> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.hoopai.com/llms.txt
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# Invoice reminders — automated payment follow-ups
> Set up automatic email and SMS reminders for unpaid invoices — before the due date, on the due date, and for overdue invoices.
Invoice reminders eliminate the need to manually chase unpaid invoices. The HoopAI Platform can automatically send follow-up messages to customers on a schedule you define — before the due date to prompt early payment, on the due date as a final nudge, and after the due date for overdue accounts.
Invoice reminders require at least one email template or SMS template to be set up in your account. Go to **Marketing → Email Templates** or **Conversations → Templates** to create message templates before configuring reminders.
***
## How invoice reminders work
When you create or send an invoice, the reminder schedule you have configured is attached to that invoice. The platform tracks the invoice due date and fires each reminder at the specified time relative to that date.
Reminders stop automatically as soon as:
* The invoice is fully paid
* The invoice is voided
* You manually disable reminders on the specific invoice
Reminders continue even if the customer has made a partial payment — they stop only when the invoice balance reaches zero.
***
## Reminder types
You can configure three categories of reminders, and you can have multiple reminders of each type:
| Type | When it fires | Use case |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Before due** | X days before the due date | Proactive payment nudge ("Your invoice is due in 3 days") |
| **On due date** | The day the invoice is due | Last-chance reminder on the due date |
| **After due (overdue)** | X days after the due date | Overdue notice ("Your invoice is now 7 days past due") |
***
## Configuring global reminder settings
Global reminder settings apply to all invoices by default. Any invoice you create will automatically inherit this reminder schedule unless you override it on an individual invoice.
Go to **Payments → Invoices & Estimates** and click the **gear icon** in the upper-right corner to open Settings. Select **Reminder settings**.
Click **Add reminder** to create your first reminder. You can add as many reminder steps as you need — for example, a 7-day before, 3-day before, on-due-date, 3-day after, and 7-day after sequence.
For each reminder step, fill in the following:
* **Reminder name** — an internal label for easy identification (e.g., "3-day overdue notice")
* **When to send** — select Before due, On due date, or After due, and enter the number of days
* **Channel** — choose Email, SMS, or Both
* **Email template** — select an existing email template or click Preview to create a new one
* **SMS template** — select or create an SMS template (if SMS is selected)
* **Reminder frequency** — how many days between repeat sends (if you want the reminder to repeat)
* **Max reminders** — the maximum number of times this reminder fires (set to 1 for a one-time send)
* **Business hours restriction** — optionally restrict sends to your configured business hours only
* **Time zone** — send relative to your business time zone or the customer's time zone
Click **Add another reminder** to chain multiple reminders together. You can configure an entire sequence — for example:
* Reminder 1: 7 days before due — Email
* Reminder 2: 3 days before due — Email and SMS
* Reminder 3: On due date — Email
* Reminder 4: 3 days after due — Email and SMS
* Reminder 5: 7 days after due — Email
Toggle any reminder off to temporarily disable it without deleting it.
Click **Save**. The new reminder schedule is now active for all new invoices. Existing invoices already in circulation are not affected — see the note below.
Changes to global reminder settings apply only to new invoices created after you save the settings. Invoices already sent before the change retain their original reminder schedule.
***
## Customizing reminders on an individual invoice
You can override the global reminder schedule on any specific invoice to give it a different sequence — or to turn off reminders entirely for that invoice.
Go to **Payments → Invoices & Estimates**, find the invoice in the list, and open it.
In the invoice editor, scroll to the **Reminders** section (available under Additional options or in the invoice settings panel).
* To disable all reminders for this invoice, toggle the **Reminders** switch off.
* To use a custom schedule, deselect "Use global settings" and configure the reminder steps specifically for this invoice.
Save the invoice. The per-invoice reminder configuration takes precedence over the global settings.
***
## Personalizing reminder message content
Each reminder message supports merge tags (custom values) to personalize the content dynamically. Use these in your email subject lines and message bodies:
| Merge tag | Inserts |
| -------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| `{{contact.first_name}}` | Customer's first name |
| `{{invoice.number}}` | Invoice number (e.g., INV-042) |
| `{{invoice.amount}}` | Total invoice amount |
| `{{invoice.due_date}}` | Invoice due date |
| `{{invoice.payment_link}}` | Direct link to the online payment page |
| `{{invoice.balance}}` | Remaining unpaid balance |
| `{{business.name}}` | Your business name |
Always include the `{{invoice.payment_link}}` merge tag in every reminder message. This gives customers a one-click path to pay without having to search for the original invoice email.
***
## Global reminders vs per-invoice reminders
| Setting | Scope | How to access |
| ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Global reminders** | Applies to all new invoices by default | Payments → Invoices & Estimates → Settings → Reminder settings |
| **Per-invoice reminders** | Overrides global settings for one invoice | Open individual invoice → Additional options → Reminders |
Use global reminders to set your standard follow-up sequence, and use per-invoice overrides only when a specific client relationship requires a different approach — for example, turning reminders off entirely for a VIP account that you prefer to contact personally.
***
## Custom invoice notifications
In addition to time-based payment reminders, you can configure event-based invoice notifications. These fire when a specific thing happens to an invoice, not at a scheduled time.
Go to **Payments → Invoices & Estimates → Settings → Notifications** to configure:
| Event trigger | When it fires |
| ---------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Invoice sent** | When you send the invoice to the customer |
| **Invoice viewed** | When the customer opens the invoice link |
| **Invoice paid** | When full payment is received |
| **Invoice overdue** | When the due date passes without payment |
| **Partial payment received** | When the customer pays an installment |
For each event, you can select a custom email template and control whether a notification goes to the contact, to your team, or both.
***
## Workflow-based reminders
For more advanced reminder logic — such as conditional sequences that branch based on whether a customer has viewed the invoice — use the Automation module instead.
Go to **Automation → Workflows** and click **+ New Workflow**.
Add a trigger and select **Invoice**. Choose from:
* Invoice Sent
* Invoice Overdue
* Invoice Paid
* Invoice Viewed
Add **Wait** steps to introduce time delays, then add **Send Email** or **Send SMS** actions. Use **If/Else** conditions to branch the flow — for example, stop the sequence if the invoice has been paid (check invoice status in the condition).
Turn on the workflow. It will now fire for every invoice that matches the trigger conditions.
Workflow-based reminders give you the most flexibility — you can check whether the customer has viewed the invoice and send a more urgent message only to contacts who have seen the invoice but not yet paid.
***
## Recommended reminder sequences
The following example schedules work well for most service businesses. Use them as a starting point and adjust the timing to match your payment terms.
### Standard 30-day net terms
For invoices due 30 days after sending:
| Step | Timing | Channel | Purpose |
| ---------- | ----------------- | ----------- | ------------------------------ |
| Reminder 1 | 7 days before due | Email | Advance notice |
| Reminder 2 | 3 days before due | Email + SMS | Urgency nudge |
| Reminder 3 | On due date | Email | Final day reminder |
| Reminder 4 | 3 days after due | Email + SMS | First overdue notice |
| Reminder 5 | 7 days after due | Email | Second overdue notice |
| Reminder 6 | 14 days after due | Email | Final notice before escalation |
### Short-term invoices (due in 7 days)
For invoices with a quick turnaround:
| Step | Timing | Channel | Purpose |
| ---------- | ----------------- | ----------- | -------------- |
| Reminder 1 | 2 days before due | Email + SMS | Advance notice |
| Reminder 2 | On due date | Email + SMS | Due today |
| Reminder 3 | 3 days after due | Email | Overdue |
| Reminder 4 | 7 days after due | Email | Final notice |
### High-value invoice sequence
For large invoices where you prefer a more personal touch on overdue notices:
| Step | Timing | Channel | Purpose |
| ---------- | ------------------ | ----------- | --------------- |
| Reminder 1 | 14 days before due | Email | Early awareness |
| Reminder 2 | 7 days before due | Email | Upcoming notice |
| Reminder 3 | 3 days before due | Email + SMS | Urgent reminder |
| Reminder 4 | On due date | Email | Due today |
| Reminder 5 | 5 days after due | Email + SMS | First overdue |
For high-value accounts, disable the automated overdue reminders (steps 4 and 5 in the high-value sequence) and handle overdue follow-up with a personal phone call or email instead. You can toggle off individual reminder steps without deleting them.
***
## Default reminder accounts (accounts created after March 2025)
If your account was created after March 20, 2025, three default reminder steps are pre-configured for you:
| Default reminder | Timing | Channel |
| ---------------- | ----------------- | ------- |
| Reminder 1 | 3 days before due | Email |
| Reminder 2 | On due date | Email |
| Reminder 3 | 3 days after due | Email |
These default reminders are enabled but use a generic email template. To personalize them:
1. Go to **Payments → Invoices & Estimates → Settings → Reminder settings**
2. Click the edit icon on each default reminder
3. Select or create a custom email template
4. Optionally add SMS delivery
5. Save
You can also add additional reminder steps to the default sequence without removing the existing ones.
***
## Tracking reminder delivery
You can confirm whether a reminder was delivered to a contact by checking the contact's activity feed:
1. Go to **Contacts** and open the contact record
2. Click the **Activity** tab
3. Look for email or SMS delivery events associated with the invoice number
If a reminder email bounced or an SMS failed to deliver, the activity log will show the failure reason. You can resend manually from the Conversations module if needed.
***
## Frequently asked questions
Yes. When configuring each reminder step, set the channel to SMS or Both (email and SMS). You must have an SMS template assigned and a phone number connected in your account for SMS delivery to work.
No. Reminders continue until the invoice is fully paid. A partial payment reduces the outstanding balance but does not stop the reminder sequence. Only full payment or voiding the invoice stops reminders automatically.
Yes. Click the edit icon next to each reminder step to open the template selector. You can choose an existing email template or create a new one. Use merge tags to personalize the subject line and body with the customer's name, invoice amount, due date, and payment link.
No. Changes to global reminder settings only apply to new invoices created after you save the change. Invoices that have already been sent retain the reminder schedule that was active when they were created.
No. Reminders are invoice-specific. Estimates have their own expiry date notification but do not support the same time-based reminder sequence as invoices. Once an estimate is converted to an invoice, the invoice reminder schedule applies.
Reminders are time-based follow-ups for unpaid invoices — they fire a specified number of days before or after the due date to prompt the customer to pay. Notifications are event-based alerts that fire when something happens to an invoice (sent, viewed, paid, overdue). Both can be configured independently and serve complementary purposes.
Yes. Open the invoice, scroll to the Reminders section in Additional options, and toggle the reminders switch off. This disables all reminders for that invoice only, without affecting any other invoices or your global settings.
Yes. In each reminder step, set the Max reminders field to limit the total number of times that reminder fires. For example, set Max reminders to 3 with a 7-day frequency for an overdue reminder that sends a maximum of three times over three weeks, then stops.
Yes. Each reminder step has an optional Business hours restriction toggle. When enabled, the system waits until your next configured business hours window before sending the reminder, even if the scheduled send time falls outside those hours.
Yes. Each invoice generated by a recurring template is treated as an independent invoice. If you configure reminders on the recurring template, every generated invoice inherits that reminder schedule and behaves identically to a manually created invoice for notification purposes.