How to Automate Invoice Reminders in Xero, QuickBooks and Stripe

Automatic invoice reminders: what each tool offers

All three tools send reminder emails on a schedule you set, and stop once the invoice is paid. The differences are in how many reminders you get and how flexible they are (as of October 2026).

Sources: Xero Central on setting up invoice reminders, Intuit on sending invoice reminders in QuickBooks Online, and Stripe on customer emails and reminders. Still choosing an accounting tool? See our Xero vs QuickBooks comparison.

How to set up invoice reminders in Xero

You need the advisor or standard user role, and each customer needs an email address in their Xero contact.

1. 1

   Open Invoice Reminders

   In the Sales menu, select Invoices, then click 'Invoice Reminders: Off'.

2. 2

   Switch reminders on

   Tick 'Email customers when an invoice is'. Xero turns on its three default reminders for overdue invoices.

3. 3

   Include the payment link

   Tick the option to include the online invoice button and summary, so customers can view and pay in one click. You can also add a PDF link.

4. 4

   Add a reminder before the due date

   Click Add reminder, choose 'due in', and enter the number of days (for example 3). Use 0 to send on the due date itself. You can have five reminders in total.

5. 5

   Edit the wording

   Open each template and use Insert placeholder for the contact name, invoice number, amount due and due date.

6. 6

   Set a minimum amount if needed

   Optionally skip reminders for small balances, then click Save.

Xero only reminds invoices marked as sent, and sends them each day between 4am and 8am in your organisation's time zone. Replies go to the login email of whoever turned reminders on, which you can change. You can also switch reminders off for one customer or one invoice, for example while a dispute is being sorted out.

QuickBooks Online and Stripe reminder settings

QuickBooks Online

1. Go to Settings (gear icon), then Account and settings, then the Sales tab.
2. In the Reminders section, select Edit and turn on Automatic invoice reminders.
3. Turn on Reminder 1 and choose the number of days before or after the due date (up to 90).
4. Add Reminder 2 and Reminder 3 if you want a sequence, edit the wording, then Save.

Stripe Invoicing

For one-off invoices, Stripe's automatic collection docs say to go to the Invoices tab of your billing settings, find Manage advanced invoicing features and turn on 'Send reminders if a one-off invoice hasn't been paid', then add each reminder before, on or after the due date. For recurring invoices sent for manual payment, the setting is under Subscriptions and emails. Stripe skips a reminder if a payment is already processing.

Stripe's hosted invoice page lets customers pay by card or PayNow without logging in. Stripe Invoicing (Starter) charges 0.4% per paid invoice on top of payment fees, per Stripe's Singapore pricing (approximate, as of October 2026).

Add a pay-now link: cards and PayNow

A reminder without a quick way to pay just creates another task for your customer. Connect a payment service so every invoice and reminder carries a pay button.

• Xero: connect Stripe from the Xero app store to add a pay button for cards, or use a HitPay integration for PayNow. Payments then mark the invoice as paid automatically.
• Stripe on its own: send invoices from Stripe and the hosted page handles cards and PayNow.
• Bank transfer and PayNow QR: if you prefer no gateway fees, print your PayNow UEN or QR on the invoice. You then have to match payments yourself or through bank feeds.

Our guide to accepting PayNow online compares the fees, and connecting Shopify, Stripe or HitPay to Xero explains how payouts reconcile.

A polite reminder schedule and email templates

This schedule works for most service businesses on 14 or 30-day terms. It uses four of Xero's five slots; on QuickBooks, drop the last one.

Before the due date

Subject: Invoice [Invoice Number] due on [Due Date]. Body: Hi [Contact Name], a quick note that invoice [Invoice Number] for [Amount Due] is due on [Due Date]. You can view and pay it online using the button above. Thank you!

7 days overdue

Subject: Invoice [Invoice Number] is now overdue. Body: Hi [Contact Name], our records show invoice [Invoice Number] for [Amount Due] was due on [Due Date]. If it has already been paid, please ignore this note. If it went to the wrong person, could you let us know who handles payments?

21 days overdue

Subject: Payment date for invoice [Invoice Number]? Body: Hi [Contact Name], invoice [Invoice Number] for [Amount Due] is now three weeks overdue. Could you reply with the date we can expect payment? If there is a problem with the invoice, we are happy to sort it out.

Replace the bracketed words with your tool's placeholders.

Going further: WhatsApp nudges and owner alerts

Email reminders cover most cases. Two automations help when they do not.

• Owner alert for large overdue invoices. A workflow tool such as Zapier or Make can watch Xero or QuickBooks and message you when an invoice over, say, S$2,000 hits 14 days overdue, so you can call the customer yourself.
• WhatsApp payment reminder. Through the WhatsApp Business API you can send an approved 'utility' template with the invoice link. Meta charges per message (about S$0.021 for a Singapore utility message from 1 October 2026, per our WhatsApp Business API cost guide). Only message customers who agreed to receive WhatsApp messages from you (Meta's opt-in rules).

The same pattern of instant acknowledgement plus timed follow-up also works for new enquiries; see our guide to automating lead follow-up from your enquiry form.

Do it yourself or get help?

Turning on reminders and editing three templates takes under an hour, and you should do it today if your reminders are still off. Help is worth it when you want payment links, bank feeds and alerts all working together.

Xero / QuickBooks Integration (S$390) connects your payments, bank feeds and reminders so paid invoices close themselves. Online Payment Setup (S$290) adds card and PayNow links, and Workflow Automation (S$390 per workflow) builds owner alerts or WhatsApp nudges.