As of 13 August 2026, AI can create a sequence of overdue invoice emails.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open the accounting system and copy the invoice number, customer name, invoice date, due date, outstanding amount, currency and payment status into a working document.
   2. Open the relevant contract, purchase order and credit-control policy, then record the agreed payment terms, payment details, approved escalation steps and any restrictions on contacting this customer.
   3. Gather the dates and substance of previous payment communications, along with any known dispute, promised payment date, credit note or payment already received.
   4. Paste the gathered facts into the prompt and run it in a chatbot, replacing every bracketed slot and leaving missing information marked for confirmation.
   5. Compare each drafted email against the accounting system, contract, customer record and credit-control policy, checking every amount, date, invoice reference, payment instruction and escalation statement.
   6. Ask a finance colleague or authorised manager to approve the sequence and sending points, then send each email through the approved business email system and record the contact in the accounting system.

   Prompt

   Create a professional overdue invoice email sequence for a UK business.
   
   Business name: [BUSINESS NAME]
   Customer name and organisation: [CUSTOMER NAME AND ORGANISATION]
   Invoice number: [INVOICE NUMBER]
   Invoice date: [INVOICE DATE]
   Due date: [DUE DATE]
   Amount outstanding and currency: [AMOUNT]
   Purchase order or contract reference: [REFERENCE OR NONE]
   Goods or services supplied: [DESCRIPTION]
   Previous contact about payment: [DATES AND SUMMARY OR NONE]
   Payment method and payment details: [DETAILS]
   Preferred payment deadline in the first email: [DATE]
   Credit-control or escalation policy: [POLICY]
   Named contact and contact details: [CONTACT DETAILS]
   
   Draft a sequence of four emails: an initial reminder, a firmer follow-up, a final pre-escalation notice and an escalation email. Use a calm, factual UK business tone. State only facts supplied above. Do not invent late-payment charges, interest, legal rights, court action, deadlines, payment arrangements or reasons for non-payment. Do not threaten legal action or claim that a debt is undisputed. If a necessary fact is missing, mark it as [NEEDS CONFIRMATION] rather than guessing.
   
   For each email provide a subject line, recommended sending point relative to the previous email, plain-text body, and the action requested from the customer. Keep each email concise. Include an invitation to report a dispute or payment already made. Make the escalation proportionate and direct the sender to obtain internal approval before sending it. End with a short checklist of every factual item that must be checked against the accounting system, contract and approved credit-control policy before sending.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.