POLITE, FIRM & FINAL NOTICE
Chase eligible invoices, consistently.
AI for business-to-business invoice chasing can schedule reminders for eligible overdue commercial invoices. Before each send, it checks payment status, replies, disputes and manual holds. A person approves any interest wording against the contract and applicable rules, and approves a final notice or further recovery action. Failed or stale checks pause sending.
Updated
What you’ll find here.
Sets out the exact trigger logic for a three-stage chase, polite, firm and final notice, tied to the point an invoice becomes legally late, rather than a vague promise to 'chase invoices automatically'.
- The right to charge interest and recovery costs is cited to gov.uk's own guidance on late commercial payments
- Escalation routes to the Small Business Commissioner, the government-backed service for unresolved payment disputes
- Each stage's trigger and wording is shown step by step, not just claimed
The job, broken down.
- Sending a polite reminder a few days after an invoice is overdue
- Sending a firmer message naming the right to charge interest
- Sending a final notice before a person takes over
- Reading replies, queries and promises to pay
- Flagging invoices that reach the final stage for a decision
The same job, handled.
| The task today | With AI doing the legwork |
|---|---|
| Overdue invoices are chased by an awkward phone call | An agreed sequence covers eligible unpaid commercial invoices, subject to status checks and holds |
| Nobody wants to be the one to ring about money owed | Eligible reminders can be scheduled; interest wording and final notices retain the agreed human approval |
| A promise to pay gets lost and the invoice gets chased again anyway | Recorded payment, replies, disputes and manual holds pause further sending |
Built in steps.
Connect
We check the accounting system's API or connector and the agreed payment terms. A scheduled check identifies unpaid eligible invoices; an invoice does not need to emit an overdue event.
Sequence
A polite reminder goes out a few days after the due date, a firmer message follows if it is still unpaid after roughly two weeks, with interest wording only after eligibility and contract terms are checked, and a final notice can be drafted at around thirty days overdue for a person to approve before sending.
Read replies
Before each send, payment status, replies, disputes and manual holds are checked. These pause further sending for the team; failed or stale checks also pause sending.
Hand over
Your team sees every message sent and every reply, and any invoice reaching the final stage is flagged for a decision on further recovery action, never escalated automatically.
Do the maths.
Chasing every overdue invoice by phone or a one-off email, one at a time.
| Input or step | Value |
|---|---|
| Times a week | 15 |
| Minutes each time | 10 |
| People doing it | 1 |
| Cost per hour | £16 |
| Hours a year | 130 (about 17 working days) |
| Cost a year | £2,080 |
Illustrative inputs, not a client's figures: fifteen overdue invoices a week needing a chase, at ten minutes each. Change the inputs to your own with the calculator. See how we calculate this.
These are illustrative workflow scopes. The audit checks the actual software, supported access, licences, permissions and human review rules before a build is agreed.
Why invoices need a consistent chase, not an awkward phone call
Chasing an unpaid invoice is a job most people put off, because it feels like an awkward conversation rather than routine admin. That is exactly why it slips: the invoice that is two weeks overdue stays two weeks overdue because nobody wants to make the call. A fixed sequence removes the awkwardness by making the chase the same every time, for every customer, regardless of how the business feels about ringing up that day.
The three-stage sequence, as an actual flow
The proposed trigger uses confirmed payment terms and current payment status. Paid invoices and disputes must be excluded before any reminder; a printed invoice date alone is not proof of agreed terms.
- A few days overdue: a polite reminder, assuming the payment has simply been missed, with a copy of the invoice attached.
- Around two weeks overdue: a firmer message that states the invoice is now significantly overdue and names the business’s right, under gov.uk’s guidance on late commercial payments, to charge interest and debt recovery costs on an eligible late business-to-business payment, only after the business checks the contract and eligibility.
- Around thirty days overdue: a final notice setting out what happens next, and the invoice is flagged to a person rather than escalated automatically.
Before every send, the workflow checks for recorded payment, a reply, a dispute or a manual hold. Any of these pauses the sequence for the team; interest wording and final notices require the agreed human approval. Failed or stale status checks also pause sending.
What the law actually gives you here
Gov.uk’s own guidance is direct: “You can claim interest and debt recovery costs if another business is late paying for goods or a service.” Where no other date has been agreed, it treats a payment as late “30 days after either: the customer gets the invoice [or] you deliver the goods or provide the service (if this is later).” The business must check eligibility and contract terms before using interest wording. GOV.UK also explains that statutory interest cannot be claimed if the contract specifies a different interest rate. If a dispute genuinely cannot be resolved between the two businesses, the Small Business Commissioner is the government-backed service set up to help, and its eligibility and remit should be checked before suggesting it; the automation does not initiate a referral.
Businesses with a steady flow of invoices, trades, agencies and consultancies among them, are usually where this pays off fastest, simply because the number of overdue invoices at any one time makes a consistent, unemotional chase worth more than an occasional phone call.
On the tools you already use.
- Xero, QuickBooks or similar accounting software
- Gmail or Outlook
- n8n
- Make
Who needs it most.
What it costs.
Every price is published and fixed in writing before any work starts.
AI Opportunity Audit
In person across Leeds and West Yorkshire, or by video call. A written report of your top 5 automations, yours to keep.
AI Lead & Ops Sprint
Enquiry capture through to booking, follow-up and CRM logging, plus one ops automation. The monthly fee covers monitoring, tuning, a monthly review and up to 2 hours of changes.
Fractional AI Team
Ongoing AI builds, staff training and a monthly review.
Prices exclude VAT where applicable.
The build guarantee. We agree written acceptance criteria before any work starts. If the build doesn’t meet them, we fix it at no extra cost, and if we can’t, you don’t pay for it.
Where the facts come from.
- Charging interest on late commercial paymentsGOV.UK
- Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery costsGOV.UK
- Small Business CommissionerOffice of the Small Business Commissioner
Questions, answered straight.
When does an invoice legally count as late?
By default, gov.uk guidance says payment is late 30 days after the customer gets the invoice or receives the goods or service, whichever is later, unless a different date has been agreed in writing. The business must confirm the agreed payment terms or applicable default; a date printed on an invoice alone does not establish agreement.
Can I really charge interest on a late invoice?
Gov.uk states plainly that you can claim interest and debt recovery costs if another business is late paying for goods or a service. Eligibility and contract terms must be checked first: GOV.UK says statutory interest cannot be claimed where the contract specifies a different interest rate. The proposed workflow does not calculate or add charges automatically.
What happens if the sequence reaches the final stage?
A final notice goes out and the invoice is flagged for your team. Nothing is passed to a debt collector or the Small Business Commissioner automatically; that decision is always made by a person.
What does an invoice chasing automation cost?
A workflow like this is usually a fixed-price package agreed in writing before any work starts (most clients begin with the AI Opportunity Audit at £495, credited against a build). The Fractional AI Team at £1,500 a month covers ongoing work if you want it looked after. Prices exclude VAT where applicable.
Will it work with my accounting software?
It works with accounting or invoicing systems that can show an invoice's due date and payment status, usually through an API or a connector platform such as n8n or Make. The AI Opportunity Audit checks your setup before anything is quoted.
Where to go next.
Consistent beats awkward.
Start with a 20-minute call.
Tell us the job that keeps coming back. We’ll tell you honestly what’s worth automating and what isn’t, and put a number on each one.