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# Sending a payment reminder to your customers

Robaws has no separate reminder module. You build your reminder flow from three parts that you set up once: **statuses** that show whether an invoice has expired, a **default document** holding your reminder letter, and an **email template** that attaches that letter and changes the status straight away.

After that, sending a reminder comes down to filtering the right invoices in your overview and sending the email. If you want to hand it over completely, let an [automation](https://support.robaws.com/nl/article/robaws-automation-1de7g1a/) do the work.

|| Country-specific: Robaws imposes no legal deadlines or charges. What you may charge for a late payment, and how long you have to wait before you send a reminder, differs from country to country and also depends on whether you invoice a consumer or a business. In Belgium, stricter rules apply to invoices addressed to consumers than to invoices between businesses. So align your reminder flow with your accountant.

## Setting up the statuses

Robaws does not supply any [statuses](https://support.robaws.com/en/article/working-with-statuses-q7rtmv/): you create them yourself. For a reminder flow you work with at least four statuses.

###### Which statuses do you need?

* **sent** — the invoice is with the customer and the payment term is running;
* **overdue** — the due date has passed and payment has not come in;
* **reminder** — you have sent a reminder. If you work with several levels, create *reminder 1*, *reminder 2* and *reminder 3*;
* **paid** — the invoice has been settled.

###### Creating the statuses

1. Go to **settings > invoices > statuses**.
2. Click **Add** at the bottom of the status list.
3. Fill in a **Name** and pick a **Color**. You see that colour again in the overview of your invoices.
4. Repeat this for every status and save your settings.

###### Filling in the expiry settings

In the same **statuses** card you tell Robaws what each status means. For reminders, these two fields are essential:

* **Status in which invoice can expire** — the statuses from which an invoice is allowed to move to expired, for example *draft*, *sent* and *read*.
* **Expirestatus** — the status Robaws sets as soon as the due date has passed, for example *overdue*.

Also fill in **Paid status** and **Partially paid status**. That way an invoice automatically leaves your reminder list as soon as you register a payment.

![Statuses in the invoice settings](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/eadf6dec760ec000/schermafbeelding-2021-02-16-om_1ia2btk.png)

|| The spelling has to match the name in your status list exactly, capitals and spaces included. If you type *Overdue* in the field while the status in the list is called *overdue*, nothing happens.

| Tip: in the overview of your invoices, Robaws puts the number of days between the due date and today after the status, for example *overdue (12d)*. This only happens for the statuses you filled in above. Turn those statuses into a [separate tab](https://support.robaws.com/en/article/working-with-tabs-in-the-overview-screen-1uez0cm/) and you have your reminder list in one click.

## Drawing up a reminder letter

You create the letter itself as a [default document](https://support.robaws.com/nl/article/hoe-maak-ik-een-contract-of-extra-standaard-document-op-in-robaws-tg8syy/), so that you can attach it to your email later.

1. Go to **settings > invoices > default documents**.
2. Click **Add** and give the document a **Name**, for example *payment reminder*.
3. Type your letter in the editor.
4. Save your settings.

![Default document with the reminder letter](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/eadf6dec760ec000/schermafbeelding-2021-02-16-om_1xznddv.png =800x380)

Use [replacement codes](https://support.robaws.com/nl/article/vervangingscodes-1he52l3/) in that letter. Robaws fills them in with the invoice data when you send it, so you never have to adjust anything manually. These are the most useful ones for a reminder:

| Replacement code | What Robaws fills in |
| --- | --- |
| `${client}` | the name of the customer |
| `${logicId}` | the invoice number |
| `${date}` | the invoice date |
| `${expireDate}` | the due date |
| `${expiredDays}` | the number of days between the due date and today |
| `${totalIncBtw}` | the total amount including VAT |
| `${totalOpen}` | the open amount |

| Tip: use `${totalOpen}` rather than `${totalIncBtw}`. If the customer has already paid part of the invoice, you then only ask for the balance.

## An email template for the reminder

With an [email template](https://support.robaws.com/nl/article/e-mail-template-10yqa97/) you send the reminder without writing a text every time.

1. Go to **settings > invoices > email templates**.
2. Click **Add** and give the template a **Name**, for example *reminder 1*.
3. Fill in the **Subject**. Here too you may use replacement codes, for example *Payment reminder invoice `${logicId}`*.
4. Fill in **Status after sending e-mail** with *reminder 1*.
5. Add the invoice and your reminder letter under **Default attachments**.
6. Type the text of the email and save your settings.

![Email template for the reminder](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/eadf6dec760ec000/schermafbeelding-2021-02-16-om_aalz4z.png =800x526)

|| Do not forget **Status after sending e-mail**. Without that field the invoice stays on *overdue* and your overview does not show which customers you have already reminded.

| Tip: if you work with three reminder levels, create three templates. Each template moves the status up one level and has its own, slightly firmer tone.

## Sending the reminder

1. Open the overview of your [sales invoices](https://support.robaws.com/nl/article/verkoopfacturen-algemene-uitleg-dzcaaq/) and filter on the status *overdue*.
2. Open the invoice you want to send a reminder for.
3. Click the **E-mail** action button at the top. Robaws fills in the customer's email address straight away.
4. Choose your *reminder 1* template. The text, the attachments and the replacement codes are filled in.
5. Send the email. The status of the invoice moves to *reminder 1*.

You can also work in bulk: select several invoices in the overview and send them all at once with the same template.

## Automating your reminders

If you would rather not go through your overview every week, build the flow into an [automation](https://support.robaws.com/nl/article/robaws-automation-1de7g1a/):

* trigger: the status of the invoice becomes *overdue*;
* delay: a number of days;
* action: send the *reminder 1* email template.

After the delay, Robaws first checks whether the trigger still applies. If the invoice has been paid in the meantime, the status is no longer *overdue* and no reminder goes out. Add a second and a third step behind it and you have a complete reminder chain that stops itself as soon as the customer pays.

||| Depending on your licence, a number of automations are included: fewer with Starter than with Go, and fewer with Go than with Pro. If you want to use an unlimited number, that is a chargeable option. Contact your account manager for more information.

## Questions

###### When is the status set to expired automatically?

Robaws checks this every six hours. An invoice gets the expiry status if the due date has passed, if its current status is listed under **Status in which invoice can expire**, and if it is neither archived nor deleted. Credit notes are not taken into account. So do not count on the status having changed on the due date itself.

###### Why does the status of my overdue invoice not change?

Check these three things:

* Are there any statuses in **Status in which invoice can expire**? If that field is empty, Robaws does nothing.
* Is **Expirestatus** filled in?
* Is the status written exactly the same way in both fields as in your status list?

###### What happens if the customer pays in the meantime?

If you register a [payment](https://support.robaws.com/nl/article/betalingen-1hyvmsh/) that settles the invoice in full, Robaws sets the status to your **Paid status**. If only part has been paid, it becomes your **Partially paid status**. In both cases the invoice drops out of your reminder list and an automation triggered on *overdue* stops.

###### Can I let incoming invoices expire as well?

Yes. The same **Status in which invoice can expire** and **Expirestatus** fields are available under **settings > incoming invoices**. They work completely separately from your sales invoices, so you fill them in there as well.