Write a supplier a straight note about a payment that will be late
Tell a supplier the payment is going to be late, when it is actually coming, and why — without grovelling and without going quiet. Fill in four fields and get a note you can send as-is.
Examples you can use right now
Copy any of these straight out. No account, no download.
Short and standard
Hi — quick note so you are not left guessing. Invoice #4471 ($4,820.00) was due on 28 February and is running late. It is approved and scheduled for 12 March. Apologies for the delay, and thanks for your patience.
When you do not have a firm date yet
Hi — invoice #4471 ($4,820.00) is past its due date and I do not want to leave you guessing. It is approved and in the payment run; I expect it to go out in the week of 12 March and will confirm the exact date by Friday. Sorry for the delay.
Second notice, when the first date slipped
Hi — following up on my note about invoice #4471 ($4,820.00). The 12 March run was pushed and it is now scheduled for 19 March. I know that is a second change and I am sorry for it. If that causes a problem at your end, tell me and I will see what can be done.
What to actually say
The instinct when a payment slips is to say nothing until it is fixed. That is the one thing guaranteed to make it worse. Suppliers do not chase because the money is late — they chase because they do not know when it is coming and have to plan around it.
A note that works has four parts and nothing else: which invoice you are talking about, that it is late, the date it is now scheduled for, and a single sentence of why. No paragraph of apology, no promises about "processes being reviewed". Suppliers are running a business too, and what they need is a date they can put in their own forecast.
The tone that lands is the tone you would use with a colleague: direct, unfussed, and specific. Over-apologising reads as evasive, because in most people's experience it is.
When to send it
Before the due date, if you already know it will slip. On the day, if you find out then. The value of the note collapses the longer you wait, because by the time they have chased you, the relationship cost has already been paid.
If the new date slips too, send a second note. A supplier who has been told twice is annoyed; a supplier who was told once and then heard nothing assumes they are being avoided, and that is when accounts go on credit hold.
What not to include
Do not blame the client if you are a bookkeeper writing on their behalf, and do not blame the bank. Both read as deflection and neither changes what the supplier does next.
Do not promise a date you are not confident about in order to end the conversation. A date you miss is worse than a date further out that you hit, and the second one costs nothing extra to say.
Do not attach a statement or a remittance advice unless you have actually paid. A remittance advice confirms money has been sent. Sending one for a payment that has not gone out creates a much bigger problem than the late payment did.