BadCop › Templates › Invoice reminder email subject lines that get opened

Subject lines for payment reminders, by stage

When to send it

Every reminder. The subject line decides whether the email is opened today or found during a quarterly inbox clean-up.

The email

Subject: Overdue: invoice {invoice_id} ({days_overdue} days past due)Before due: Invoice {invoice_id} is due on {due_date} Day 1: Invoice {invoice_id} was due on {due_date} Day 7: Overdue: invoice {invoice_id} ({days_overdue} days past due) Day 14: Final notice: invoice {invoice_id}, {currency} {total_due} now due Day 30+: Letter before action: invoice {invoice_id}, {currency} {total_due} outstanding Avoid: 'Quick question', 'Following up', 'Checking in', anything without the invoice number.

Placeholders in braces are filled in per invoice. Replace them by hand, or run badcop preview INV-1 --step firm to render this template for a real invoice.

Why it works

Good reminder subjects contain the invoice number and the amount (so the email is findable and specific) and change with the stage (so the escalation is visible before the email is opened).

Tips

Put the invoice number in every subject; it is what accounts-payable teams search for.
Show the amount once the fee is applied; a number that went up gets attention.
Do not use 'URGENT' or exclamation marks. Firm reads as calm.

Automate it

This is the firm step in BadCop's default ladder, sent at T+7 days from the due date. Put your invoices in a CSV, run one command a day, and every open invoice gets the right email at the right time, once.

pip install badcop
badcop init && badcop run --dry-run