Payment terms and a reminder sequence that gets you paid

Terms clients accept, and four polite messages for when the money is late.

Freelancers and small agencies tired of chasing invoices.invoicingpaymentsclients

Help me set payment terms and write a reminder sequence for late payments. You handle tone and structure; I will check the legal details for my country separately.

What I do and typical project size: <describe>
How I get paid today and what goes wrong: <e.g. net 30, paid at 60, no deposit>
Clients: <small businesses / corporates / individuals>
Country and currency: <so wording fits local practice>

Produce:
1. Recommended payment structure for my situation, with the reasoning: deposit %, milestones, due days, what triggers each invoice. Give two options: firmer and friendlier.
2. The exact terms paragraph to paste into proposals, under 120 words, plain language.
3. A reminder sequence, four messages: day 1 after due (friendly, assumes oversight), day 7 (clear, asks for a date), day 14 (firm, states what happens next), day 21 (final, calm, factual). Each under 80 words. No threats, no passive aggression.
4. What to do if they say "cash-flow problems": a two-sentence response and one payment-plan option.
5. Three things to change in my process so fewer invoices go late.

Mark anything that may depend on local law as [check locally].

Replace every <placeholder> with your own details before you send it.

How to use it

1Put the terms in the proposal, before the work starts. Reminders are much easier when the terms were agreed.
2Check the legal side for your country separately; the model writes tone and structure, not law.
3Send reminder 1 the day after the due date, not a week later.

Reviewed 2026-09-20

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