Send payment reminders

Use this guide if some customers pay later than at checkout, for example on bank transfer or payment terms, and you want Invoice Falcon to chase unpaid invoices for you. By the end, customers with an unpaid invoice will get a reminder email, with the invoice attached, every few days until the order is paid.

Before you begin

• Automatic payment reminders need the Pro plan.
• Reminders only start for orders that got an automatic invoice when they came in. Turn on Send invoices automatically first, or Send me a copy under Copies.
• Only orders placed after you turn reminders on are included. Orders that are already unpaid don’t get reminders.
• Reminders only go to orders whose payment status in Shopify is Payment pending. Partially paid orders don’t get reminders.
• Each reminder is worked out from the invoice’s due date. An order needs a due date, from Shopify payment terms or from Due after (days).

What customers will see

An email from your store with the invoice attached as a PDF. The default subject is “{{shop_name}} - Reminder for your Invoice {{order_number}}”, and the default message says the invoice is past due and asks the customer to ignore it if they’ve already paid.

If you send reminders before the due date, change the message so it doesn’t say “past due”. See Customize your invoice emails.

A customer gets at most one reminder a day. Reminders stop by themselves once the order is paid, refunded, voided, or cancelled in Shopify.

Set it up

1. Open your Shopify admin and click Invoice Falcon in the left menu.
2. Click Settings in the app’s menu. The Emails tab opens.
3. In the Payment reminders section, click Customize. The Payment reminders editor opens.
4. In the editor’s sidebar, under Sending, click Reminder schedule.
5. Next to Send payment reminders, click Turn on.
6. Under Schedule, fill in:
   1. Due after (days): how many days after the order an invoice is due, for example 30.
   2. Remind every (days): the number of days between reminders, for example 5.
   3. Send: choose After the due date, Before the due date, or Before and after.
7. Optional: under Recipients, enter addresses in Also send to, separated by commas, to copy someone such as your accounts team on every reminder.
8. Optional: tick Only send to these addresses, not the customer to send reminders only to those addresses. The box appears once Also send to has an address.
9. Click Save in the bar at the top of the page.

If you see “Reminders only start for orders that got an automatic invoice. Turn on automatic invoices first.”, automatic invoices are off. Click Automatic invoices in the sidebar and turn them on.

To change the reminder email, click Subject and message in the same editor.

How the schedule works

• Due date. If a Shopify order has payment terms, such as Net 30, its due date comes from those terms. Otherwise it is the order date plus Due after (days). Orders already paid when they come in get no due date and no reminders.
• Timing. Reminders are counted from the due date, not from the last reminder. With Remind every (days) set to 5 and After the due date, the customer gets a reminder about 5, 10, 15 days after the due date, and so on, until they pay.
• Before the due date. Reminders count down to the due date instead, about every 5 days before it. Before and after does both.
• Changing the schedule. Remind every (days) and Send apply to every invoice in the reminder cycle. A new Due after (days) applies to new invoices. Existing invoices may keep the due date they already have.

When an invoice with reminders gets paid, Invoice Falcon emails you to say it’s been paid and that its reminders have stopped.

Check your setup

1. In the editor, click Subject and message, then click Send test email under the preview. Check the reminder in your inbox.
2. Place a test order in your store with your own email address and a payment method that leaves it unpaid, such as a manual payment method.
3. Check that the invoice email arrives. Reminders for this order follow the schedule you set.

In Settings > Emails, the Payment reminders section shows a summary such as “Every 5 days after the due date (due after 30 days) · Sent to the customer”.

Troubleshooting

An unpaid order never got a reminder

Check these in order:

1. The order came in after you turned reminders on, and got an automatic invoice.
2. The order’s payment status in Shopify is Payment pending. Partially paid orders don’t get reminders.
3. The order has a due date, from Shopify payment terms or from Due after (days).
4. Enough days have passed. With After the due date, the first reminder goes out about one Remind every (days) period after the due date.
5. The order has a customer email address.

My existing unpaid orders don't get reminders

That’s expected. Only orders placed after you turned reminders on, with an automatic invoice, are included. For an older order, send the invoice again yourself from its page with Send > Review & send, and write your reminder in the subject and message.

I can't turn on Send payment reminders

Reminders need the Pro plan. Click the lock next to Send payment reminders to see upgrade options. See Invoice Falcon pricing and plans.

The reminder says past due before the due date

The default message is written for reminders after the due date. In the Payment reminders editor, click Subject and message and change the message.

FAQ

Does turning on reminders affect orders I already have?

No. Only new orders placed after you turn reminders on are included. Existing unpaid orders don’t get reminders.

Can I send a reminder for one invoice myself?

There’s no separate reminder button. Open the order’s page, click Send > Review & send, write your reminder in the subject and message, and click Send invoice. See Email an invoice to a customer.

Do reminders stop when the customer pays?

Yes. Once the order is paid in Shopify, no more reminders go out for it, and Invoice Falcon emails you to let you know.

Can my accounts team get the reminders too?

Yes. Enter their address in Also send to. To send reminders only to them and not the customer, tick Only send to these addresses, not the customer.

Can customers pay straight from the reminder?

The reminder includes the invoice PDF, so if your invoice template has the Pay now link turned on, customers can pay from the PDF. See Let customers pay with a Pay now link.

Related guides

• Send invoices automatically, which reminders need.
• Customize your invoice emails, to change the reminder text.
• Let customers pay with a Pay now link, so customers can pay in one click.
• Troubleshoot invoice emails, when an email doesn’t arrive.