Invoices paid late: taking back control with automatic reminders

You delivered, the invoice went out, and three weeks later… still nothing. For a freelancer or a small company that's not an accounting detail — it's next month's cash flow wobbling. The galling part is that chasing a client takes time and tact, so the awkward email keeps getting postponed. Yet a good chunk of that work can run without you.

The law is already on your side

Plenty of business owners don't realise it: in transactions between companies, EU law frames the terms and the penalties for lateness. Under the Late Payment Directive (2011/7/EU), an enterprise must pay its invoices within 60 days, unless it expressly and reasonably agrees otherwise. When payment is late, you're automatically entitled to interest — at least 8 points above the European Central Bank's reference rate — and to a flat €40 minimum compensation for recovery costs, without having to claim it.

In other words, you don't have to swallow a delay in silence. But those rights are useless if you don't even know, at any given moment, which invoices are past due.

The real problem is the follow-up

At ten invoices a month, keeping track of who paid, who's two days late and who's three weeks late quickly becomes unmanageable from memory or a spreadsheet. The result: you chase too late, or not at all, and the money comes in when the client decides. Payment follow-up isn't glamorous work — which is exactly why it should be automated.

Reminders that go out without you

In Voilo, payment follow-up runs continuously and automatic reminders go out on the rhythm you set: a polite nudge a few days before the due date, another on the day itself, a third if it slips. You keep control of the tone and the timing, but you no longer have to think about it. The open notification also tells you when the client actually viewed the invoice — handy for knowing whether you're chasing someone who forgot or someone who never even opened the document.

Knowing right away when you're paid

The piece that closes the loop is the bank. With the direct bank connection, your transactions come in automatically and reconciliation matches each payment to the right invoice. A settled invoice marks itself as paid, and its reminders stop — no embarrassing nudge sent to a client who's just paid. On the dashboard you see at a glance what's in and what's dragging.

These follow-up, reminder and reconciliation features are available from the PME plan (€25/month ex-VAT); the details are on the pricing page. And because an invoice sent in structured format lands straight in the client's system instead of lingering in an inbox, it stands a much better chance of being processed sooner — our Peppol guide explains that flow. For your exact rights in a dispute, refer to the European Commission's official texts.