| Nutzer | Initiator des Themas: carol so Suggestions on payment reminder |
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carol so 
Vereinigtes Königreich
 Mitglied (Apr 2008)
Englisch > Chinesisch
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I have this little query on how payment reminder should be written. I am thinking about sending a reminder to someone I have worked for, and havent paid me yet. It's been about a month and a half since the invoice was sent, and I wonder if they just forget to pay me.
Personally I believe that they will pay and we have a good cooperation so far, so I am not sure how the reminder should be written. I want it to be polite and obviously do its job at the same time.
So what would you write normally if you have to send a payment reminder? How can I be polite and make myself clear enough? When will you send the payment reminder normally?
Sorry this sounds a silly question, but I would like to be professional, and really dont want to ruin the relationship or sound too pushy.
Any ideas, comments and suggestions are welcomed.
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Jenny Forbes
Vereinigtes Königreich
 Mitglied (2006)
Französisch > Englisch
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Well, to begin with, I'd email them saying something like "When checking my bank account today I noticed that you have not yet paid me the €XXX due to me for your order number YYYY that I delivered to you on [date], as agreed. This sum is now somewhat overdue and your settlement would be welcome. I attach the corresponding invoice as a reminder. Please let me know what is happening about this".
Then, if you receive no reply, you should telephone them.
Best of luck,
Jenny
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Amy Duncan
Brasilien
Mitglied (2005)
Portugiesisch > Englisch
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Hi Carol,
I just wrote one of these yesterday. It went like this:
Dear XXXX,
According to my records, I have a payment from your company that was due on September 15 that I haven't received yet:
[Then I wrote the details about the job, attached invoice, etc.]
Could you check this for me please?
Thanks!
Amy Duncan
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Lenah Susianty
Vereinigtes Königreich
Mitglied (2004)
Englisch > Bahasa Indonesia
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| | simple to the point | Sep 22 |
Usually I just say 'dearxxx this is a friendly reminder that the payment of my invoice xxx is due now, thank you for your attention'
That's the first reminder, the second and third will sound more serious .
Lenah
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Morgane17
Vereinigte Staaten
Mitglied (2007)
Englisch > Französisch
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This is the template that I have used so far.
To whom it may concern, or Dear XXXX
I write to inform you that I have not yet received payment of invoice XXX for the amount of XXX due on XXXX
I have enclosed a full statement of your account as of today. (if applicable)
I'm sure you must have mistakenly overlooked this but could I ask that you give it your prompt attention now.
If payment has already been sent, please disregard this letter. If you have any queries about your account, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best regards,
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carol so
Vereinigtes Königreich
Mitglied (Apr 2008)
Englisch > Chinesisch
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Thank you very much for all your input.
I find that some project managers tend to deal with the invoices only after they have finished all other things, and so sometimes they just forget / too busy to deal with payment (if the same person has to manage the payment as well as the projects), and so a friendly reminder would be very useful.
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Marie-Hélène Hayles
Italien
Mitglied (2004)
Italienisch > Englisch
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I always say "According to my records I have not received payment of invoice no. .... I would be grateful if you would check your records". This avoids the aggression of "you haven't paid me" - which may not be true: bank errors do happen - while still reminding them that you exist and you're waiting to be paid.
So essentially the same as Amy - avoiding any hint of them being at fault, at least at the first reminder stage.
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Jack Doughty
Vereinigtes Königreich
Mitglied
Russisch > Englisch
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At least you can get an immediate contact of some kind that way; emails can be ignored. And I usually leave the option open for them to think that it might be my fault - if they've paid, could they please send me the details so I can get my record-keeping straight. It almost always works.
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Caryl Swift
Polen
Mitglied (2006)
Polnisch > Englisch
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| | Polite and friendly | Sep 23 |
If it's a client with whom I either already have a good working relationship, or with whom I'm hoping to establish long-term cooperation, then I write something along the lines of:
Dear X,
I have just been checking my records and I have no record of having received payment of my invoice for work carried out for (name of company/agency) in (whatever month it was). Could I ask you if you would be kind enough to look into it for me?
I have attached the invoice again, for ease of reference. It was originally sent to you on (date it was sent).
So, much the same as Amy and Marie-Hélène - and so far it seems to have worked (touch wood!)
Good luck!
Caryl
[Edited at 2008-09-23 01:41]
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Edward Potter
Spanien
Mitglied (2003)
Spanisch > Englisch
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This thread has a lot of good advice.
I think most people use email first. Phoning is another good option. The first time should be polite.
Does anyone have a good standard "reminder" text in Spanish?
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FORMATION CFK
Frankreich
 Partial member
Englisch > Französisch
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| | Can you forward/resend the email w/the invoice attached ? | Sep 26 |
Dear Carol,
I fully concur with the other respondants, as the first reminder has to be rather soft.
Sometimes, for reasons that are difficult to understand, the file with the invoice (sometimes, the file with the translation) arrives in the Spam box. Everything is possible.
What I tend to do is the following:
I resend/forward the original email with the invoice: hence, the client can see the date when it was sent, that may be important for them to check the records.
And, before the original message appears, I write a short message like :
"Dear XXX, as far as my bank statement shows, the invoice YYY for ZZZ EUR, due on TTT, has not been paid yet. I send you again the original file and the invoice, so you can check your records. I thank you in advance for your prompt payment. Please find my bank details / paypal details below.
Thanks and best..."
Sometimes clients want to make sure you sent the invoice on time, so if you don't send the original message again, there may be some additional delay.
Another thing that works fine is, at the end of each month, to send a "reconciliation of invoices": you send each client the list of all invoices which are due on the last day of the month, with the job reference, invoice nb, amount, and, of course, the total.
If the client has difficulties to pay you, they'll let you know then. If they are good clients, it can be manageable to consider payment by instalments.
Good luck,
Best
Coralie.
 
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Tom in London
Vereinigtes Königreich
Partial member
Italienisch > Englisch
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I can't see any reason to be soft. If they haven't paid you within the agreed deadline, I don't see why you should be nice to them. Is it the fear that they might not pay you?
Nor can I see any reason to let them off the hook because someone in the office might be too busy to deal with payments. If that's the way their office works, then they need a good kick up the **** !!!!
[Edited at 2008-10-12 09:22]
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The translation workplace 
