Client gone quiet on an overdue invoice? A consultant’s payment-chasing plan

Check the invoice, purchase order and payment contact

Before sending another chase, put the invoice beside the agreed scope and relevant payment terms. Check the client’s billing details, amount, due date, payment instructions and any purchase order reference requested for the work. Look for evidence that you sent it through the agreed route, whether that was an email address or the client’s supplier system.

For a consultancy assignment, also gather the relevant delivery or approval trail: for example, the email acknowledging your report or confirming completion of a milestone. Keep this ready rather than attaching the whole project history to every reminder. If you spot an administrative error, explain the correction and ask the client to confirm the payment date; do not leave the revised paperwork to disappear into the same silence.

• Check whether the invoice was received, not just whether you sent it.
• Confirm that any purchase order reference matches the work being invoiced.
• Identify the person or team responsible for processing payment.
• Keep the invoice, agreed terms and delivery evidence together.

Send a short reminder that asks for a specific payment date

Make the next message easy to answer. Include the invoice reference, outstanding amount and original due date, attach the invoice and ask when payment will reach your account. Choose a reasonable response date and state it clearly. That is a deadline for answering your query, not an invitation to leave the payment date undefined.

Use a template such as: “Hello [name], invoice [reference] for £[amount], due on [date], remains outstanding. I have attached a copy. Please confirm by [response date] the date payment will reach my account. If anything is preventing payment, please identify the issue and who can resolve it. Thank you.” Keep the language neutral: you are asking for payment and a concrete answer, not speculating about the client’s motives.

Escalate from your project contact to accounts payable

If your project contact stays silent, change the route rather than simply making the email more forceful. Contact accounts payable or the finance contact you have on file, copying your project contact where appropriate. Explain that the invoice is overdue and that you need to establish its payment status. If you do not have a finance contact, ask the client’s usual business contact channel who handles supplier invoices.

Ask whether the invoice is recorded, whether approval is outstanding and who owns the next action. If someone says it is “with the team”, ask which team and when you should expect confirmation. If they refer to a payment run, ask for the date funds are expected to reach your account. Follow any useful telephone conversation with a short email summary so the next chase starts from the last agreed position.

• “Can you confirm that invoice [reference] is on your system?”
• “Is anything preventing approval or release of payment?”
• “Who needs to act next, and by what date?”
• “When should I expect the payment to reach my account?”

Confirm payment promises and instalment arrangements in writing

Turn “we will sort it” into a record you can follow up. Send a confirmation naming the invoice, outstanding balance and promised payment date, then ask the client to confirm your understanding. Record a promise separately from money received: check your account before treating the invoice as paid or ending the chase.

If the client asks for instalments, consider whether the proposed dates and amounts are workable for your own cash flow before agreeing. Put the schedule, total balance and payment references in writing, and seek explicit confirmation from the client. Decide when you will review a missed instalment. If the arrangement involves a reduced settlement, changed contractual rights or wording you do not understand, get professional advice before accepting it.

• Invoice reference and total outstanding balance.
• Each agreed payment amount and the date it should arrive.
• Written confirmation from the client.
• A record of payments received and the remaining balance.

Review your contract before pausing further work

Separate recovering the overdue invoice from deciding what to deliver next. Before cancelling a workshop, withholding a deliverable or pausing an ongoing consultancy engagement, review your contract for relevant payment, suspension, termination and notice provisions. Do not assume that an overdue invoice automatically gives you permission to stop all work.

List what is already committed and what is a new request. Review the exposure before agreeing to additional work, and seek advice if your existing delivery obligations are unclear. Where a pause is appropriate, communicate the affected work, timing and proposed route to resuming it clearly. Keep the message factual rather than using an abrupt stoppage as a payment threat.

Check whether statutory late-payment interest and compensation apply

Before adding statutory late-payment interest or compensation, check current GOV.UK guidance and the terms of your contract, or ask a professional adviser to assess the invoice. Confirm eligibility, the applicable calculation and how any claim should be presented. Do not copy a rate, fixed charge or legal assertion from an old reminder template without checking it.

The government announced late-payment reforms on 24 March 2026, including proposed stronger powers for the Small Business Commissioner. That announcement alone does not establish which measures are in force for your invoice. For decisions on 13 October 2026, verify the current position rather than presenting announced reforms as rights you can already exercise. The supplied research does not establish the applicable rates, compensation amounts or commencement position.

Know when to move from reminders to formal recovery advice

Set an internal review point instead of leaving the chase open-ended. Continued silence after you have checked the payment route, an unanswered clear request or a missed written promise should prompt a decision about the next step. Weigh the amount outstanding, quality of your evidence, further unpaid exposure and time already spent. Avoid threatening action you have not checked or are not prepared to take.

Prepare a compact file for an adviser: the contract or agreed terms, invoice, delivery evidence, correspondence, payment promises and any part-payments. Ask about the appropriate formal route, likely costs, required notices and practical recovery prospects for your circumstances. Check current GOV.UK guidance or speak to a solicitor before sending formal legal demands or starting proceedings. If the client raises a substantive dispute about the work, stop using this silence-focused plan and obtain advice on that issue.

1. 1Review what the client has received, acknowledged and promised.
2. 2Gather the evidence into a clear chronology.
3. 3Check the appropriate recovery route and costs with an adviser.
4. 4Choose the next action deliberately rather than sending another identical reminder.

How Invoices and payments helps

HappyNoodle’s Invoices and payments workflow lets you create invoices from the work, make payment simple and keep polite reminders connected to the right client. Use it to support the practical part of this plan: a clear invoice followed by a focused reminder asking for a payment date. Keep your escalation decision separate from the reminder itself. If the client stays silent or misses a promise, review the evidence and decide whether to seek advice rather than relying on further reminders alone.