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How to customise overdue reminder schedules
The built-in overdue reminders send at fixed intervals (0, 3, and 7 days after the due date) and cannot be changed from settings. If you need different timing, like reminders at 5, 14, and 30 days, you can build a custom schedule using automations.
- Turn off built-in reminders. Go to Settings > Financials, scroll to the Invoicing preferences section, and disable the Auto send a reminder email for overdue invoices toggle. This prevents the default 0/3/7-day emails from going out alongside your custom ones.
- Create a new automation. Go to Automations and create an automation. Pick Invoice as the entity, then choose the date-based trigger labelled When Invoice date is approaching.
- Configure the timing. In the trigger settings, set Date field to Due date, set When to trigger to After the date, then use How far and Time unit to enter the offset (for example 3 and Days to send the reminder three days after the due date passes). The offset accepts hours or days, up to a maximum of 30 days, so reminders further than 30 days after the due date cannot be built with this trigger.
- Add a condition. Add a Condition step that checks whether the invoice status is still overdue. This prevents reminders from going out if the client has already paid.
- Add a send email action. Add an Email action after the condition. Set the recipients to the invoice contact, write a subject line, and compose the body. Smart fields can pull in the invoice name, number, amount, due date, and payment link automatically so the email stays personalised without manual editing.
- Create additional automations for each interval. Repeat the steps above for every reminder you want (for example, one at 3 days, another at 7, another at 14, and a final one at 30 days after the due date). Each automation runs independently and checks the invoice status before sending, so reminders stop automatically once the invoice is paid.
Customising the email at each stage
Each automation has its own email template, so the tone can change as the overdue period grows. An early reminder might be a gentle nudge, while a 30-day reminder can be more direct. The subject line, body text, and smart fields are all editable per automation, giving full control over what the client reads at every stage of the follow-up sequence.
Example schedule
A typical four-stage reminder schedule might look like this: a first reminder 3 days after the due date, a second follow-up at 7 days, a firmer reminder at 14 days, and a final notice at 30 days. You can create as many or as few automations as you need, each one runs independently based on the due date, so there is no dependency between them.
