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 — until your client pays.

Free until PayTime recovers your first overdue invoice.Then $99/month. Cancel anytime.
The promiseClause 01 · PayTime terms of service

Cancel anytime.Pays for itself on one recovered invoice.

Free until PayTime helps recover your first overdue invoice. After that, $99/month — billed only when the chase actually works.

When you're chargedThe moment an invoice that was overdue, imported, and actively chased by PayTime is marked paid. Not a day before.
No annual lock-in$99 month-to-month. Annual is opt-in only if you want to save $240.
The mathAverage recovered invoice on PayTime is $1,840. The plan earns itself back roughly 18× over.
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 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 only when it actually works.

Connect QuickBooks free. Add a card to activate — we don't charge it. The $99/month subscription starts on the day an invoice PayTime was chasing is marked paid. Cancel before then and pay nothing.

The plan starts only when the chase works.

No tiers, no add-ons, no "talk to sales." If you need it, it's already on the receipt. Free for as long as PayTime hasn't recovered an invoice for you — once it does, $99/month begins automatically and you can cancel from the same screen.

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

Free until PayTime recovers your first invoice.

Add a card to activate — we don't charge it. The $99/month subscription starts only on the day an invoice PayTime was actively chasing is marked paid. Or pay $948/year ($79/month equivalent) once the trial converts.

Recovery plan · monthlyUnlimited reminders, all tone profiles · billed on first recovery$99.00
QuickBooks connectionRealm-level, one per workspaceincluded
InvoiceDrawer, Recovery Score, forecastincluded
Quiet mode + customer memoryincluded
Audit trail · CSV exportincluded
Total · monthly$99/mo
Or pay annually$948/yr · $79/mo equivalent
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.

01When does my $99/month actually start?+
The day an invoice that was overdue, imported into PayTime, and actively chased by us changes from open to paid. We don't charge for invoices that were already paid before activation, or invoices that came in clean and paid themselves without our help. You can be on PayTime for weeks before the first bill — that's by design.
02Why do I need a card if I won't be charged?+
Two reasons. First, it tells us you're a real business, not a tire-kicker — which keeps the trial generous for everyone. Second, when the chase works, your subscription kicks in automatically and there's no payment-method drama in the middle of your best week. The card sits on file. We don't touch it until PayTime has recovered an invoice for you.
03How 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 preview every reminder before any of them go out, then click Activate to start the chase.
04Will 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.
05What 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. A disputed invoice never converts your trial.
06What happens when they pay?+
The next QuickBooks sync picks up the payment — usually within 30 minutes. PayTime marks the invoice paid, stops the sequence, writes a note to that customer's memory ("paid after reminder 2"), and — if this is your first recovery — starts your $99/month subscription. You'll see a clear "First invoice recovered" event in the activity log.
07Can I cancel before I'm ever charged?+
Yes. Disconnect or cancel from the billing page at any point before the first recovery — no charge, no questions. After conversion it's still month-to-month with one-click cancel, and your sequences keep running until the period ends.
08Can 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.
Filed · May 14, 2026 · 11:42 AM

Somewhere in your books,
an invoice is still late.

Two minutes to connect QuickBooks. Free until PayTime recovers your first overdue invoice. Then $99/month — cancel anytime.

— The desk that doesn't get tired.