Reminders

Reminders chase unpaid invoices for you, politely and on time. You choose a sequence: a set of steps such as "3 days before the due date", "on the due date" and "a week late", each with its own message. Each step is sent once, at the right time, and the sequence stops on its own when the invoice is paid, voided, credited, or when the client says they paid. You can also send a single reminder by hand at any time.

How sequences work

A reminder sequence belongs to a business and has a name and a list of steps:

Each step is sent once per invoice. Sends are protected against duplicates, so even if a job runs twice, a client never gets the same step twice. Reminders go out in the business's time zone.

Presets

Every business starts with three ready-made sequences, so you do not have to design one:

• Gentle
• Standard
• Firm

Each preset is a set of steps drawn from the usual offsets (for example −3, 0, +3, +7, +14 and +30 days). Open a preset to see its exact steps and messages before you use it.

You can use a preset as it is, edit it, or create your own sequences.

Which sequence applies

One sequence is the business default. You can override it for a client, and for a single invoice. The most specific one wins:

1. The invoice's own sequence, if set
2. The client's sequence, if set
3. The business default

When reminders stop

A sequence stops sending further steps for an invoice when any of these happens:

• The invoice is paid.
• The invoice is voided.
• A credit note covers the balance.
• You set a promise-to-pay date: reminders pause until that date passes. See Promise to pay.
• The client reports payment with a proof through I have paid. See Payment proofs.

A client who has opted out of reminders is skipped, and each skip is logged. Every reminder email has an opt-out link, and you can also set the opt-out on the client.

Overdue invoices

Unpaid invoices that are past their due date are marked overdue automatically. They then appear in the overdue list, in list_overdue over MCP and the API, and the document.overdue webhook event is sent. Reminder steps with a positive offset run against overdue invoices.

Set up reminders in the app

Send one reminder now

Open an unpaid invoice and choose to send a reminder. You see a draft of the message first, and it is sent only after you confirm. This is the same over MCP: ask your assistant to remind a client, it calls send_reminder, shows you the draft, and sends only when you confirm (unless its key is set to send automatically).

Through the API and MCP

curl -X POST "https://api.freeinvoiceautomation.com/v1/reminder-sequences" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FIA_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: seq-retainers-v1" \
  -d '{
    "business_id": "0193f2a1-1b2c-7d3e-8f40-5a6b7c8d9e01",
    "name": "Retainer clients",
    "is_default": false,
    "enabled": true,
    "steps": [
      { "offset_days": -3, "channel": "email" },
      { "offset_days": 0, "channel": "email" },
      { "offset_days": 7, "channel": "email" },
      { "offset_days": 14, "channel": "email" }
    ]
  }'

Without "confirm": true, send_reminder returns confirmation_required together with a preview of the message, unless your API key or MCP token has mode: auto_send. Each reminder sent produces the reminder.sent webhook event. From the week of 25 January 2027 the CLI has freeinvoiceautomation doc remind and reminder list (command names are proposed).

Email quota

Reminders are emails like any other, so they use the same sender as your documents:

• With your own SMTP connected, there is no monthly limit. See Your own SMTP.
• With the platform mailer, reminders count toward your monthly quota (Free 20, Team 100). When the quota is used up, reminder steps are not sent through the platform mailer and you are told, so you can connect your own SMTP. See Platform email.

Instalments

From the week of 25 January 2027, invoices with a payment schedule run the sequence against each instalment's due date and amount, so a client is reminded about the part that is actually due.

What the client sees

• Emails from your business at the times you chose, with the amount due and a link to the pay page.
• A link in each reminder email to opt out of reminders.
• If a late fee was added, the next reminder tells them. See Late fees.

Permissions

Reminders only ever act on your own account's invoices; a request from another account is refused.

Errors

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