What to Do When a Client Doesn't Pay an Invoice: A Day-by-Day Schedule

Short answer: when a client does not pay an invoice, check your own paperwork first, then run a fixed schedule: a reminder the day after the due date, a call at day 7, a firm note with any agreed late fee at day 14, notice that work will pause at day 21, a final demand at day 30, and small claims court, a collection agency or a write-off between days 45 and 60. Keep every step in writing. The money gets harder to recover as the invoice ages, so the schedule matters more than the tone.

Who this is for: freelancers and small businesses in the US and UK chasing invoices of up to roughly $20,000. What it does not cover: large commercial litigation, cross-border enforcement, and debts owed to a medical or financial provider, which have their own rules. The legal limits below are concrete examples that change by place and over time, so check them where you and your client are. This is general information, not legal advice.

The dataHow late is late, really?

Two sets of numbers look as if they disagree, and together they tell you when to worry.

Xero's US data comes from accounting records and shows the typical invoice arriving about a week late. QuickBooks' 2026 report comes from surveys of owners, and it shows how many are carrying at least one invoice that went badly wrong. It also found that 27% of owners had trouble covering payroll or bills after a missed payment of under $5,000, so the amounts in this guide are not small to the people chasing them.

That gives the schedule its shape. A client at day 8 is an average payer, so there is no reason to sound annoyed. A client at day 30 is in the group that causes the damage, so the tone has to change by then.

Before you chaseTen minutes on your own paperwork

Sometimes "non-payment" is an invoice that cannot be paid as sent. How to create an invoice covers the full list; these are the points that stop a payment.

The scheduleDay by day from the due date

Days count from the due date, so on Net 30 terms, day +30 is 60 days after the invoice was issued. This is a working convention, built around the data above and the routine we recommend across our invoicing guides. No law sets it and no study has tested it. Move faster on a new client or a small job. Allow more time for a long-standing client with a slow payment run.

At any step, the reply tells you which problem you have. Each one needs a different response:

• A process problem ("it is with accounts"). Get a name and a payment date, then follow up on that date.
• Cash trouble ("we can't right now"). Offer a written payment plan with dates and amounts. A plan that holds beats a judgment you cannot collect.
• A dispute ("the work was not what we agreed"). Stop sending reminders and handle it as a dispute, as described below.
• Silence. Keep to the schedule. Silence after two contact methods is your signal to escalate.

Ready to sendReminder wording for each step

Copy these and fill in the brackets. Each one states the invoice number, amount and date, because whoever reads it may be seeing this for the first time. In a chat with a client, the same words work, but send a copy by email so you have a record.

Day −5: check it is on track

Subject: Invoice [number] due [date]

Hi [name], invoice [number] for [amount] is due on [date]. I've attached a copy. Could you confirm it's in your next payment run, or tell me if you need anything else from me, such as a PO number? Thanks.

Day +1: first reminder

Subject: Invoice [number] was due yesterday

Hi [name], invoice [number] for [amount] was due on [date], and I haven't seen the payment yet. If it's already on its way, thank you. If not, could you let me know the date it will be paid? A copy is attached, and my payment details are at the bottom.

Day +7: call, then confirm

Call the person who approves payment or accounts payable, and ask one question: "What date will this be paid?" Then put the answer in writing:

Subject: Invoice [number]: confirming payment on [date]

Hi [name], thanks for speaking with me today. As discussed, invoice [number] for [amount] will be paid by [date]. Please tell me if that changes.

Day +14: firm, with the fee

Copy the person who signed the contract. Leave out the fee sentence if no fee was agreed.

Subject: Invoice [number] is 14 days overdue: [amount]

Hi [name], invoice [number] for [amount] was due on [date] and is now 14 days overdue. Under our agreement, overdue balances carry interest at [rate], which brings the balance to [new amount] today. Please pay by [date], or tell me today if something is holding this up. If there's a problem with the work or the invoice, I need to hear about it in writing so we can sort it out.

Day +21: notice that work will pause

Subject: Work on [project] pauses on [date] unless invoice [number] is paid

Hi [name], invoice [number] for [amount] is 21 days overdue. I'd like to finish this project, but I can't continue while it's unpaid. Unless payment arrives by [date, 7 days out], I will pause work on [project] from that date and restart once the account is up to date. Any deadlines will need to move by the length of the pause.

Day +30: final demand

Send this by email and by tracked post to the company's registered or legal address. Only name a step you are ready to take.

Subject: Final notice: invoice [number], [amount] overdue

Dear [name], invoice [number], dated [date], for [work], was due on [date] and remains unpaid despite my reminders of [dates]. The amount now owed is [amount], including [interest or fees and the basis for them]. Please pay in full by [date, 14 days out]. If I receive neither payment nor a written explanation of any dispute by then, I will [file a small claims case / refer the debt for collection] without further notice, and I will seek interest and costs where the law allows. Copies of the contract, the invoice and the reminders are attached.

Whatever you write, keep it factual. Do not threaten anything you cannot do, contact the client's own customers, or name them publicly. Those moves can give a client a claim of their own and weaken yours.

Late feesWhat you can charge, by place

A late fee is a charge for paying after the due date, usually interest on the overdue balance. Default interest is the rate the law supplies when the contract names none. The difference matters: if you never agreed a fee, you generally cannot add one at day 14, but you may still be able to claim default interest when you sue. Common practice in the US is 1% to 1.5% a month, as our Net 30 guide explains; that is custom, not a legal maximum.

Sources: California, New York, Texas default and ceilings, Florida.

Three practical points follow from the table:

• Write "simple interest". 1.5% a month is 18% a year if simple, but 19.56% if compounded, which goes over an 18% ceiling such as Florida's.
• Add a safety phrase. "Or the highest rate allowed by law, if lower" helps if the rate turns out to be too high in the client's state.
• Be careful with flat fees. A flat $50 on a $200 invoice is 25% for one late day, and a charge out of proportion to your real loss can be challenged as a penalty. Percentages are easier to defend.

Freelancers in three states have a stronger law

New York, Illinois and California give solo freelancers their own payment rights. In all three, the client must pay by the date in the contract or, if there is none, within 30 days after the work is completed.

If one applies, name it in the day +14 note, since double damages change a client's arithmetic. These laws have limits. New York's covers one-person businesses and excludes attorneys, licensed medical professionals, construction contractors and sales representatives. Illinois and California have their own definitions and start dates, so read them before you cite them. The New York remedies are in §1414.

UK: statutory interest without a clause

For business-to-business invoices, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act lets you claim 8% plus the Bank of England rate, plus a fixed sum per invoice: £40 up to £999.99, £70 up to £9,999.99, and £100 from £10,000. It does not apply to sales to consumers. If no payment date was agreed, payment is late 30 days after the later of the invoice or delivery.

The detail people miss is which Bank Rate to use. The rate is fixed twice a year, using the rate on June 30 for interest that starts between July 1 and December 31, and the rate on December 31 for interest that starts between January 1 and June 30. The Bank raised its rate to 4% on November 5, 2026, but it was 3.75% on June 30. So:

The rules may tighten. The Commercial Payments Bill, introduced on May 19, 2026, would set a 60-day maximum for payment terms and make interest automatic, and the Small Business Commissioner's office has described a target of Royal Assent by the end of 2026 or early 2027. Until it passes and takes effect, the current Act is the law.

Stopping workYour leverage, and its risks

Pausing is often the only leverage you have, and it can backfire: if the contract does not allow it and a court finds the late payment too minor to justify it, you may become the party in breach. So read the contract first, give written notice as in the day +21 wording, and keep the pause clean.

Tradespeople often have stronger tools, with tight deadlines. In the UK, the Construction Act gives a right to suspend work for non-payment on at least seven days' written notice. In the US, a mechanic's lien (a legal claim against the property you worked on) can be the strongest route, but the clock is short: a California direct contractor must record it within 90 days of completion, or 60 days after an owner's notice of completion, whichever comes first. If this applies to you, check the deadline on day one, not day 45.

Getting it backSmall claims, collections or a lawyer

Small claims court is built for people without lawyers. It is usually the cheapest route for a clear debt from a client in your own area. The limit, and whether a business counts differently, depends on the place.

Sources: California limits, NYC commercial claims, Texas, Florida, England and Wales and fees. Deadlines: California, New York, Texas, Florida, England and Wales. The limit is £5,000 in both Scotland and Northern Ireland.

What an expert would add:

• Check who may file. In New York City, corporations and partnerships use the commercial claims part rather than regular small claims, must have their principal office in the state, and can file no more than five a month.
• Do not split a large debt. New York's court gives the example directly: you cannot bring $11,500 as a $10,000 claim and a $1,500 claim. Going over the limit usually means giving up the excess or using a higher court.
• Location decides whether it is practical. Small claims generally require the client to be within the court's area, so a client in another state or country is a much harder case, and it may be worth a lawyer's opinion before you spend more.
• A judgment is not cash. Winning gives you a right to collect, and you may still need to pursue the client's bank account, wages or assets through the court's enforcement process. Before filing, ask whether the client has anything to collect from.

A collection agency usually works on contingency: it keeps a percentage of what it recovers and charges nothing otherwise. One commercial agency, The Kaplan Group, quotes 25% on claims of $1,000–$9,999 (and only for established clients), and cites rates at other agencies that rise with age: 20% under 90 days, 25% at 90–180 days, 33% at 6–12 months and 40% at 1–2 years. Use these as a guide, and get the rate in writing.

Compare that with court. A 25% fee on $5,000 is $1,250. Filing the same claim costs £205 in England and Wales, about 4.1%, or at most $100 in California, if you can use small claims there. You do the work yourself, but on a clear debt, court is usually far cheaper. An agency makes more sense when you have no time, when the client is elsewhere, or when you just want it off your desk.

If the debt is a person's household bill rather than a business's, the rules tighten: the US Fair Debt Collection Practices Act covers household debts, not business debts. It applies mainly to third-party collectors, and many states have their own laws that can reach you directly. So keep your tone especially careful when you are chasing a homeowner.

A lawyer's letter sits between the two. On larger debts, a demand on a law firm's letterhead can settle things for a fixed fee, and it may be worth paying for before a claim over your small claims limit. Ask for the price up front.

The cost of waitingWhat each extra month takes

Waiting costs you twice: the money you could be using, and your odds of ever seeing it.

The interest is small next to the risk of never being paid. A widely repeated rule from the collections industry is that a debt six months past due has about a 50% chance of being collected, and one that is two years old about 10%. Kaplan describes this as an industry-wide understanding and cites no data, and other versions we found disagree on the exact numbers, so treat it as a direction, not a measurement. Run even that rough number through the example above: at six months, $5,000 × 50% × (1 − 33% fee) is an expected $1,675.

Losing the invoice costs more than the amount suggests, too. If your profit margin is 20%, replacing the profit on a written-off $2,000 invoice takes $10,000 of new sales. It also takes your time: as what to charge as a freelancer shows, chasing late payers is one of the unpaid hours your rate has to cover.

When to write it off

If a claim would cost more than the likely recovery, stop. Tax rules decide what you get back:

• US, cash method (most freelancers). You generally cannot deduct an unpaid invoice, because the income was never reported. The upside is that you owe no income tax on money you never received.
• US, accrual method. A business bad debt can be deductible if the amount was already included in income and has become worthless.
• UK, VAT-registered. You can usually reclaim the VAT once at least six months have passed since the later of the due date or the supply, you have paid it to HMRC and you have written the debt off in your accounts. Claims generally need to be made within four years and six months.

The other sideWhen the invoice is disputed

Not every client who withholds payment is in the wrong. Work may be late or below the agreed standard, or an invoice may include charges nobody approved.

If you are the client:

If you are the one being paid and the client raises a dispute: pause the reminders, ask for the objection in writing and answer it point by point. If they are right about part of it, issue a credit note against the original invoice number, and ask for the rest on a fresh date. Watch for two traps:

• A check marked "paid in full". In the US, cashing a check for less than you are owed, sent in good faith with a clear full-payment statement on a genuinely disputed debt, can settle the whole claim. Read the check and the letter before you deposit it, and get advice if the amount matters.
• A payment offered only if you take less. In California, once work has started, a client cannot make timely payment conditional on a freelancer accepting less than the contract says, or on providing more work or rights than were agreed.

Next timeTerms that prevent most of this

Every bit of leverage in this guide is stronger if you set it up before you start. How to invoice a client as a freelancer covers the invoice itself. These are the terms to add for the job after this one.

Here is a clause you can adapt, for a US contract:

Payment. Invoices are due on the date shown. Overdue balances accrue simple interest at 1.5% per month (18% per year), or the highest rate allowed by law if lower, from the due date until paid. If an invoice is more than 14 days overdue, Contractor may pause work on written notice, and deadlines extend by the length of the pause. Ownership of final deliverables passes to Client on payment in full.

Have a lawyer read it if your jobs are large. In the UK, you can leave interest out and rely on statutory interest, since a contract rate that counts as a substantial remedy can replace it. Saying "statutory interest applies under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998" on the invoice costs nothing and prompts payment.

Keep the scheduleWhere to run it

A schedule only works if the dates come round without you having to remember them. The tools below keep the invoice, the client and the follow-up in one place. Sending is always your decision; none of them sends a reminder to a client by itself.

Where these numbers come from

• Late-payment data. Xero Small Business Insights for the US, September quarter 2026 (published October 29, 2026), based on its small-business accounting data. QuickBooks Small Business Late Payments Report 2026, based on owner surveys (an ongoing quarterly survey of about 5,000 and a December 2025 survey of 1,305 US owners; the report does not say which survey produced each figure). The two measure different things, so they should not be compared directly.
• Arithmetic is in drafts/client-not-paying-invoice-what-to-do-numbers.mjs, with assertions: carrying costs (simple interest ÷ 365), default interest, the 19.56% compounded rate, UK interest and fixed sums, agency net amounts and deposit exposure. The Texas example counts interest from the 30th day after the due date, so 60 of the 90 days.
• Carrying rates of 10% and 24% are assumptions carried over from our Net 30 guide, and your own may differ. The 20% margin in the write-off example is illustrative.
• Legal figures were read from statutes, court sites and GOV.UK on November 5, 2026, where we could reach them. The England and Wales pre-action rule, the agency fee ranges and the collection odds come from a law firm's and an agency's own summaries, which have an interest in the subject and are not official data. The fees and odds come from sellers of the service, so they may lean toward using an agency early.
• The schedule is an editorial convention, not a tested method or a legal requirement.

FAQFrequently asked questions

What should I do first when a client doesn't pay an invoice?
Check that the invoice reached the right person with the right details, then send a short reminder the day after the due date with the invoice number, amount and due date, and ask for a payment date.

How long should I wait before chasing an unpaid invoice?
No longer than a day after the due date. The average US small-business invoice is paid about nine days late, so the first reminder should be polite, but sending it promptly costs you nothing and often surfaces a process problem early.

Can I add a late fee if it was not in the contract?
Generally not as a new charge. A fee should be agreed before the work. You may still be able to claim default interest in court: 10% a year after breach in California and 6% from the 30th day past due in Texas, for example. In the UK, statutory interest applies to business invoices without any clause.

Is it legal to charge 1.5% a month?
In many places, on a business invoice, if it was agreed in writing. It is 18% a year as simple interest, which sits right at ceilings such as Florida's, so compounding it can go over. Consumer invoices can face stricter rules, so check before you charge a household client.

Can I stop work if a client hasn't paid?
Often, but check the contract first. Give written notice, pause new work and do not undo work already delivered. A contract clause allowing a pause protects you, and a pause without one over a minor delay could put you in breach yourself.

Can I keep the files until they pay?
Usually you can hold back final deliverables you have not yet handed over, especially if the contract says ownership passes on payment. Do not delete, disable or lock anything the client already has or owns.

How much can I sue for in small claims court?
It depends on the place: for example $12,500 for individuals and $6,250 for businesses in California, $10,000 in New York City, $20,000 in Texas justice courts, $8,000 in Florida and £10,000 in England and Wales. Check the court's own site, since limits change.

Should I use a collection agency or small claims court?
Court is usually cheaper on a clear debt from a client near you: a filing fee against an agency fee that often starts around 20–25%. An agency makes sense if you have no time, the client is elsewhere or you would rather pay to have it handled. Neither helps if the client has nothing to collect.

What if the client goes bankrupt?
In the US, a bankruptcy filing stops collection of debts from before the filing, so stop chasing them directly and file a claim in the case as the court notice instructs. In any country, stop reminders once you have notice of an insolvency, and follow the instructions from the appointed official.

Can I write off an unpaid invoice on my taxes?
It depends on your accounting method. In the US, most freelancers use the cash method, so an unpaid invoice was never income and generally cannot be deducted. Accrual-method businesses may be able to deduct a worthless debt. UK VAT-registered businesses can usually reclaim VAT after six months.

The takeawayPut the dates in now

Many unpaid invoices are solved with a clear reminder sent on time, and the ones that are not get more expensive every week you wait. Decide today what you will do at days 1, 7, 14, 21, 30 and 45, send the first message, and put the next date on your calendar. Then add the client to the Client Tracker, so the next invoice to them goes out with a deposit attached.