The problem
A small services company has 80,000 MAD stuck in unpaid invoices. The founder hates chasing clients, forgets who was reminded when, and cash-flow suffers every month.
The solution, step by step
- Keep the invoice log in Google Sheets: client, email, amount, due date, status, last reminder date.
- An n8n workflow runs every morning and computes the days overdue for each unpaid invoice.
- Prepare three escalating email templates: friendly reminder at D+7, firm reminder with the invoice attached at D+15, formal notice mentioning next steps at D+30.
- The workflow personalizes the right template (name, amount, invoice number) and sends it via Gmail.
- Each send is logged back in the sheet, so nobody is ever reminded twice for the same step.
- When a payment is marked received, the workflow sends a short thank-you message — reminders stay courteous and the relationship stays healthy.
- Average payment delay typically reduced by 30 to 50% within a quarter.
- Around 3 hours per week saved on manual follow-up.
- A complete, dated reminder history for every invoice — useful if a dispute ever arises.