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For home services business owners · Quotes and money

Write a polite reminder for an unpaid invoice

A reminder for an open invoice that fits how late it is and names the job, and that stops for you if the customer questioned the work.

By Aaron Byrne, KeenHand

The prompt

Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and fill in each part in [BRACKETS]. Owners and whoever handles billing.

I run a home services business. A job is finished and the invoice is still open. I want a reminder that is polite, clear about which job it is for, and right for how late it is.

What I have:
- The invoice: the job, the day we finished, the invoice number and how long it has been open: [INVOICE DETAILS]
- Reminders already sent and any reply from the customer: [PAST REMINDERS]
- How customers can pay us: [HOW TO PAY]
- How firm I want to be at each stage: [MY REMINDER STAGES]

What I want:
1. Read any reply from the customer first. If they questioned the work, the amount or the bill, stop and tell me. Do not write a reminder.
2. Otherwise, use my stages to work out which reminder this is, and write it.
3. Name the job and the invoice number so they know what it is for, and give only the ways to pay I listed.
4. Keep it short and polite at every stage. Firmer means clearer, never rude.

Rules:
- Write a draft for me to read. Do not send anything.
- Use only what I gave you. If something is missing, ask me instead of guessing.
- Never offer a payment plan or a discount, or drop a fee. Never mention collections or a lien unless my stages say so.
- Leave out card details, bank details and anything else private.

Give me back:
- The reminder for this stage, ready for me to edit
- Or, if they questioned the work or the bill, a note telling me to call

When to use it

The job is done, the invoice went out, and it is still open past the day you expected to be paid.

When not to

Do not use it to set up a payment plan, drop a fee, or answer a customer who says the work was not right. Those are your calls.

What to paste in

  • [INVOICE DETAILS]: The job, the day it was finished, the invoice number and how long it has been open. The customer's first name only.
  • [PAST REMINDERS]: What went out and when, and any reply word for word, or none.
  • [HOW TO PAY]: The ways you take payment, such as the pay link on the invoice, a check or a call to the office.
  • [MY REMINDER STAGES]: How firm you want to be and when, for example a friendly note at one week and a call from you at a month.

Never paste

  • Card numbers, bank details or anything from a payment screen
  • The customer's last name or street address

A filled-in example

Sample. Fictional business, fictional client.

INVOICE DETAILS: Pat, water heater replacement, finished Sept 18, invoice 2207, open 26 days.
PAST REMINDERS: Friendly email Sept 25. No reply.
HOW TO PAY: Pay link on the invoice, or a check mailed to the office.
MY REMINDER STAGES: Day 7 friendly email. Day 21 short text with the pay link. Day 30 I call them myself.

What you should get back

  • A reminder that fits the stage, naming the job and invoice number
  • Only the ways to pay you listed
  • No payment plan, discount or threat you did not approve
  • A stop and a note for you if the customer questioned the work

What stays with you

The prompt writes a draft. You decide what happens to it, and nothing should reach a customer until you have read it. Decisions about money stay with a person every time, and so do health questions and complaints. When KeenHand builds a routine like this, every message carries the same four decisions: Automate, Approve, Revise, Reject.

More: every prompt for home services, quotes and money, and AI for home services.

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