How to ask a client for payment when an invoice is late

Ask for a late payment in steps, on dates you set before the invoice is ever late: a friendly reminder the day after the due date, a direct follow-up at a week, a phone call at two weeks (with the late fee, if your contract sets one) and a final notice at a month that says exactly what happens next. Check the invoice before the first message, keep every message short and factual, and never threaten a step you won’t take or can’t lawfully take. If the client still doesn’t pay, a US freelancer has real options, from New York’s and Illinois’s freelance-payment laws to small claims court.

Check the invoice before you chase it

A late invoice may be stuck rather than refused. Before you write the word “overdue”, check that nothing on your side is holding it up:

1. It went to the person who pays. The person who approved the work may not be the one who runs payments. If you don’t know who handles invoices, ask your contact.
2. It has what their accounts team needs: their purchase-order number if they gave you one, their company’s legal name and your own details. A US client may need your Form W-9 on file before it can pay a new supplier.
3. The numbers match the agreement: the fee from the proposal, the deposit taken off, the payment terms from your contract.
4. The due date has really passed. Net 30 usually counts from the invoice date, unless your terms say otherwise.
5. Paying is easy: a payment link that works and bank details that are right.

If something was missing, fix it and resend the invoice. From here on, keep a dated record of every message and call; you’ll want it if you get as far as a complaint or a court.

The day after the due date: a friendly reminder

Assume the invoice was missed, not refused. The first reminder is short and warm, and it carries everything the client needs to pay in one go: the invoice again, the amount, the due date and the way to pay.

Subject: Invoice [number] for [project], due [date]

Hi [name], a quick reminder that invoice [number] for $[amount] was due yesterday, [date]. I’ve attached it again, and the link in it takes a card or a bank transfer. If it’s already on its way, thank you, and please ignore this.

An invoicing app can send this one for you. FreshBooks, for example, can send up to three automated reminder emails, each set a number of days before or after the due date, and other invoicing apps have similar settings. Automate the polite reminders; write the firm ones yourself.

A week late: a direct follow-up

A week on, stay polite, but now ask for a date. Ask whether anything is holding the payment up, and copy whoever handles payments if you know who that is.

Subject: Invoice [number] is a week overdue

Hi [name], invoice [number] for $[amount] was due on [date], and I haven’t received payment yet. Could you tell me when it will be paid? If there’s a problem with the invoice, or it needs to go to someone else, let me know and I’ll sort it out today. I’ve copied [accounts contact] in case it’s with them.

Two weeks late: a call and the late fee

At two weeks, pick up the phone. An email is easy to leave for later; a call gets you an answer. Keep it short and practical: has the invoice been approved, when is their next payment run, and is anything wrong with the work or the paperwork? Agree a date, then confirm it in writing the same day.

This is also the point to add a late fee, if you have one. Charge it only if your contract or the payment terms the client accepted set one before the work began, and only at the rate they set. A fee you invent now is hard to collect, and state law can limit how much a late fee or interest can be, so the figure in your contract is worth a lawyer’s look. If your contract doesn’t have one, leave it off this invoice and put a late-fee clause in your next contract.

Subject: Invoice [number]: the date we agreed

Hi [name], thanks for the call today. As we agreed, invoice [number] for $[amount] will be paid by [date]. Under the payment terms in our contract, a late fee of [the rate in your contract] applies to invoices more than [number] days overdue, so I’ve attached an updated invoice for $[amount with the fee].

A month late: the final notice and pausing work

The final notice is the last message before you take the matter elsewhere, so it is formal and in writing. Send it to your contact and to the person who signed the contract. It sets out:

• the invoice number, the amount and the date it was due;
• the reminders you sent and the call you had, with their dates;
• a deadline for payment, seven or 14 days away;
• what you’ll do if it isn’t paid by then.

Name only a next step you will really take and can lawfully take. An empty threat teaches the client that your deadlines move.

If your contract lets you pause work while an invoice is overdue, say in the notice that you have paused, and then do it: no new files and no next phase until the account is paid. If it doesn’t, talk to a lawyer before you stop, because walking away from a project mid-contract can give the client a claim of its own. If your contract says the rights in the final work pass to the client on full payment, you can point to that clause too.

Subject: Final notice: invoice [number], $[amount], [number] days overdue

Hi [name], invoice [number] for $[amount] was due on [date]. I wrote on [dates], we spoke on [date], and it is still unpaid. Please pay the full amount by [date]. As our contract allows, I’ve paused work on [project] until the account is paid. If payment hasn’t arrived by [date], I will [the next step you will actually take].

If they still don’t pay

What comes next depends on the amount, where you and the client are, and what your contract says. These are the usual routes for a US freelancer, described in general, not as advice for your case: for a large invoice, or a client in another state or country, a lawyer where you work can tell you which applies.

New York’s and Illinois’s freelance-payment laws

Two states have laws written for exactly this.

• New York. Since August 28, 2024, the state’s Freelance Isn’t Free Act has covered freelance work worth $800 or more, counting every contract with the same client over the preceding 120 days. The client must pay by the date in the contract or, if the contract sets none, no later than 30 days after you finish the work, and once you’ve started, it can’t make paying on time depend on you accepting less. You can file a complaint with the New York State Attorney General or bring a claim in court, and under section 1414 of the law, a freelancer who wins a claim for late payment is awarded double damages plus reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.
• Illinois. The Freelance Worker Protection Act covers work worth $500 or more, in one contract or in several over 120 days. Payment is due by the date in the contract or, if it sets none, no later than 30 days after you complete the work. If you aren’t paid on time, you can file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor or sue in circuit court, within two years of when the final payment was due. Illinois Legal Aid Online explains the act and links to the complaint form.

Both laws have exclusions and conditions, so check that your contract is covered before you rely on one. Some cities have rules of their own as well.

Small claims court

For amounts under your state’s limit, small claims court is built for people without lawyers. Limits, fees and rules vary by state. In California, for example, individuals can generally sue for up to $12,500 and businesses for up to $6,250, the filing fee is between $30 and $100, and a lawyer can’t represent you in court. California also requires you to ask for the money before you file a small claims case, and your final notice can be that request. Check your own state’s court website for its limit and process, and remember that winning a judgment and collecting the money are separate steps.

A lawyer’s letter, a collection agency, or letting it go

For larger amounts, a demand letter from a lawyer is the next step up, and a collection agency takes a share of whatever it recovers. Sometimes the cheapest choice is to stop: weigh the hours a claim will take against the invoice, and ask your accountant how an unpaid invoice is treated at tax time.

Make the next invoice easier to pay

Most of the work of getting paid happens before the invoice goes out, in the contract and the invoice itself.

• Take a deposit before work starts, such as half the fee, and invoice the rest at agreed stages on long projects, so no single invoice carries the whole job.
• Set the terms in the contract: the payment period (net 15 rather than net 30, if your clients will agree), the late fee and the right to pause work.
• Put a date on the invoice, not only “net 30”, so nobody has to work out when it’s due.
• Ask at onboarding who pays invoices, where they should go and what the accounts team needs from you.
• Make paying one click, with a card or bank-transfer link on every invoice.
• Set the reminders once. An invoicing app sends the polite ones on schedule. The invoicing apps on the Tools page all suit a single seat, and HoneyBook vs Dubsado vs Bonsai vs Moxie compares the apps that keep proposals, contracts and invoices in one place.

The Studio Kit’s deposit and final invoices carry your payment terms, the due date, the late fee your contract sets and every way the client can pay. For more on deposits, terms and the money side of a studio, see Pricing & Money.

Tip: put the chasing dates in your calendar the day you send the invoice. A reminder you planned is easier to send than one you have to decide to send.