Setting Up Automated Invoice Reminders

In this article:

• Before You Begin
  • Key Benefits
• Setting Up Automated Invoice Reminders
• Customizing Reminder Email Content
• When Reminders Stop, and When They Never Start

Before You Begin

Automated reminders work alongside manual sending, not instead of it. You can still click Send on any unpaid invoice at any time. Automated reminders run on their own schedule in the background, so nothing you do manually will interrupt them.

Reminders are sent by email only, not SMS, and the schedule applies globally to your account (or your individual team member profile) rather than per client or per invoice.

⚠️ Important: If you use Payment Plans in Practice Better, reminders behave differently depending on how that plan is set up to collect payment:

• If the Payment Plan is set to "Charge Card If Available" (attempt the card, invoice the client if it fails), that invoice follows the normal reminder schedule like any other unpaid invoice.
   
• If the Payment Plan is set to "Charge Stored Payment Method" (always charge automatically) and that charge fails, the resulting invoice does not receive automated reminders. Your client will still get a separate email letting them know their payment failed and asking them to update their card, but that's a different notification from an Invoice Reminder.

In either case, checking in on failed Payment Plan installments is worth adding to your own routine. Learn more about Managing Active Payment Plans →

Key Benefits

• Automated follow-ups for unpaid invoices.
• Customizable reminder schedules and messages.
• Professional, consistent communication with your clients.
• Reduced time spent on payment collection.

Setting Up Automated Invoice Reminders

Follow these steps to configure your automatic reminder settings.

1. Go to Settings > Invoices & Payments.
    
2. Click the check box to enable Invoice Reminders.
   
   📍 For teams: Each team member sets up their own reminder schedule individually; there isn't a shared team-wide setting. 
    
3. Schedule the cadence of your unpaid invoice reminder. You can send the reminder anywhere from one day to eight weeks after the invoice is initially sent.
   
    
4. Optionally set up subsequent reminders by clicking Add Another. 
   
   How many you can add depends on your subscription plan:
   • Sprout and Starter: one reminder.
   • Professional: two reminders.
   • Plus and Team: three reminders.
      
5. Optionally enable Create a Task for Me After the Final Reminder. This adds a task to your Tasks & Reminders list so you can follow up personally if the invoice is still unpaid after your last scheduled reminder. 
   
    
6. Click Save Changes near the top right.

📍 Note: Your reminder schedule only applies going forward. Invoices already sent before you save your changes won't pick up the new schedule; only invoices published after that point will.

Customizing Reminder Email Content

On the Professional plan and up, you can personalize the subject line and body content of your Invoice Payment Reminder emails. Learn more about Customizing Email and SMS Notification Templates →

When Reminders Stop, and When They Never Start

• Once a client pays an invoice in full, any remaining scheduled reminders for that invoice are canceled automatically. Nothing further to do on your end.
   
• A partial payment doesn't cancel remaining reminders. As long as any balance is still owed, scheduled reminders continue on your set cadence.
   
• Reminders are tied to the invoice being sent to your client, not just created. If you're editing an unpublished invoice yourself and click Process, that invoice is sent straight to processing rather than through the usual send flow, so it won't enter the reminder queue. If you want a manually processed invoice to still receive reminders, send it to your client the usual way first.