When a client only paid part of the invoice

A partial payment is not a paid invoice. Apply what arrived to this invoice, then write about the difference. Don’t send the original reminder again with the old total. That reads as if you never saw the payment.

Say three numbers: the invoice amount, what you received, and what is still open. Say what the work was, so they can match it to the job. Then ask when the remaining balance will be sent. A date is something you can put on the calendar. “The rest is coming” is not.

If they have more than one open invoice and didn’t say which one the payment was for, ask before you write the balance. Applying it to the wrong job creates a second argument.

Thank them for the part that landed, in one line. Leave out a lecture about paying in full next time. If they already named a day for the rest and that day passed, send the note for a promise they didn’t keep. If the amount left is too large for one payment, offer a payment plan for the remainder. If they want more work while the balance sits open, pause the work.

Copy this and change the names, the amounts, and the dates.

Subject: Invoice 1842 — $900 still open

Hi Priya,

Thank you for the $900 that arrived on invoice 1842. The invoice is $1,800 for the March furnace replacement, and it was due March 1. The remaining balance is $900.

Please send the remaining $900, or reply with the date it will go out.

Jordan Hale
Hale Heating