Never Miss a Payment with Xero's Automatic Invoice Reminders

Keeping tabs on your accounts receivable is an absolute must for entrepreneurs. Xero invoice reminders are an effective way to ensure you're getting paid in a timely manner and avoiding any unnecessary delays or missed payments. When you pair Xero's invoice reminders with payment services and use a handy add on for collections, the days of not getting paid on time will be a thing of the past. Need a little help crafting the perfect payment reminder and setting them up in Xero? We've got you covered with our example email templates and a handy Xero invoice reminder set up guide.

Why set up Invoice reminders in Xero?

Automated invoice reminders are a great way to get paid faster and stay organized with your invoicing. With Xero, you can quickly set up automated reminders to be sent regularly, helping ensure customers stay on top of their payments and keeping your cash flow steady.

Improve Cash Flow

One of the challenges of running a small business is managing the cash flow cycle, which involves ensuring that there is enough money coming in to cover expenses and invest in growth. Late payments from clients can create cash flow gaps that can be challenging to overcome, particularly for small businesses that may not have large cash reserves. By automating the process of sending payment reminders, small business owners can ensure that their clients are reminded to pay their invoices promptly and consistently, without adding more work to the business owner's plate. 

Save Time

Manually sending payment reminders to clients who haven't paid their invoices on time can be a time-consuming process. By automating the process of sending payment reminders, you can save valuable time that can be better spent on other aspects of your business, such as marketing, product development, and customer service. This can help you to work more efficiently and effectively, and ultimately contribute to the growth and success of your business.

Reduce Errors

As a business owner, you know that even small errors can have a significant impact on your business. When it comes to invoicing, errors can result in late payments, misunderstandings, and damaged client relationships. By automating the process of sending payment reminders, you can reduce the risk of errors and ensure that your invoicing process runs smoothly. You can customize the reminders to include the correct payment details, due dates, and other relevant information, ensuring that clients have all the information they need to pay their invoices on time.

Maintain Professionalism

The way you communicate with your clients can have a significant impact on your business relationships and overall success. Sending payment reminders manually can sometimes come across as confrontational or unprofessional, which can damage client relationships and make it difficult to do business in the future. Invoice Reminders can be customized to match your brand identity and tone, helping to maintain positive relationships with clients. 

How to Set Up Xero Invoice Reminders

Setting up automated invoice reminders in Xero is a great way to ensure your clients are always aware of their payment obligations. With just a few simple steps, you can quickly configure these helpful notifications and save yourself time and energy.

To begin, log into your Xero account, click on Business and then select Invoices.

From there, click "Invoice Reminders: Off".

Tick the box next to, "Email customers when an invoice is..."

Here you can edit the

• Total number of reminders to be sent: Up to 4 available
• Email Frequency: You can set a reminder to be sent out when it is "Due in X number of days" or "Past due by X number of days"
• Edit the email message and include placeholders (more on that below)
• Include a link for the online invoice
• Include an invoice PDF
• Chose to not send a reminder if the balance is under a certain amount. 

How can you use placeholders within Invoice Reminders?

You can use placeholders within the Xero's email templates to personalize the content and make it more relevant to each individual invoice. This information is pulled from different parts of Xero, including the Invoice Module and Contact Module, and allow you to send customized emails to your clients without having to do any extra work. 

Here are the placeholders can be used within Xero's Invoice Reminders

Best Practices for Language in Your Emails

When sending invoice reminders, the language you use can make a big difference in how customers respond. It’s important to be professional and polite while still making sure your message is clear and concise. Here are some best practices for crafting effective emails:

Understanding the importance of language in your emails is key to successful communication. Moving forward, we will discuss how payments work with Xero Invoice Reminders and how you can set up automated reminders for customers who are overdue on their invoices.

Adding Payment Services to Your Invoices

Including payment services to invoices is key for streamlining the collection of payments from customers. Automated invoice reminders with payment options can help reduce the amount of time and effort spent on tracking down payments from clients. With Xero, you can easily add payment services like Stripe, GoCardless, and Paypal to your invoices for a frictionless way to get paid.

Stripe is a widely-used payment processing platform that offers convenience and cost-effectiveness for small businesses. It’s easy to set up and integrates seamlessly with Xero so that customers can pay their invoices directly through Stripe’s secure system without having to leave your website or log in anywhere else. Plus, Stripe offers competitive rates and no setup fees so it’s a great option for small businesses looking for an affordable solution.

GoCardless also makes it easy for customers to pay their invoices directly through its secure platform without leaving your website or logging in elsewhere. It supports multiple currencies so international customers won't have any trouble paying their bills either. Additionally, GoCardless has lower transaction fees than other providers making it ideal if you want to save money on processing costs while still offering convenient payment methods for customers.

PayPal is another popular choice when adding payment services to your invoices as many people already have PayPal accounts set up which makes checkout faster and easier than ever before. PayPal also offers fraud protection and advanced security measures so you know that customer data will remain safe at all times when using this service too.

When setting up these automated invoice reminders with integrated payments systems, be sure that all language used in emails sent out is clear and concise yet friendly enough not to sound robotic or overly formal. This helps ensure that clients understand what they need to do to complete their transactions quickly without confusion or frustration. Also make sure you include instructions on how payments work within each email reminder - such as what currency they should use etc., as well as details about refunds/return policies just in case something goes wrong during the transaction process. Finally don't forget to provide links back directly into Xero where applicable (e.g., view/pay invoice). This allows customers access everything they need right away without having to search around different websites trying to figure out how to complete their purchase/payment.

Integrating payment services into your invoicing system can help expedite the collection of payments, saving time and effort. To ensure that your customers are reminded about their due invoices in a timely manner, it is important to use best practices for language when sending out emails.

What To Do If You Can't Collect Payments

Ideally, you'd receive full payment promptly; however, if this isn't the case, there are measures to take in order to recoup what's owed. Regrettably, this isn't always the reality. If you find yourself unable to collect payment from a customer, there are several steps you can take to try and recover what's owed.

First off, make sure your invoices clearly outline all terms of payment including due dates and any late fees or interest associated with nonpayment. This will help set expectations for when payments should be made so customers know exactly what they owe and when it needs to be paid by. Additionally, sending out friendly reminders before an invoice is due can help encourage timely payments as well as build trust between both parties.

If these strategies don't work then it may be necessary to turn over unpaid invoices to a collections service like Collbox which specializes in recovering delinquent accounts receivable (AR). Collbox helps businesses streamline their collections process by automating tasks such as creating collection letters, tracking communication with debtors and reporting on progress toward recovery goals—all while helping maintain strong relationships with customers throughout the process.

Here is a quick demo explaining how Collbox works: 

Managing accounts receivable and ensuring timely payments is crucial for the success and growth of your business. By leveraging Xero's invoice reminders, integrating payment services, and utilizing best practices for communication, you can streamline your invoicing process and improve cash flow. 

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