Guides

Chasing unpaid workshop invoices without losing the customer

Most unpaid invoices are not customers refusing to pay. They are customers who never got a clear invoice, or forgot. Fix the first two and the third is rare.

5 min read · Updated 7 September 2026

Invoice before the keys

The best time to be paid is at pickup, and the best way to be paid at pickup is to have the invoice ready before they arrive. If the invoice is written up that night, you have already chosen to chase it.

Make paying the easy option

Bank details on the invoice, a link they can open on their phone, a reference that ties the payment to the invoice so you do not spend Friday matching deposits. Card payment where you can offer it.

Remind on a schedule, in writing

Due date passes: one reminder with the link. A week later: another, still polite, still with the link. Automating these removes the awkwardness that makes workshops skip them, and it means the tone is the same for every customer.

When it needs a phone call

Two written reminders and silence means something is wrong — a dispute you have not heard about, or a customer in trouble. A phone call finds out which. Go in with the invoice open and the photos of the work handy; most 'I'm not paying that' conversations end when they see the old part.

Keep the record

Every reminder sent, every payment recorded, on the invoice. If it ever goes further, the trail is the case.

Free for a month

Put one real car through it.

Set-up takes about two minutes. Book a car, quote it, photograph it, invoice it and let the reminder bring it back. The first month is free, so it costs nothing to find out.

1 month free · No credit card · $49.99/month after · Cancel any time

What's in the box

  • Bookings and today's board
  • Vehicles, rego search and history
  • Service reminders by SMS and email
  • Quotes approved online, invoices with photos
  • Inspection reports
  • Unlimited team logins