Payment reminders
Remind customers about unpaid invoices before and after the due date, and control it per customer and per invoice.
Payment reminders are emails Bookmaker sends to a customer about an unpaid invoice, before and after its due date. You write them once; Bookmaker sends each one when its time comes and stops when the invoice is paid.
Which invoices get reminders#
Only an invoice that:
- has been emailed to the customer from Bookmaker,
- still has a balance to pay,
- has a due date,
- is Sent, Viewed, Partially paid or Overdue.
Drafts, invoices that were never emailed, quotations, paid invoices and void invoices never get one.
Turn reminders on#
Changing these settings needs the owner or admin role.
- Open Settings, then Reminders.
- Tick Send payment reminders.
- Choose which invoices this covers: Only invoices sent from now on, or Also the unpaid invoices already sent. The second option shows how many there are.
- Check the Time of day and Time zone reminders are sent in.
- Review the three reminders that are filled in to start with: 3 days before the due date, on the due date, and 7 days after it. Change their timing and wording, remove them, or add more.
- Choose Save and turn on reminders.
Reminders are off until you do this. Turning them on never starts sending to invoices already out unless you choose that option.
If you include invoices already sent, each gets at most one reminder now: the one that fits where it stands today. Reminders whose moment has passed are not sent late.
Write the reminders#
Each reminder has a subject and a message. Type a placeholder where a detail belongs; it is replaced when the email is sent.
| Placeholder | Replaced with |
|---|---|
{{customer_name}} | The customer's name |
{{invoice_number}} | The invoice's number |
{{due_date}} | The due date |
{{currency}} | The currency code |
{{balance_due}} | The amount still outstanding when the email is sent |
{{organization_name}} | Your organization's name |
{{document_link}} | A link to view the invoice online |
Only these placeholders work; the form says so if you type another. The Preview shows the reminder filled with sample details.
Each reminder is sent once per invoice. Changing the wording or timing of a reminder that has already gone to an invoice does not send it again.
When they are sent#
Reminders are sent at the time of day you set, in the time zone you set.
- Monday to Friday only moves a reminder that falls on a weekend: to Friday if it comes before the due date, and to Monday otherwise. Public holidays are not known.
- Quiet hours set a period when no reminder is sent. One that is running late waits until it ends.
- Most reminders per invoice stops automatic reminders after that many.
- Fewest days between reminders keeps two reminders for one invoice apart, counting ones you send by hand.
Payments#
The balance is checked again immediately before each reminder is sent.
- An invoice paid in full gets no more reminders. Its waiting reminder is cancelled as soon as you record the payment.
- A part payment changes the amount the next reminder shows.
- If the due date changes, reminders not yet sent move with it. Ones already sent stay in the history.
Settings for one customer or one invoice#
Three settings can apply to an invoice. The first that says something decides:
- The invoice's own setting.
- The customer's setting.
- Your organization's setting.
For a customer, open the customer and use the Payment reminders card: follow the organization setting, always send, or never send. You can also enter the addresses reminders go to, in place of the customer's own.
For an invoice, open it and use Payment reminders on the Scheduled card:
| To | Choose |
|---|---|
| Stop reminders for this invoice | Pause reminders |
| Hold them until a date | Snooze until, then Snooze |
| Miss the next one only | Skip next reminder |
| Send one yourself | Send reminder now |
The card shows the Next reminder and which of the three settings decided it.
Send reminder now uses the wording of the reminder that fits the invoice today. If one went out within the gap you set, Bookmaker asks before sending another.
Ask the assistant#
Where the assistant is enabled, you can ask it in chat to send a reminder for an invoice now, hold an invoice's reminders until a date, or turn reminders on or off for an invoice or a customer. It prepares the action and shows a card; nothing is sent or changed until you confirm on the card. See Payment reminders from chat.
What happened to each reminder#
The History on the invoice's Scheduled card, and the Scheduled page, list every reminder with its outcome and, where it did not go as planned, the reason:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Scheduled | Waiting for its time. |
| Accepted by the email provider | The email service took the message. It is not proof that it reached the inbox. |
| Skipped | Not sent, for example because a later reminder was already due, or its wording would no longer be true. |
| Cancelled | Not sent, for example because the invoice was paid. |
| Delivery could not be confirmed | The email service did not answer. Check with the customer before sending another. |
| Failed | Not sent. The reason is shown. |
Reminders also appear in the invoice's Delivery card, with every other email sent for it.
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