Problems / get-invoices-paid

How to get customers to pay their invoices — without chasing them yourself

In 18 of the 22 industries we checked, the tools that chase unpaid invoices for you are already in software you pay for. They just come switched off.

18 industries share this problem · prices checked 27 July 2026 · no affiliate links

What to know

18 of 22

You probably already own the fix

Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks and most industry programs can send payment reminders for you. Free — but off until you turn them on.

7 / 14 / 30

Three reminders, then it's handled

A reminder at 7, 14 and 30 days overdue. Turn them off for your biggest customers — those deserve a phone call, not an email.

Gyms

A failed card is not a rude customer

Most gym payment problems are just expired cards. The software can retry the card and text the member a link to fix it themselves.

One rule

Never automate legal letters or trust money

Late-rent notices with legal force, and money held in trust, must stay in the official system. Automate when reminders go out — never what they say.

How to implement this today

  1. 1

    Open Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks settings and turn on invoice reminders at 7, 14 and 30 days overdue.

  2. 2

    Exclude your biggest accounts from the reminders — ring those yourself.

  3. 3

    On an industry platform (gym, property, legal, strata)? Turn on its payment recovery or arrears automation instead.

  4. 4

    Let it run for one billing cycle, then check what's still outstanding — that short list is your phone-call list.

The fixes, industry by industry

All 20 fixes are already in software you might pay for.

Pick your industry to see what applies to you — or browse the lot. Prices as checked in each source guide on 27 July 2026.

Already in software you might pay for · 20

Turn on invoice reminders for your own fees

The feature you configure for clients weekly and leave off for the firm. Reminders at 7, 14 and 30 days on your own fees, with your largest clients excluded because those need a partner's call.

Xero (your own subscription)$0 — included, off by defaultSetup guide ↗

Works in 2 industries

Send late-payment reminders automatically

Reminders at 7, 14 and 30 days for third-party and plan balances, with hardship accounts excluded because those need a phone call.

Allied Health · Dental

Xero$0 — included, off by default

Works in 2 industries

Send late-invoice reminders automatically

Reminders at 7, 14 and 30 days, with your builder accounts excluded because a builder who owes you for three fit-offs needs a phone call, not an email.

Electrical · Pest Control

Xero$0 — included, off by default

Works in 2 industries

Send payment reminders to commercial accounts automatically

Office and strata contracts on 14 and 30-day terms chased automatically, with your anchor accounts excluded because those need a phone call.

Cleaning · Landscaping & Lawn Care

Xero$0 — included, off by default

Veterinary≈3 hrs/mo

Turn on invoice reminders

For the balances that don't settle at the desk — payment plans, insurance gap accounts, the occasional slow client. Built in, off by default, with hardship accounts excluded because those need a phone call.

Xero$0 — included, off by defaultSetup guide ↗

Works in 2 industries

Send late-invoice reminders automatically

Reminders at 7, 14 and 30 days, with builder and strata accounts excluded because those need a phone call, not an email.

Plumbing · HVAC & Refrigeration

Xero or MYOB$0 — included, off by default

Roofing5 hrs/mo

Send progress-payment reminders automatically

Deposit, mid-build, completion — reminders per stage, with insurance-paid jobs excluded and lien deadlines flagged before they lapse.

Xero or QuickBooks$0 — included, off by default

Roofing≈5 hrs/mo

Send invoice and progress-payment reminders

Roofing invoices are big and staged — deposit, mid-build, completion. Automatic reminders per stage, off by default, with insurance-paid jobs excluded because the carrier's timeline is not the homeowner's fault.

Xero or QuickBooks$0 — included, off by defaultSetup guide ↗

Auto Repair4 hrs/mo

Invoice at pickup, then remind automatically

Invoice generated from the job card at pickup, with automatic reminders for the account customers and fleet work that doesn't pay on the day.

Workshop software + Xero$0 — included

Send timesheet and invoice reminders on schedule

Contractor timesheet reminders and client invoice follow-ups on a fixed cadence — the Friday-afternoon chase that consumes a consultant's best hours, automated.

Your ATS/payroll + Xero$0 — included

Send payment reminders on a set schedule

Premium funding and direct invoices chased at 7, 14 and 30 days automatically, with your largest accounts excluded because those need a phone call.

Your broking system or Xero$0 — included

Gyms & Fitness Studios≈20–40% of churn is involuntary

Fix the failed payment before you lose the member

The card expired, the charge bounced, the access stopped, and a member who loved the place quietly became a churn statistic. Pre-billing reminders, smart retries and a fix-it link recover most of these — this is found revenue, not marketing.

Gymdesk billing recovery$0 — included

Let the software chase failed payments

Retries, notifications and self-service card updates run without the front desk making a single awkward call — and the daily billing report tells you what needs a human.

Gymdesk billing recovery$0 — included

Gyms & Fitness Studiosrecovers silent churn

Retry failed payments automatically

Automatic retry schedules on failed charges, expired-card and overdue notifications with a link for the member to fix it themselves, and a daily billing report — the involuntary-churn machinery, shipped as standard and routinely left on defaults.

Gymdesk$0 — includedSetup guide ↗

Law Firms4 hrs/mo

Take card payments and payment plans in your software

Card payments on invoices and structured payment plans through the platform — collections handled by machinery, with trust-money rules never touched by anything outside the compliant system.

Your legal practice platform$0 — included

Works in 2 industries

Chase late rent automatically, on the legal timeline

Reminders on the prescribed timeline, escalating on schedule, with every action logged — the follow-up that must never be late or unrecorded, done by the system.

Property Management · Property Management

PropertyMe$0 — includedSetup guide ↗

Strata & Owners Corporationevery scheme, every cycle

Chase late levies automatically

Levies overdue, reminder issued, escalation staged on the prescribed timeline, every action logged. Cash flow for the scheme, defensibility for you, and hours back for the manager who was doing it by hand.

Your strata platform (Urbanise / MRI)$0 — included

Send every scheme's levy notices in one run

The whole portfolio's notices produced from budgets and issued electronically where addresses allow — the quarterly week that becomes an afternoon.

Your strata platform (Urbanise / MRI)$0 — included

Create levy notices and chase arrears automatically

Levy notices and staged debt recovery generated straight from the approved budget — the single largest repeating admin block in the business, automated. Operators report tens of hours a month back once it's configured.

Urbanise Strata$0 — includedSetup guide ↗

Chase late levies in staged steps

Arrears reminders and a staged recovery process with state-specific handling (including NSW arrears notices), plus levy notices by email or SMS with merge fields — the prescribed-timeline work, run by the system rather than remembered.

MRI Strata Master$0 — includedSetup guide ↗

When not to solve this with software

Three source guides mark where the automation must stop: at prescribed legal documents and at regulated money.

AI-drafted breach notices and arrears letters. property management guide

These documents have prescribed forms, prescribed timelines and legal consequences when wrong. Automate the schedule that sends them; the wording comes from your compliance-checked templates, not a generator.

Automating trust accounting outside your legal platform. law firms guide

Trust money is strict-liability, audited, and career-ending to get wrong. It moves only inside the compliant system built and certified for it — no spreadsheet sync, no third-party automation, no exceptions for convenience.

Automating trust accounting outside your strata platform. strata & owners corporation guide

Strata trust money is audited and state-regulated, and reconciliation errors are a licence problem, not an accounting one. It moves only inside the compliant system — no spreadsheet bridges, no third-party sync for convenience.

The source guides

Every fix above comes from a Comora AI guide, researched and price-checked by hand (27 July 2026). The full playbook for each industry — the thirty-day order of work, the complete stack, the official setup links — lives on its guide:

No vendor pays for placement and Comora takes no affiliate fee, referral cut, or commission from anything named on this page.

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