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Briefing · Wed, May 14, 2026Vol. 04 · No. 19For small businesses with unpaid invoices.

This morning, somewhere in your QuickBooks, an invoice is 31 days late.
You haven't checked. We did.

PayTime is the receivables desk a small business never has time to staff. It watches every unpaid invoice, ranks the queue by urgency, and runs the polite-but-firm reminders for you — so the chase happens whether you remember or not.

Connect QuickBooks · 90 secRead the briefing →
$0 to get started·No card required·Cancel anytime
Otterhill Press recovered $3,200 in 11 daysSkyhaven LLC — INV-1038 paused by ownerLedger & Co. · April recovery $24,100Reminder 1 sent to Bramble & Co · friendly toneNorthcrest Studio · payment promised by FridayQuickBooks sync · healthy · every 30 minTidewater Inc. cleared $1,450 · auto-marked paidOtterhill Press recovered $3,200 in 11 daysSkyhaven LLC — INV-1038 paused by ownerLedger & Co. · April recovery $24,100Reminder 1 sent to Bramble & Co · friendly toneNorthcrest Studio · payment promised by FridayQuickBooks sync · healthy · every 30 minTidewater Inc. cleared $1,450 · auto-marked paid
Section 01 / The numbers
What you're losing

The problem isn't your clients. It's your follow-up cadence.

Small businesses write off five figures a year not because customers refuse to pay, but because the second, third, and fourth reminder never get sent. PayTime is the part of the desk that doesn't get tired.

$5–15K
Written off per year
The average small business quietly writes off $5–15K in receivables each year — almost all of it recoverable with one more nudge.
23 days
Until the first reminder
If you remind manually, your median first reminder goes out three weeks after the due date — long after the customer has forgotten the invoice exists.
+47%
Recovery uplift
A polite-but-firm 4-step sequence recovers roughly 47% more than a single follow-up, and roughly 3× more than no follow-up at all.
Section 02 / A day on PayTime
What gets done without you

Wednesday, May 13 — 9:13 hours on the desk.

A single day pulled from a real account, lightly redacted. Everything below happens automatically. The owner did not open the app once.

Ledger & Co. · workspaceMay 13, 2026 · America/Los_Angeles
06:00 AM
QuickBooks sync · pulled 9 invoices, applied 2 paymentsNo new blocks. Sync health green.
4 changed
realm 9341••••2270
09:00 AM
Reminder 2 sent to Patrova Holdings · INV-1043Firm tone. "Patrova usually pays after the second reminder."
delivered
$2,500.00 chased
09:13 AM
Bounce on INV-1041 · Halcyon FoodsNo valid email — paused, flagged for owner review.
blocked
add email in QB
10:42 AM
Payment link attached · Bramble & Co · INV-1040Customer promised payment by May 17.
$6,750.00
promised
11:42 AM
Tidewater Inc. cleared INV-1037 in fullSequence stopped. Customer-memory note saved.
+$1,450.00
paid · 23 d
02:30 PM
Reminder 3 scheduled · Patrova Holdings · tomorrow 09:00Urgent tone. Includes payment link by default.
queued
day 32 · urgent
Section 03 / What you see
Three views, no surprises

Calm dashboard. Sharp queue. Confidence preview.

Open PayTime once a week. Read three things. Close it. The product is built so that the loudest place is the place that needs you.

Invoice queue · ranked by urgency
INV-1043 · Patrova Holdings$2,500.0031 d overdue
INV-1042 · Northcrest Studio$4,800.00waiting reply
INV-1041 · Halcyon Foods$1,280.00no email
INV-1040 · Bramble & Co$6,750.00promised
INV-1039 · Otterhill Press$980.00upcoming
An invoice queue, not a table.Every row shows what PayTime will do next, when, and why. Click any row for the full timeline in a drawer.
From · billing@ledgerco.com → angela@patrova.co
Invoice INV-1043 is now 31 days past due

Hi Angela,

Invoice INV-1043 for $2,500.00 was due Apr 24 and is now 31 days past due. You can pay using the link below — let us know if anything is in the way.

Pay invoice →

— Ledger & Co. Billing

Confidence preview for every email.Before activation, see exactly what each customer will receive — friendly through final — with their real invoice data merged in.
Default sequence · 4 steps
Day 0 · friendly nudge9:00 AM
Day 7 · firm follow-up9:00 AM
Day 16 · urgent · with link9:00 AM
Day 31 · final notice9:00 AM
+ add a step
A sequence, not a blast.Tone shifts as the invoice ages. Quiet mode skips weekends and anyone who's promised a date. You stay polite without being passive.
The PayTime rule
On voice and follow-up

We are polite,
but we are not passive.
The invoice was real. The work was done. The reminder is allowed to be sharp — and the second one, sharper still. PayTime is the part of your business that doesn't apologize for asking to be paid.

— The brief · PayTime, 2026
Section 04 / Pricing
One line. One total.

One plan, billed like a real invoice.

Connect QuickBooks free. Pay once your first reminder goes out. Cancel any time — your sequences keep running until you say stop.

Everything is in the line.

No tiers, no add-ons, no "talk to sales." If you need it, it's already on the receipt. If we add something, you'll see the credit on next month's.

Unlimited invoices & reminders
Whether you bill 4 customers or 400, the price doesn't move.
All tone profiles + custom copy
Friendly, Firm, Urgent, Final — plus the ability to write your own. Per business, per language.
InvoiceDrawer, Recovery Score, cash forecast
Every operations surface — none of them gated by tier.
Audit trail · SOC 2 Type II
Every sync, send, pause, and disconnect is logged. Exportable on demand.
PayTime · Recovery planRCPT-2026-05-14

Per business, per month, billed once it works.

Free until your first reminder is delivered. After that, $49/month — paused automatically if you go a full month without sending one.

Recovery plan · monthlyUnlimited reminders, all tone profiles$49.00
QuickBooks connectionRealm-level, one per workspaceincluded
InvoiceDrawer, Recovery Score, forecastincluded
Quiet mode + customer memoryincluded
Audit trail · CSV exportincluded
Total · monthly$49/mo
Start free — pay when it works →
Cancel anytime. Pays for itself on one recovered invoice.
Section 05 / FAQ
Common questions

Things you'd ask before signing up.

01How long does setup take?+
About 90 seconds. You sign in with QuickBooks, pick which business to connect, and PayTime imports every invoice and customer in the background. You can preview every reminder before any of them go out.
02Will my clients know it's automated?+
The reminders go from your reply-to address, in your business's sender name, signed by you. No PayTime branding in the email body. Your customer sees a polite billing note, not a SaaS broadcast.
03What if a client is disputing an invoice?+
Open the InvoiceDrawer and pause the sequence. PayTime stops sending immediately and notes the pause reason in the timeline so it's clear to anyone reviewing the account later.
04What happens when they pay?+
The next QuickBooks sync picks up the payment — usually within 30 minutes. PayTime marks the invoice paid, stops the sequence, and writes a note to that customer's memory ("paid after reminder 2") that we use to inform future tone selection.
05Can I customize the reminder emails?+
Yes — every step has an editable subject and body with token autocomplete for {{first}}, {{number}}, {{amount}}, {{days}}, etc. Or pick one of the four built-in tone profiles and never touch the copy again.
06Is there a contract?+
Month to month. Cancel from the billing page in a single click. Your data exports as CSV; your sequences keep running until the period ends.
Filed · May 14, 2026 · 11:42 AM

Somewhere in your books,
an invoice is still late.

Two minutes to connect. Free until your first reminder is delivered. PayTime takes the receivables desk from here.

Connect QuickBooks →Read the manifesto
— The desk that doesn't get tired.