Automatic, polite invoice reminders with Google Sheets and Make: the schedule, the wording and when to stop
Short answer
A Make scenario runs every morning, finds invoices in a Google Sheet that are open past their due date, sends each client one polite reminder and stamps the row so it is not sent twice. Pair it with a payment-received automation that marks the invoice paid, so nobody who has paid gets chased. If your invoices already live in QuickBooks, FreshBooks or Stripe, use their built-in reminders instead; this chain is for invoices kept in a sheet.
Make checks a Google Sheet each morning, sends one polite reminder per overdue invoice and stops once paid. Schedule, wording, limits, blueprints.
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Chasing payment is the job everyone postpones. The invoice gets noticed at month end, the reminder goes out irritated, and a relationship is dented over a small amount. A scheduled check in Make removes the awkward part: the reminder goes out on time, in the same polite words, every time, and a person only steps in when a polite reminder has not worked.
This page is the whole setup for a small business that keeps its invoices in a Google Sheet: what the numbers say about late payment, the reminder schedule we use, the wording, the two free blueprints, what it costs to run, and the cases where you should not build this at all because your invoicing tool already does it.
- 56%of US small businesses said they were owed money from unpaid invoices, $17.5K on averageIntuit QuickBooks, 2025 (2,487 businesses)
- 47%had some invoices more than 30 days overdueIntuit QuickBooks, 2025
- 29.3 daysaverage time for a US small business to be paid, June quarter 2026Xero Small Business Insights, 2026
- 8.5 daysaverage days an invoice was paid after its due date, same quarterXero Small Business Insights, 2026
The QuickBooks figures are a survey of 2,487 US businesses with up to 100 employees, run in January 2025 by a company that sells invoicing software. The Xero figures come from anonymised invoice data of more than 32,000 US small businesses, which makes them behaviour rather than opinion. Both are US data. Neither measures what reminders do; we found no independent study of that, so this page does not claim a number for it.
The blueprint: one reminder per overdue invoice
Invoice past due → an automatic, polite reminder
Once a day it finds open invoices past their date and sends a reminder. The client no longer has to remember to chase.
Blueprint, steps and caveats → · Watch the tutorial on YouTube
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How it works
- Every morning Make searches the invoices sheet for rows with status "open", a due date before today and an empty "reminder sent" column. It takes at most 50 rows per run.
- For each row it sends a short email with the invoice number, the amount and the due date, and a line for clients who have already paid.
- It writes today's date into the "reminder sent" column, so the same invoice never gets the automatic reminder twice.
Set up the invoice sheet the reminder readsAn invoice tracker in Google Sheets: the columns, the overdue formula and a view of who has paid
As shipped, the blueprint sends one reminder per invoice and then leaves it alone. That is deliberate. The second and third contact are where tone matters most, and where a person should decide whether this client needs a call rather than another email.
The mistake that makes it embarrassing
The client paid yesterday, the sheet still says "open", and this morning they get a payment reminder. It is the fastest way to turn a useful automation into an embarrassing one. Close the loop: when the payment provider reports a payment, mark the invoice paid and thank the client. The second blueprint does that from the provider's webhook.
Payment received → invoice marked "paid" → a thank-you to the client
A paid invoice keeps getting reminders. The payment webhook marks the invoice "paid" with the date in the sheet, and the client gets a short confirmation.
Two checks belong in that scenario before you rely on it. Verify the provider's signature, or anyone who finds the webhook address can mark an invoice paid. And compare the amount received with the amount due, so a partial payment is not recorded as full payment. Both are listed on the blueprint page.
Connect Stripe or PayPal to mark invoices paidWhich event to send, where the invoice number is, and the two checks before you rely on it
A reminder schedule that stays polite
This is the schedule we use and suggest. It is practice, not research: we found no controlled study comparing reminder timings for small-business invoices.
| When | Who sends it | What it says | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days before the due date (optional) | Your invoicing tool, or a copy of the scenario with the date filter changed | The invoice, the amount, the due date, how to pay | Catches invoices that were never forwarded to whoever pays them |
| 1 day after the due date | The Make scenario on this page | A short, friendly reminder; "if you have already paid, thank you" | Most late invoices are forgotten, not disputed |
| 7 days after | You, by email or phone | A personal note: is anything wrong with the invoice? | A person hears a dispute that an automatic email would miss |
| 14–21 days after | You | A final notice: the date you expect payment and what happens next under your terms | Firm, specific, and still written as if you expect to keep the client |
Wording for the automatic reminder
The blueprint's text, which you can edit in the Gmail module: "A friendly reminder that invoice [number] for [amount] was due on [date] and is still open on our side. If you have already paid, thank you, and please ignore this message. If anything is unclear, just reply to this email." Keep three things in any version: the exact number and amount, a way out for someone who has paid, and an invitation to reply. Leave out interest threats in the first reminder; they belong in the final notice, and only if your terms include them.
The second reminder and the final notice, word for wordPayment reminder email templates with subject lines, plus replies for partial payments and disputes
Make scenario or your invoicing tool's reminders?
Before building anything, check where your invoices live. The main invoicing tools already send reminders, and a Make scenario that duplicates them is one more thing to maintain. Limits below are from each vendor's help pages (checked 2026-09-29).
| Make + Google Sheets (this page) | QuickBooks Online | FreshBooks | Stripe Invoicing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where invoices live | A Google Sheet | QuickBooks | FreshBooks | Stripe |
| Reminders per invoice | One as shipped; more by copying the scenario with a different date filter | Up to three automatic reminders | Up to three reminder emails | Predefined before, on or after the due date |
| Timing options | Any: the date filter is yours | Up to 90 days before or after the due date | A number of days before or after the due date | A set of predefined options |
| Stops when paid | Only if the sheet is updated (the payment blueprint does it) | Yes: only unpaid invoices | Reminders are for unpaid invoices | Yes: only unpaid invoices |
| Extra logic (alert to you, a task, a second tool) | Yes: any Make module | No | No | Through webhooks to your own code or Make |
| Running cost | Make credits: about 30 a month plus 2 per reminder; the Free plan has 1,000 credits a month (checked 2026-09-29) | Included in the product | Included in the product | Included in the product |
Our honest recommendation: if your invoices are already in QuickBooks, FreshBooks or Stripe, switch on their reminders and stop there. Build the Make version when invoices are kept in a sheet, or when the reminder has to do something the tool cannot, such as alerting you in Telegram before the final notice or creating a task for whoever owns the account.
What it costs to run
The scenario runs once a day. The search uses one credit each run whether it finds anything or not, which is about 30 credits in a 30-day month. Each overdue invoice it finds adds two more: the email and the sheet update. Ten reminders a month comes to about 50 credits. Make's Free plan includes 1,000 credits a month and two active scenarios (checked 2026-09-29), so the reminder and the payment scenario together fit on Free at small-business volume, but together they use both active slots. A third automation needs Core, from $12 a month (checked 2026-09-29).
Make credits explainedWhat one operation costs, and why a search multiplies the modules after it
The two blueprints run on Make; the free plan is enough to import them and test on your own sheet: Sign up (one month of Core free) → paid link · we earn a commissionPaid link. If you sign up through it we earn a commission from Make; your price is the same, and the link gives you one month of Core free.
Late payment rules, briefly
What you can add to a final notice depends on your country and your contract; this is not legal advice. In the UK, for business-to-business debts, the government guidance says statutory interest is 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, and you can claim a fixed sum per invoice of £40 for debts under £1,000, £70 up to £9,999.99, and £100 from £10,000 (checked 2026-09-29). Where no payment date is agreed, a payment is late 30 days after the customer receives the invoice or the goods or service. Elsewhere, what you can charge is usually set by your own terms, so put the late-payment terms on the invoice before you need them.
Before you switch it on
- Make a copy of your invoices sheet and point the scenario at the copy.
- Put your own email address in the client email column of two test rows, one overdue and one not.
- Run the scenario once. One email should arrive, and only the overdue row should get a date in "reminder sent".
- Check the wording, the currency format and the date format in the email.
- Point the scenario at the real sheet, schedule it for a morning hour, and look at the first week's runs in Make's history.
What does not work
- A sheet that is not kept up to date. If payments are not marked, clients who paid get reminders. Without the payment blueprint or a person updating the status daily, do not switch this on.
- Chasing a dispute by email. An invoice that is late because the client disagrees with it needs a conversation. Three automatic emails make it worse.
- Sending from a personal Gmail account at volume. Google Workspace allows 2,000 messages a day per paid user and 500 on a trial account (checked 2026-09-29). A small business will not reach that with reminders, but a personal @gmail.com account connected to Make can hit Google's "restricted scopes" error instead; see the fix guide.
- Collecting debt. Automation reminds; it does not collect. When the final notice has gone and nothing happens, the next step is a phone call, your terms, or a collection route, not a fourth email.
- Editing the sheet's columns without checking the scenario. The search and the email are mapped to column positions. Insert a column and the email can show the wrong amount, which costs more than the late payment.
Fix the Gmail "restricted scopes" errorWhen Make cannot connect a personal @gmail.com account
How many days after the due date should the first reminder go out?
We send it one day after the due date. Most late invoices are forgotten rather than disputed, so an early, friendly reminder is enough for most of them. An optional reminder a few days before the due date helps when invoices go to a company's accounts department.
Will the client get a reminder after they have paid?
Only if the sheet still says "open". The payment-received blueprint marks the invoice paid from the payment provider's webhook, and the reminder's search skips anything that is not open. Every reminder also says "if you have already paid, thank you" for the day between payment and update.
Does it send more than one reminder per invoice?
Not as shipped. It fills a "reminder sent" column and skips any row where that column has a date. For a second automatic reminder, copy the scenario and change its filter to invoices whose reminder was sent more than seven days ago; we suggest a person sends the later ones.
Can I run it on Make's free plan?
Yes, at small-business volume: about 30 credits a month for the daily search plus 2 per reminder, against 1,000 credits a month on Free (checked 2026-09-29). The limit that matters is two active scenarios on Free, which this reminder and the payment scenario use up between them.
I already use QuickBooks or FreshBooks. Do I need this?
Usually not. QuickBooks Online and FreshBooks each send up to three automatic reminders, and Stripe can remind before, on or after the due date (checked 2026-09-29). Use Make when invoices live in a sheet, or when the reminder has to trigger something else.
- Intuit QuickBooks. "2025 US Small Business Late Payments Report," May 2025 (2,487 US small businesses, January 2025)
- Xero. "Xero Small Business Insights" — US June quarter 2026 media release, 30 July 2026
- QuickBooks Online Help — Send invoice reminders automatically or manually (up to three; up to 90 days before or after)
- FreshBooks Support — What are payment reminders and late fees? (up to three reminder emails)
- Stripe Docs — Send customer emails (automatic reminders for unpaid invoices)
- Make — Pricing (Free: 1,000 credits, 2 active scenarios; Core from $12/month; checked 2026-09-29)
- GOV.UK — Late commercial payments: charging interest (8% plus base rate)
- GOV.UK — Late commercial payments: claim debt recovery costs (£40, £70, £100)
- Google Workspace Admin Help — Gmail sending limits in Google Workspace
In this series
- Payment reminder email templates: the first reminder, the personal follow-up and the final notice, with subject lines
- When Stripe or PayPal says "paid": mark the invoice paid in Google Sheets and get a Telegram or email alert, with Make
- An invoice tracker in Google Sheets that shows who has paid: the columns, the overdue formula and an aging view
Next step
All automations →
SECOND NOTICEInvoice 30 days late → a firmer second notice, and a nudge to call
Once a day it finds invoices 30 days past due that already had a reminder, sends a firmer second notice, and tells you it is time to call.
EMAIL → TASKLabelled email → task in the log → reminder
Tag an email with one label and it becomes a task with a due date and an alert. One screen for everything that is waiting.
AUTO WELCOMENew client → welcome email → onboarding checklist → alert
A client signs and hears nothing until someone is free. On signing, they get an email saying what comes next, a checklist opens and the team is alerted.
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