The hardest part of freelancing is rarely the work. It is asking for money. Most people do not chase late invoices because they are lazy — they chase late because there is no pre-set rhythm, so every follow-up becomes a fresh decision about whether now is too soon and whether it will sound rude. Here is how to set the rhythm once and let the system carry it.
Step 0: make the invoice easy to chase on day one
Hard-to-chase invoices usually go wrong the moment they are issued. Check five things before you send:
- A real due date, written as an actual date rather than net 15 terms the client has to calculate
- The net amount after withholding. For company clients, show the gross, the 3% deduction, and the exact figure that will land. A short transfer explained by WHT is the number-one cause of chasing money that was never actually owed
- A PromptPay QR on the document, so paying takes seconds
- A public document link, so the client can view and pay without creating an account, and you can resend the same link every time you follow up
- The right recipient. Accounts payable, not only the person who briefed you
In MANA, generate the invoice from the approved quotation so the numbers carry through untouched and withholding is calculated from the start.
The five-step follow-up rhythm
Apply it to every invoice. No case-by-case agonising.
T-3 days: the reminder
Not a chase — a heads-up, and the highest-yield step because nobody has lost face yet.
Hi Khun ... , quick note that invoice INV-2026-014 for ฿32,000 falls due on 19 August 2026. Document link and PromptPay QR are attached. Let me know if you need anything else from my side.
T+1 day: the light nudge
Assume a systems slip, never a person's fault.
Hi Khun ... , invoice INV-2026-014 was due yesterday and I have not seen it land yet. Could you check on your side? If it has already gone out, send me the slip and I will mark it settled.
T+7 days: ask for a date
This is where reminding turns into requesting a commitment with a date attached.
Hi Khun ... , INV-2026-014 is now seven days past due. Could you confirm the transfer date so I can plan my side? If something is missing on the paperwork or it needs to catch a billing cycle, tell me and I will sort it.
T+14 days: pick up the phone
A fourth email does not outperform the third. A phone call changes the status of the request. Ring accounts payable and ask two questions: is the paperwork complete, and which payment run does it fall into. Then summarise the call back in writing, always.
T+30 days: escalate politely and precisely
Send a formal notice stating the amount, the due date, the days outstanding, and the consequence you already agreed in the contract — late interest, or pausing remaining work. Then actually do what the notice says, or it carries no weight next time.
Running this in MANA
- Filter by status. Open documents, look at overdue, sort by days outstanding. Always start with the oldest and largest
- Let the AI assistant draft it. Ask it to write a polite chaser for this invoice in Thai, or in English for an overseas client, then edit it into your own voice
- Log every contact. Record who you spoke to, when, and what they said on the client record. You will never repeat the same message to the same person, and if you escalate you have a complete timeline
- Resend the same link. The public document link stays in sync with the live document, and the client can pay by PromptPay straight from it
- Close the loop. When the slip arrives, verify it against bank data, book the income, and reconcile it to the bank line. Invoices short-paid because of withholding stop lingering as mysteries
- Review every Friday. Open the project Reports tab and see which jobs are still owed. Ten minutes a week is enough
Three situations you will hit
They say they paid, but the amount is short. Almost always the 3% withholding. Check whether the gap equals exactly 3% of the base. If it does, request the 50 Tavi certificate immediately rather than at year end — that document is what lets you claim the credit when you file.
Corporate clients with billing cycles. Ask up front which day the cycle closes and which day payments run, then bill to hit it. Missing the cut-off by one day can mean waiting another thirty.
The client goes silent. Stop sending short repeated pings. Send one consolidated message containing everything — amount, due date, days outstanding, document link — and end with a question answerable by a single date.
Stop it happening again
- Take a 30–50% deposit before starting, and put the milestone schedule in the paperwork from the beginning
- Put a late-payment interest clause in the contract. You may rarely invoke it, but its existence gives your chasers weight
- Do not start new work for a client with an unpaid invoice. This single rule outperforms every chasing technique combined
- Fix a weekly day for follow-ups, so the decision is never emotional
Good collection work is boring, repetitive and predictable. Set the rhythm at issue time, and MANA will tell you which invoice is up next — you just press send.