Chasing a late invoice at an architecture firm: a reminder schedule and five email templates
Four touchpoints (a week before the due date, the due date, 7 days late, 14 days late), five copy-paste emails, and a way to automate the reminders without anything being sent unreviewed.
Chasing money is awkward, so it gets done late. Emily Rae, Finance Partner at Fletcher Priest Architects, told the RIBA Journal that payment deadlines "are often missed because the invoice is stuck in the system, or has gone missing", and that "there isn't usually anything sinister about a delay". Most of the work is a calm, early, regular conversation. The schedule and templates below make that conversation routine.
The first invoice is the hardest to get paid, and most late payments are decided here. Two sources agree on what to settle early:
The AIA's Getting paid guide says to define payment with the client at the start: who reviews and approves the invoice, the best date for the client to receive it, any special information or format required, and how long it takes from receipt of invoice to payment.
Rae recommends agreeing payment terms and a schedule of regular payments (she calls 30 days normal), and asking before the first invoice whether it must go to a particular person or department, or carry a purchase order number. She also warns against tying payments to the completion of work stages, which can mean months without payment.
The reminder schedule
The cadence below is our suggestion. The sources support the pieces: a call a week before the due date (RIBA), phone calls over emails with a follow-up email to confirm what was agreed (RIBA), and staying in conversation and finding out why before any contractual step (AIA). They do not prescribe these exact days.
When
How
What it does
Template
7 days before the due date
Call, or email
Confirms the invoice reached the right person and nothing is missing.
1
On the due date
Email, only if unpaid
A short, friendly notice with the payment details.
2
7 days late
Email, then a call that week
Asks where it stands and when to expect payment.
3
14 days late
Email, then a call
Asks for a payment date and points to the agreed terms.
4
After any call
Email, same day
Puts what was agreed in writing.
5
Stop the schedule the moment the invoice is paid. If the client disputes the invoice, stop it too and have a conversation instead: the RIBA article notes that a notifiable dispute "calls for a very different process".
Five email templates
Replace everything in [square brackets], read the result, and send it from your own address. Keep the tone you would use on a call. If the invoice is not from a US firm, change the wording to fit your contract and your country.
1. A week before the due date
When: 7 days before due. A phone call works better; use this email if you cannot reach them.
Subject: Invoice [number] for [project], due [due date]
Hi [first name],
A quick check ahead of the due date. Invoice [number] for [project] ([amount]) is due on [due date].
Could you confirm that it has reached the right person, and that you have everything you need to process it (purchase order number, supplier form, approval)? If anything is missing, tell me and I will send it today.
Thank you,
[your name]
[firm name]
2. On the due date
When: Day of due date, only if payment has not arrived.
Subject: Invoice [number] is due today
Hi [first name],
Invoice [number] for [project] ([amount]) is due today, [due date]. The payment details are on the invoice, and I have attached a copy.
If payment is already on its way, thank you, and please ignore this note. If you have a question about the invoice, call me on [your number] and we will sort it out.
[your name]
[firm name]
3. Seven days late
When: 7 days after the due date. Follow the email with a call the same week.
Subject: Invoice [number], 7 days past due
Hi [first name],
Invoice [number] for [project] ([amount]) was due on [due date], and we have not yet received payment. Could you tell me where it stands in your approval process, and when we can expect payment?
I have attached the invoice again. If something is holding it up, such as a missing document or a question about the amount, tell me and I will resolve it this week.
[your name]
[firm name]
4. Fourteen days late
When: 14 days after the due date. Send it, then phone.
Subject: Invoice [number], 14 days past due: payment date needed
Hi [first name],
Invoice [number] for [project] ([amount]) is now 14 days past its due date of [due date]. I would like to agree a payment date with you. Could you reply with the date by [reply-by date]?
Our agreement ([section reference]) sets payment at [payment terms]. I would like to keep the project moving, so I will call you on [day] to agree the date.
[your name]
[firm name]
5. After a phone call
When: The same day as any call about the invoice, so the agreement is on record.
Subject: Following our call: invoice [number]
Hi [first name],
Thank you for the call today. To confirm what we agreed:
- Invoice [number] for [amount] will be paid on [date] by [payment method].
- [Open question: who will answer it, and by when.]
If I have anything wrong, please tell me. I will check on [date].
[your name]
[firm name]
After 14 days
The templates stop where the contract starts. The AIA's guide lists the options once conversation has not worked: make deliverables contingent on payment, find out why the client is not paying, charge interest (after reviewing the contract), agree different payment terms, withhold services as a later step (it advises including that right in the contract, being direct about it and, where needed, telling the client in writing), hold other approvals, and, further on, a lien or legal remedy, which vary by state and have time limits. RIBA's standard contract includes the right to suspend services if payments are withheld, and Rae mentions a formal letter before action as a possible first step. Read your own contract, and speak to a lawyer before taking any of these steps. This guide does not give legal advice.
Automating the reminders without sending anything unreviewed
The schedule is mechanical, which makes it a good fit for automation. The aim is to remove the remembering, not the judgment.
What the automation does
Reads an invoice log (a Google Sheet works) with one row per invoice: number, client, contact, project, amount, issue date, due date, status, and a notes column.
Each morning, finds invoices that are 7 days before due, due today, 7 days late or 14 days late, and are not marked Paid or Disputed.
Writes the matching template, filled in with the invoice details, as a draft in the email account of the person who owns the client relationship.
Posts a short list to that person ("three drafts waiting") so none is forgotten.
What it never does
It never sends. A person opens the draft, reads it, changes it if the situation calls for it, and sends it.
It never contacts a client who is marked Disputed, or any invoice marked Paid.
It never promises a date, quotes interest or mentions pausing work. Those lines stay as placeholders for a person to complete after checking the contract.
The sheet that drives it
With the due date in column G and the status in column H, a "days overdue" helper in column I is:
A value of -7 means the invoice is due in a week, 0 means due today, and 7 and 14 mean the two late reminders. A second helper maps the number to a template:
Anyone can build this in a spreadsheet and a mail drafts folder. If you would rather not build and maintain it, this is the kind of system the Admin Map identifies and the Rescue installs inside your own tools. To have an AI assistant draft a one-off reminder from an invoice, there is a "payment reminder" prompt in the Admin Prompt Pack: 25 free AI prompts for architecture firms. To see what late payment looks like in your firm's numbers, the guide to firm financial ratios covers days of fees in accounts receivable (DSO).
Sources
AIA Best Practices, Getting paid (what to agree up front, and the options when payment is not coming).
Archon & Partners