Your Guide to Writing a Payment Request or Payment Due Message

Writing an effective payment request or payment due message can seem difficult. No one enjoys asking for money, but it’s an important part of doing business. A good payment request message will include information about what they owe, how they can pay, and what date they should pay by.

Make sure they are informed

There are several important things to address when writing a payment request or payment due message. First, you need to explain what they are paying for, and how much money they owe. People have many different payments that they make each month, so it is important to remind them what they owe you and why. You’ll save a lot of time answering inquiries from people if you take this small step to inform them.

Make sure that you let your recipient know about payment methods and important dates, such as when the bill is due and what the costs are if the payment is submitted late. You can avoid late payments and clients getting upset by including these dates in your message, rather than relying on people to find out on their own. Also include an explanation of how the customer can view their bill online, as well as your payment team’s contact info in case there are any questions.

Sample #1

Here’s a sample of a payment request message where the client, though notified previously that the bill would be due soon, has not yet made the payment:

Hi, John Smith,

This is just a reminder that the invoice #10534 (total $1,200) is due today.

You can make a payment online at our website, servicesrenderedfast.com, or call our office at 202-555-0131 to make other payment arrangements.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call.

Thanks,

Jane Doe

Be professional

“One key to writing a payment request is to always be professional. It can be easy to get frustrated if a client does not pay on time. Your frustration is not an excuse to lose your cool and write a rude payment due message. Remember – you still want this person’s business, so don’t burn any bridges,” recommends David Gerbrandt, freelance writer at Assignment Writing Service.  

Send a polite follow-up message, giving the client ample time to make their payment on time. You can also call with a friendly reminder, or even mail out a polite reminder note. Being proactive will help avoid late payments, a client feeling rushed, and frustration on both ends.

Overdue payment messages

Inevitably there will be clients who, for whatever reason, neglect to pay on time, and you will need to send them one or more payment overdue messages. Your message will read a little differently, depending on how overdue their payment is, and how many previous notices they have received.

Sample #2

Here’s an example, where the client’s payment is a month overdue:

Hi, John Smith,

I have contacted you several times, reminding you of the amount still owing for invoice #10534 (total $1,200) but I have not received your payment or heard back from you at all.

If you have any questions, or perhaps difficulties with our payment options, please let me know. If not, please settle your account immediately. You can pay online at servicesrenderedfast.com or call our office 202-555-0131.

Please reply and let me know if you have received this message.

Regards,

Jane Doe

What NOT to do

Don’t send out a message without information about their account balance and payment history, unless you wish to receive up to 60% more support requests. If a payment request message does not have enough detail and personalization, then the recipient may even assume that it is a group message that is not relevant to them (perhaps thinking they have already paid that bill).

Writing help

Here are a few tools that will help you with your payment request or payment due message:

Sit back and let the payments roll in

You can eliminate a lot of stress and wasted time by writing a proper payment request or payment due message. By giving the recipient information on what they owe, why the owe it, how they can pay, and when they should pay by, you will reduce the amount of late payments and unnecessary inquiries. With this guide you will have no problem writing payment request messages that will make your life easier.

About Author

Grace Carter is a marketing manager at Academized and PaperFellows services. She works with a marketing team and creates marketing materials there. Also, Grace works as a freelance proofreader at Revieweal, service that publishes online reviews of writing services.