The accounts are finished. The unpaid invoice needs another email.
The accounts are done and the invoice is with the client, but the payment has not arrived. Now someone at the practice has to send a follow-up. It takes time from paid client work, and the wording can feel awkward.
A small task that breaks up the day
You finish a set of accounts, send the invoice and turn to the next client. Then the payment date passes. You check the ledger, confirm nothing has come in, find the right contact and work out how to sound firm without sounding irritated.
It is easy to put off. Cash flow waits, and when you do send the reminder, you have to switch from accounting work to a conversation you would rather avoid.
In a 2025 survey of accountancy and financial services business leaders, mostly one-person teams or micro firms, GoCardless reported that 40% spend over an hour a week chasing overdue invoices. The same survey found that 57% of small practices sometimes forfeit payments rather than deal with the hassle of chasing, while 25% had automated payment processes.
Accountants and bookkeepers know that discomfort. Ignition's 2022 State of Client Engagement found that 90% of accountants and bookkeepers had experienced awkward situations chasing late payment. In the previous 12 months, a third had written off all or part of an invoice to avoid an awkward conversation.
Let the crew prepare the draft
WorkMate OS has an Accounts mate for invoice and payment follow-up. It can prepare a reminder using the practice's stored voice and brand rules, with relevant invoice details available through the shared Brain. The owner reviews and approves the message before it goes out.
That review leaves room for judgement. The client may have queried the payment, asked for a correction or already spoken to you. The crew prepares routine follow-ups; the owner decides what to send.
No workflow to build yourself
You do not need to write code, connect apps or design an automation. The Accounts mate belongs to a crew of named teammates that share one Brain. A correction about a client or the practice's preferred wording can carry over between sessions.
WorkMate OS keeps an activity log of what ran and what it produced. You can review the draft and its context, then approve or change it. For a related example of why approval belongs in the process, read Who is allowed to press send? The same draft-and-review approach applies to the wider admin queue, as described in The workflow is not the working week.
Keep the client relationship yours
An overdue invoice still calls for good judgement. A templated reminder will not settle a dispute about the amount or replace a conversation when one is needed. For routine follow-ups, though, the first draft can be ready before you find a quiet moment to write it.
The crew prepares the message. The owner checks it, and the client hears from the practice without every reminder having to start from scratch.