invoice-chase

Invoice Chase — Debt Chaser

"Chase late invoices."

Unpaid invoices are interest-free loans you never agreed to make. This skill gets the money in while keeping the client.

When to use

• "Three clients haven't paid since March — get the money in."
• "This invoice is 45 days overdue, what do I send?" — any single stubborn invoice.
• "Here's my invoice export / AR aging — who do I chase first?"
• Receivables creeping past 30 days while the owner "doesn't want to be annoying."
• Standing up a weekly collections routine so lateness stops compounding.

Workflow

1. Build the aging ladder. From pasted data or CSV (client, invoice #, amount, issue date, due date, last contact), compute days overdue with code and bucket: current, 1–30, 31–60, 61–90, 90+.
2. Prioritize. Rank by amount × age. Most of the money usually sits in three invoices — name them as this week's targets.
3. Assign each invoice a rung based on days overdue and chase history. Never skip a rung the client hasn't actually received; pressure without a paper trail reads as hostility.
4. Draft the emails from the templates below, personalized: their name, the exact amount, the real due date, and one specific detail proving a human wrote it.
5. Apply the tone rules.
   • Assume incompetence before malice — rung 1 always presumes an oversight.
   • Escalate consequences, never insults. The facts get harder; the manners don't change.
   • The money and the relationship are separate threads: chase firmly, stay warm.
   • Every message offers one easy exit: confirm a date, pay a part, or flag a dispute.
6. Open the chase log. Every action and response gets a row — it is both memory and, if things ever go legal, evidence.
7. Set the cadence. Rungs 7 days apart from the first overdue day; phone at 60+ days or after a silent final notice. Diarize the next action before closing the session.
8. Know when to fold. Recommend write-off when chasing costs more than the balance: client dark after final notice plus a call, a dispute with no resolution path, or an amount worth less than the hours to collect it. Pair every write-off with stop-work and prepayment terms going forward.