Late payment is common. Vanishing without a record is worse. Your job is to make the next step boring and documented.
1. Check you invoiced the paying entity
Marketing loved the Reel. Finance pays a Pvt Ltd name on a PO. If you billed @novabeauty, start by sending the same PDF to the AP contact with the PO number. Many “unpaid” invoices were never in the queue.
2. Confirm the trigger actually happened
If the contract said “on go-live” and the post is still in drafts, they are not late yet. If they approved in writing and the due date passed, they are late.
3. Follow up on a schedule
- Due date + 3 working days: send a polite check with the invoice attached again.
- +7 days: ask for a committed transfer date.
- +14 days: explain that you will pause new work until the payment is cleared.
Wording: Payment follow-up template. Stay factual. Emojis do not recover rupees.
4. Escalate inside their org
If your contact cannot confirm the payment status, ask who owns accounts payable and include that person in the next message. Escalate gradually and keep the conversation professional.
5. Decide your stop line
You can: pause remaining deliverables, refuse the next brief, or (for large sums) talk to a lawyer or consumer/commercial forum appropriate to your contract. This page is not legal advice.
What you should not do: endlessly “just circling back” with no due date in the thread.
Prevention for the next deal
Advance for new brands, clear net terms, usage that starts only when paid if you have leverage, and an invoice sent the same day as approval. See How to invoice a brand.
When you are ready to run this in one place
Follow up from a dated record
Reminder emails are easier when you can cite the invoice number, due date and approved work instead of reconstructing an old chat.