Guide
Late payment fee wording and reminders
Lines you can put on an invoice about late payment, polite reminder wording, and the legal rules where we could confirm them in official sources.
First, agree it in advance
A late fee you can actually collect is almost always one the client agreed to before the work began: in your contract, your terms of business or the accepted quote. Writing a new fee on an overdue invoice rarely works and can sour the relationship. So:
- Put the payment term and any late fee or interest in your quote or contract.
- Repeat both on every invoice, in the notes, with the due date printed.
- When a payment is late, remind first. Charge the fee, if at all, on a separate invoice or as a line on the next one, referring to the clause you both agreed.
Some countries give businesses a legal right to interest on late payments from other businesses even without a clause. Those rules are below, where we could confirm them in an official source.
Late payment wording for the invoice
Pick the line that matches what you agreed, fill in the brackets, and paste it into Notes on the invoice.
- Agreed late fee: “Payment is due by [date]. As agreed in [clause] of our [contract / terms], balances unpaid after the due date incur a late fee of [amount or rate].”
- Agreed interest: “Overdue amounts carry interest at [rate] per [month / year] from the due date until payment, as set out in our terms of business.”
- UK, business to business: “Payment is due within 30 days of the invoice date. We may claim statutory interest and fixed compensation on late payment under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.”
- EU, business to business: “If payment is late, interest and a fixed compensation amount are payable as provided by the national law implementing Directive 2011/7/EU.”
- No fee, just clarity: “Please pay by [date], quoting invoice [number]. If anything on this invoice is unclear, contact [name, email] before the due date.”
Open an invoice with an agreed late fee Open a UK invoice with statutory wording
Reminder wording, from polite to final
| When | Wording |
|---|---|
| 3 days before the due date | “A quick reminder that invoice INV-0231 for $1,120.00 is due on Friday 27 November. The PDF is attached again for convenience. Thank you!” |
| On the due date | “Invoice INV-0231 for $1,120.00 is due today. If you have already paid, thank you, and please ignore this message.” |
| 7 days late | “Invoice INV-0231 for $1,120.00 was due on 27 November and is now 7 days overdue. Could you let me know when payment will be made? The invoice is attached.” |
| 14–30 days late | “Invoice INV-0231 is now 21 days overdue. Under section 6 of our agreement, a late fee of [amount] applies from [date]. Please pay $1,120.00 by [date] to avoid the fee.” |
| Final notice | “Despite earlier reminders on [dates], invoice INV-0231 remains unpaid. Unless $1,120.00 [plus the agreed late fee] is received by [date], I will [pause further work / refer the debt for collection].” |
Keep reminders short, factual and attached to the original invoice. Only threaten a step you are prepared to take. With the optional free Billpad account you can email the invoice PDF from the editor and mark it paid, partly paid or overdue; automatic reminders are planned for the paid Billpad Pro plan.
Late payment rules we could confirm in official sources
Checked on 28 October 2026. We list a place only when its government publishes the rule; elsewhere, check with your tax authority or a lawyer.
| Where | Who it covers | Interest and charges | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Payments between businesses. With no agreed payment date, a payment is late 30 days after the later of receiving the invoice or the goods or service. | Statutory interest of 8% a year plus the Bank of England base rate, unless your contract sets a different rate. Plus fixed compensation once per invoice: £40 under £1,000, £70 from £1,000 to under £10,000, £100 from £10,000, and reasonable further recovery costs. | GOV.UK: Late commercial payments; Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, s. 5A |
| European Union | Payments between businesses, and from public authorities to businesses. Each country applies it through its own law. | Interest without a reminder at the central bank reference rate plus at least 8 percentage points, and at least €40 fixed compensation for recovery costs. Business payment periods over 60 days need express agreement and must not be grossly unfair; public authorities generally have 30 days. | Directive 2011/7/EU (late payment) |
| India | Buyers of goods or services from registered micro and small enterprises, not all business sales. | Payment is due by the agreed date, at most 45 days after acceptance (15 days if no date was agreed). After that the buyer owes compound interest, with monthly rests, at three times the bank rate notified by the Reserve Bank of India. | Ministry of MSME: Delayed payments to micro and small enterprises (MSMED Act 2006, sections 15–16) |
| Australia | No general statutory interest on late business invoices. | Interest or late fees apply only if your contract or terms include them; government guidance on letters of demand says to claim interest only if the contract specified it. | business.gov.au: Write a letter of demand |
Not listed: the United States, where late fees and interest limits are set by each state, and Canada, where we did not find a general statutory rate for business invoices in an official source. In both, rely on what your contract says and check the local rules.
Charging a late fee in Billpad
- On the original invoice: put the agreed wording in Notes so the term is on record.
- When you charge it: start a New invoice and add a line such as “Late payment fee per section 6, invoice INV-0231” or “Statutory interest on INV-0231, 21 days at [rate]”.
- Interest by hand: amount × annual rate × days late ÷ 365. For example, if UK statutory interest were 12% (8% plus a 4% base rate), £720.00 paid 30 days late carries £720.00 × 0.12 × 30 ÷ 365 = £7.10, plus the £40 fixed compensation for a debt under £1,000.
Related: choosing payment terms so fewer invoices go late, taking a deposit to limit what is at risk, and what an invoice must show so the client has no reason to send it back. Or go straight to the invoice generator.
Updated 28 October 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice. Spotted an error or an outdated rule? Contact us. About Billpad.