It's Friday evening. Three invoices are past 60 days and salaries go out on the 1st. You've typed a WhatsApp reminder to a founder you are pitching again next month. Then you delete it.
If you run a small studio or agency of two to ten people, you are probably the person who sends the invoices and makes the awkward calls. This post is a weekly payment follow-up routine for that person: 30 minutes, one list, and what to send at each stage. I run a small design studio myself, 11pixels, and I built Riffit, so I'll say where a tool helps and where it doesn't.
Why follow-ups slip in a small studio
It is rarely laziness. It is usually three things.
- You sell to the same people you chase. The founder who owes you ₹1,80,000 is also the person approving next quarter's work.
- There is no slot for it. Chasing happens when you feel brave, which is not often.
- There is no list. You know roughly who owes you. Roughly is how an invoice reaches 90 days.
Meanwhile the costs don't wait. Salaries and vendors fall due on fixed dates. If you are GST registered, the GST on an invoice can fall due when you issue it, even if the client has not paid. Ask your CA how that applies to you.
You would probably rather the reminder came from a process, or from "accounts", than from you personally. You can get most of that without hiring anyone.
The routine: 30 minutes, same slot, every week
Pick one slot and put it in your calendar as a meeting with yourself. I'd pick Tuesday morning. Accounts teams often release vendor payments in a weekly or fortnightly batch, so a nudge early in the week has a chance of making the next run.
- Minutes 0 to 10: update the list. Mark what came in. Note what was promised.
- Minutes 10 to 25: send whatever each invoice's stage calls for. Messages are below.
- Minutes 25 to 30: for anything past 30 days, decide one action: a call, a formal letter or a pause.
Nothing else happens in this slot. And no chasing happens outside it, unless a promised date passes. That stops the money from sitting in your head all week.
The one list to look at
Every open invoice gets one row. Six columns are enough.
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Client and invoice number | Vivek's company, INV26-052 |
| Amount pending | What is still due after any part payments |
| Days overdue | Counted from the due date, not the invoice date |
| Last contact | Date, who you spoke to, what they said |
| Next promised date | The date they gave you, in their words |
| Who releases payment | A name, not "accounts" |
Sort it by days overdue, oldest first. A spreadsheet is fine if you keep it current. I've written about what works in a payment tracker and where a sheet starts to break.
What to send at each stage
These are for a business client with an accounts contact. Send them by email, in a thread that is only about this invoice. Use a subject line like "INV26-052, ₹1,80,000, due 20 October". For clients who live on WhatsApp, use these WhatsApp reminder scripts instead.
The example: an invoice dated 5 October for ₹1,80,000, due in 15 days. Sunita is the accounts contact. Vivek is the founder.
3 days before the due date (to accounts)
Hi Sunita, a quick note that INV26-052 for ₹1,80,000 is due on 20 October. Is there anything you need from our side to process it, such as a PO reference or a document? A copy is attached.
On the due date (to accounts)
Hi Sunita, INV26-052 for ₹1,80,000 is due today. Could you confirm the date it is scheduled for payment?
7 days overdue (to accounts)
Hi Sunita, INV26-052 for ₹1,80,000 was due on 20 October and is now 7 days overdue. Could you tell me the date it will be released? If it is waiting on an approval, please let me know who it is with.
15 days overdue (to the founder, in a separate thread)
Hi Vivek, I'm keeping this separate from the project thread. INV26-052 for ₹1,80,000 is 15 days overdue and I don't have a payment date from accounts yet. Could you help me get one this week? A date is all I need to plan.
30 days overdue (to the founder, accounts in copy)
Hi Vivek, INV26-052 for ₹1,80,000 is now 30 days overdue against our agreed 15-day term. I need a confirmed payment date by Friday. If part of it can be released now, please send that and tell me the date for the balance. As per our terms, new work pauses when an invoice crosses 30 days, so the November deliverables are on hold until this is cleared.
45 days overdue (formal, to both)
Dear Vivek, invoice INV26-052 dated 5 October for ₹1,80,000 is 45 days overdue. Reminders were sent on 17 October, 20 October, 27 October, 4 November and 19 November. Please arrange payment by 11 December, or reply with a confirmed payment date. Work on your account remains paused until then.
At 45 days the tone has done what it can. If you haven't already sent a formal payment request letter at around 30 days, send it now. It is the step before a legal notice.
If your studio has Udyam registration, this is also the point to ask a CA or lawyer about the MSME route. As of October 2026, under the MSMED Act a buyer must pay a registered micro or small supplier within the period agreed in writing, which cannot be longer than 45 days from acceptance of the work, or within 15 days of acceptance if nothing was agreed in writing. That protection depends on Udyam registration before the work was supplied, and the MSME ODR portal takes delayed-payment cases. Rules change, so confirm first. I go through what registration changes in the corporate payment terms post.
Ask for a payment date, not a payment
Asking someone to pay gets you "will do". Asking which date gets you a date, or at least a reason, and either is more use than "will do".
Write the date in your list. If it passes, your next message is not a new request. It is a follow-up on their own promise.
Hi Sunita, you mentioned INV26-052 would be released on 10 November. It hasn't reached us yet. What is the new date?
That is the one exception to the weekly slot. A missed promise gets a message the next morning.
Get the name of the person who releases payments
Your day-to-day contact approves the work. Someone else releases the money, often a person in accounts you have never met.
Ask once, early:
Who releases vendor payments at your end, and is there a fixed day they go out?
Put the name in your list. From then on, write to that person and keep your contact in copy.
Keep the money conversation away from the relationship
This is the part owners find hardest, so make it structural.
- Different thread. Never drop a reminder into the project WhatsApp group or the creative email chain. The invoice has its own thread.
- Different person, where you can. Even in a two-person studio, the partner who doesn't run that client can send the money emails. The client hears about money from one of you and about work from the other.
- If it is only you: let the routine nudges come from a system, and keep your own voice for the 15-day and 30-day messages.
That last one is where Riffit fits. It shows every open invoice in one place, with overdue shown automatically. Part payments are recorded against the invoice and the balance stays tracked. Reminders go out from Riffit on your behalf: the email shows your studio name followed by "via Riffit", and replies come to your own email address. On Free, that is one automatic email on the due date. On Pro, it is a schedule you set, before, on and after the due date, by email and WhatsApp. Every unpaid invoice you have sent also has a Send Reminder button, on every plan.
Where it falls short: you can't send reminders from your own email address, Riffit is single-user (one login, yours), and it does not detect payments, so you mark invoices paid yourself. A scheduled nudge suits the client who forgot. A corporate accounts desk may ignore it, so the 15-day and 30-day messages are still yours to send.
Free covers 5 invoices a month and 5 clients. A studio with more than that needs Pro, which is ₹249/month or ₹199/month billed yearly. There is a 14-day Pro trial, no card.
See every open invoice with overdue shown automatically, and let the routine reminders go out from Riffit on your behalf.Try Riffit freePause new work at a stated number of days
The 30-day message above only works if the pause was in your terms from the start. Then it is policy, not a threat.
Put one line in every quote:
New work pauses when any invoice is more than 30 days overdue, and resumes on payment.
Pick a number you will keep. If you say 30 and carry on at 60, the client learns the real number is "never".
One honest caveat. If a single client is most of your revenue, a full stop may not be possible. Then pause what you can: no new scope, no extra revisions, and no costs paid out of your own pocket on their behalf.
What to change upstream
The routine handles invoices that are already late. These make fewer of them late.
- Take an advance. Even a part advance means you are chasing less, later.
- Bill in milestones. Three invoices of ₹60,000 are easier to collect, and to pause on, than one of ₹1,80,000 at the end.
- State terms on the quote. Due days, the pause line, and the email address invoices should go to.
- Collect the payment details at the start. The name of the person who releases payments and their payment day, before the first invoice goes out.
Some clients will be late whatever you do. The routine means you notice on day one instead of day sixty. Block next Tuesday morning before you close this tab.
FAQ
Once a week, in a fixed 30-minute slot. Look at every open invoice, send the message that matches its stage, and decide one action for anything more than 30 days overdue.
Separate the two conversations. Keep payment emails in their own thread, address them to the accounts contact, and ask for a payment date instead of asking them to pay. In a two-person studio, let the partner who does not run that client send the money emails.
At the number of days stated in your terms. A common choice is to pause new work when any invoice is more than 30 days overdue and resume on payment. Put that line in the quote so the pause is policy the client already agreed to.
From Riffit, on your behalf. The email shows your business name followed by the words via Riffit, and replies go to your own email address. On Free, Riffit sends one automatic email on the due date. On Pro, it sends a schedule you set before, on and after the due date, by email and WhatsApp. You cannot send reminders from your own address.
Only as one account. Riffit is single-user, with one login, so a studio uses it through whoever runs the invoicing. It also does not detect payments: clients pay straight to your own UPI ID, and you mark invoices paid yourself, recording part payments as they arrive.