with 89% of business owners reporting delays that impact cash flow.
- On average, small businesses get paid eight days after the agreed deadline, making timely invoicing critical.
- Use polite and professional email payment reminders to accelerate customer payment. Send a friendly nudge before the invoice due date, then follow up with firmer messages if the payment becomes overdue.
- Include key details to get faster payments by listing the invoice number, payment link, and your business name in the subject line so clients can act quickly and avoid confusion.
- Protect your business from chronic late payers by using a clear payment policy, applying late fees when necessary, and outlining next steps once an invoice reaches 30 days past due.
Tips for Asking for Payment Professionally
For many small business owners, asking for payment, especially past due payment, can feel uncomfortable. There’s often a fear of sounding pushy, straining a client relationship, or appearing unprofessional, but in reality, requesting payment clearly and politely is not only acceptable but a core part of running a business.
Below are some tips to keep in mind when asking for payment professionally in a message:
- Use friendly, neutral language
- Make it easy for the client to pay by offering multiple payment options and including direct links and helpful instructions in your message
- Use “we” instead of “you” to sound less confrontational
- For example: “We noticed an outstanding balance.” vs. “You haven’t paid.”
- Offer help if there is an issue
- For example: “Please reach out if you run into any issues when submitting payment.”
- Avoid over-apologizing
- Assume good intent first to avoid being accusatory
- If needed, escalate your tone to be more firm and formal but still polite
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Polite Email and Text Message Templates Asking for Payment
To help business owners more easily ask for payment and follow up on past due invoices, we’ve created some email and text message templates below.
Polite Email Template Requesting Payment for Approaching Due Date
If a due date is approaching and you want to get ahead of any problem in the first place, you may want to ping your client with a polite email reminder that the due date is quickly coming. Prior to sending, consider using an invoice due date calculator to ensure you have the correct due date and are not mistakenly reaching out to your client about a late payment.
Remember to include the invoice number and your business name on the subject line of the email. This will help prevent your customer from overlooking your email and give them less of an excuse to fail to meet payment terms.
Here is an example of a payment request email:
Polite Text Message Template Requesting Past Due Payment
If you communicate with your client via text message, the following template can be used to casually remind them that their invoice is overdue without sounding accusatory or pushy.
Polite Email Template Requesting Payment for an Overdue Invoice
If the due date has come and gone and there’s still no payment to be accounted for, it’s time to send them another reminder while staying polite, professional, and objective.
You could send this email as a follow-up request for payment on the previous email thread to help them connect the dots. Or, you may choose to send it separately with a different subject line to help differentiate the email in their inbox.
Here’s a payment request email template for politely reminding your customer that their invoice is overdue:
Professional Email Template Requesting Payment for an Invoice Two Weeks Overdue
Once an invoice is two weeks late, there’s a good chance they have seen both of your previous emails and have chosen to ignore them or have not prioritized them as they should.
It’s time to take a more stern approach while staying professional and grounded. However, the client needs to know that you are serious about collecting your payment and what consequences (both financial and legal) will occur if you don’t receive the compensation promptly.
Use this two weeks past due invoice email template:
Professional Email Template Requesting Payment for an Invoice 30 Days Overdue
When an invoice is a month late, it’s time to add some consequences to their late payment to encourage an on time payment next time (if there is a next time).
Use this payment request email template to follow up on a very overdue invoice and add details where needed:
In-Summary: How to Ask for Payment Politely and Professionally
It’s never fun when a customer doesn’t pay according to your payment terms, and you’re sent chasing after them and your money. Remember the following when sending your customer a past due invoice email or using one of our email templates:
- Include the invoice number in the subject line
- Include your business name in the subject line
- Offer and include the link to a simple payment method in the body
- Remain polite and professional yet straightforward
- Let them know that if they have any questions or problems that they should promptly reach out
And if you’ve followed up with your client several times without getting paid, check out our article on what to do when a client doesn’t pay.
How to Politely Ask for Payment FAQs
What is another way of saying ‘bring it to your attention’ politely?
You have a few options when deciding how to word “bring it to your attention” in a payment request or past due invoice email:
- ‘Bring to your notice’
- ‘It’s important to mention’
- ‘Bring to your consideration’
- ‘I’d like to highlight’
How do you say ‘I know you are busy’ politely in an email?
If you’ve emailed someone and they haven’t gotten back in a timely manner, they may very well be busy and have put off responding until later. However, if the request is urgent, you can politely say:
- ‘I’m sure you have many things going on…’
- ‘I know you might be swamped with work…’
- ‘I’m aware that your schedule might be busy nowadays…’
- ‘I understand you typically have a lot on your plate…’
Further, you can follow-up these potential ways to politely note that someone is busy by offering to help them, such as, “if there’s any way I can assist, please let me know.”
How do you politely make it clear an email is urgent?
To politely let someone know a reply to an email is urgent, you can consider using the following phrases:
- ‘I would be very appreciative if you could prioritize this’
- ‘I’m sorry to rush you, but…’
- ‘Getting back to this as quickly as you can would be greatly appreciated’
- ‘If there’s anything I can help you with to accelerate this process, please let me know’
How do you send a gentle payment reminder?
When initially reminding a customer about a past due payment, be sure to start your email by greeting your client to create a friendly tone. Throughout the email, remain polite and professional, and include a call to action (preferably with a link to where they can pay) to make it clear as to why you are contacting them. You can end your email with a classic sign off, such as ‘sincerely’ or ‘best’ to maintain the professional tone.
If the payment is only a few days past due, then you can avoid being stern with your client; however, once the payment because more than a month overdue, you may want to consider being a bit more direct when sending your follow up email.
How do you use ChatGPT to write emails?
If you’re struggling with figuring out how to make an email sound polite or you simply want to save time, you can go to ChatGPT’s website, type in your prompt in the search bar (explain what you want the email to sound like include), and ask it to write the email for you.
Grey was previously the Director of Marketing for altLINE by The Southern Bank. With 10 years’ experience in digital marketing, content creation and small business operations, he helped businesses find the information they needed to make informed decisions about invoice factoring and A/R financing.
