Turn On QuickBooks' Payments Agent to Automate Invoice Chasing

What This Does

Chasing overdue invoices by phone or email is a recurring drain on a job that already has too many recurring drains. QuickBooks can send reminder emails automatically as invoices approach or pass their due date, so instead of tracking every client's payment status by memory, you review what's still outstanding once a week.

Before You Start

• Your business is on {{tool:QuickBooks.plan}} (Simple Start: $30/mo; Essentials: $60/mo; Plus: $90/mo; Advanced: $235/mo (billed annually, subject to promotions)) or higher. Automatic reminders are available on every QuickBooks Online tier, no add-on required.
• Every client invoice you want reminders on already has a valid email address in the customer record
• You've emailed the invoice to the customer at least once. Reminders only fire for invoices that have already gone out this way

Steps

1. Find the AI feature

Click the Settings gear icon, then Account and settings, then open the Sales tab. Scroll to the Reminders section and click the pencil icon to edit.

2. Tell it what you need

Toggle Automatic invoice reminders on. Under Reminder 1, turn that reminder on too, then use the days dropdown to pick a timing (anywhere from 1 to 90 days) and choose whether it fires before or after the due date. Repeat for Reminder 2 and Reminder 3 if you want a sequence, say, a friendly nudge three days before it's due, then a firmer one a week after. While you're in there, customize the subject line and message body so it sounds like you, not a form letter, and turn on the greeting option to personalize it with the customer's name.

3. Review and use the result

Click Save, then Done. From here, QuickBooks checks due dates automatically and sends the reminders you configured without you touching each invoice. Set aside ten minutes once a week, Friday mornings work well, to scan which invoices are still unpaid despite the reminders and decide which of those need a personal call instead of another automated email.

Real Example

Scenario: You're carrying 15 open invoices, several of them 30 or more days overdue, and manually emailing each client is eating an afternoon every week.

What you type/do: You set Reminder 1 for 3 days before the due date, Reminder 2 for 7 days after, and Reminder 3 for 21 days after, each with a slightly firmer tone than the last.

What you get: Reminders go out automatically as each invoice crosses those thresholds. In Intuit's beta testing of this feature, participating businesses reported cutting collections admin time by more than a third and getting paid roughly five days faster on average. Your Friday review shrinks from an afternoon of individual follow-ups to a quick scan of who's still outstanding.

Tips

• This only reaches customers with a valid email on file who received the original invoice by email. Cash, check, or in-person customers won't get reminders this way.
• If you have QuickBooks Online Advanced, the Workflows section offers a more configurable "Payment due reminder" workflow beyond the standard three-reminder setup.
• In the first month, spot-check a few reminder emails as they go out to confirm amounts and due dates look right before you fully trust it to run unattended.

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