Payment plan letter for a customer who can’t pay in full

This letter is a reply. They wrote, or they said on the phone, that they can’t pay the invoice in full. You are answering that, not surprising them with a plan. If they haven’t said money is tight and you want to offer a split anyway, use the payment plan offer. If you only need one piece now and a single date for the rest, the shorter ask is how to ask for a partial payment. Use this page when the honest answer is several payments.

Open by thanking them for telling you. That is not the same as apologizing for the invoice. They did a useful thing: they answered. Then restate the invoice number, what the work was, and the balance. Say the whole balance is still owed. A plan changes the dates. It does not erase the bill, and it does not mean you have accepted a smaller total. If you want to forgive part of the price, that is a different letter, with a new number. Don’t hide a discount inside a schedule.

Offer two or three payments. Write the amount and the date on its own line so they can reply “yes” without doing math. The amounts have to add up to the balance, to the dollar. Put the first date soon, this week or next. A plan that starts next season is a delay with extra steps. Later dates can match a payday they named. If they said “the first of the month,” use the first of the month. You are fitting their cash, not testing them.

Ask them to confirm, or to send different dates that still add up. Keep the reply with the invoice. If they don’t confirm, you don’t have a plan. You have the original invoice. Don’t start talking as if they agreed because you offered. When they do agree, answer in one line that repeats the dates. Then don’t rewrite the plan every week.

Say what a missed date means, once. You will write about that payment. You will not pretend the rest of the plan vanished, and you will not add a speech. If you are still on the job, new work waits until the plan is current. That pause is the same idea as pausing work for an unpaid invoice. If the job is already finished, a missed date means you ask for the payment that was due. Don’t say you will undo the work, send them to collections, or report them. Don’t add a fee for using a plan unless the contract already charges one. Check the contract and local rules first. The sample letters leave the fee off.

Three payments is usually enough. If they need longer than you can carry, say so: you can do three payments through a date you name, and you can’t stretch past it. You are allowed to want the original amount on the original terms.

When a payment arrives, apply it to this invoice and send one line: what came in, what is left, and the next date. If they pay less than the installment, say what arrived and what is still due on that date. Don’t restart the whole negotiation unless they ask. The plan you both confirmed is the document. The letter you are about to copy is how you get there.

Do

• Thank them for telling you, then restate the balance.
• List two or three amounts and dates that add up.
• Ask for a yes, and keep the reply with the invoice.
• Put the first payment soon so the plan actually starts.

Don’t

• Don’t mark the invoice paid because they agreed to a plan.
• Don’t quietly lower the total and call the difference a plan.
• Don’t threaten to undo the work, and don’t mention collections or their credit.
• Don’t add a fee for splitting the bill unless the contract already says so. Check the contract and local rules first.

Copy the letter that fits. The first is three payments. The second is two payments and a pause on new work. Replace the brackets. Drop a line if you only need two dates in the first letter.

Subject: Invoice [Invoice number] — a plan for the [Balance]

Hi [Client first name],

Thank you for telling me the full [Balance] on invoice [Invoice number] is too much at once. The invoice is for [Work description], and it was due [Due date]. The whole balance is still owed. Here is a way to pay it in pieces:

[First amount] by [First date]
[Second amount] by [Second date]
[Third amount] by [Third date]

Reply to confirm those dates, or send other dates that still add up to [Balance]. I’ll note the plan on this invoice. It stays open until the last payment arrives. If a date is missed, I’ll write about that payment.

[Your name]
[Your company]

Subject: Invoice [Invoice number] — two payments for the [Balance]

Hi [Client first name],

I got your note that you can’t send the full [Balance] on invoice [Invoice number] right now. It is for [Work description] at [Job address].

We can do:

[First amount] by [First date]
[Second amount] by [Second date]

Please reply yes, or propose two dates that still add up to [Balance]. I won’t add a fee for splitting it. If you are ready for more work before both payments arrive, I’ll wait to schedule it until the plan is current.

[Your name]
[Your company]

The overdue invoice email writes a reminder for the full amount. It does not write this plan. Use the letters above when they have already said they can’t pay in full, and copy the reminder tool only when you still want one payment. The tool does not send email.