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Briefing · Sun, Sep 27, 2026Vol. 01 · No. 39For 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 or $948/year. Your choice. Cancel anytime.
Connect QuickBooks · 90 sec
Card on file to activate·No charge until first recovery·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 or $948/year — your selected plan starts only after the first qualifying recovery.

When you're chargedAfter the next accounting sync confirms an overdue invoice with a sent PayTime reminder has been paid. Never when you first add your card.
No annual lock-in$99 month-to-month. Annual is opt-in only if you want to save $240.
The mathRecover a single $1,840 invoice — in this example — and the $99 monthly plan pays for itself roughly 18× over.
Preview · illustrative activity, names inventedOtterhill 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 · daily + on-demandTidewater Inc. cleared $1,450 · auto-marked paidPreview · illustrative activity, names inventedOtterhill 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 · daily + on-demandTidewater 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
When reminders are sent by hand, the typical 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 can recover 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 — a full day on the desk.

An illustrative day on PayTime, shown the way it appears in the app. Everything below happens automatically. The owner does 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$4,800.00awaiting 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 · [email protected] → [email protected]
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 4 · friendly nudge9:00 AM
Day 10 · firm follow-up9:00 AM
Day 21 · urgent · with link9:00 AM
Day 30 · 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 selected $99/month or $948/year subscription starts when an overdue invoice with a sent PayTime reminder is confirmed 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, your selected plan begins after Stripe confirms payment. You can cancel from Billing.

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.
InvoiceDrawer, Recovery Score, cash forecast
Every operations surface — none of them gated by tier.
Audit trail on SOC 2-certified infrastructure
Every sync, send, pause, and disconnect is logged. Exportable on demand.
PayTime · Recovery planPRICING EXAMPLE

Free until PayTime recovers your first invoice.

Add a card to activate — we don't charge it. Choose $99/month or $948/year before your first recovery. Your selected plan begins only after an overdue invoice with a sent PayTime reminder is confirmed paid and Stripe confirms your charge.

Recovery plan · monthlyUnlimited reminders, all tone profiles · billed on first recovery$99.00
QuickBooks connectionRealm-level, one per workspaceincluded
Invoice details, recovery tracking, forecastincluded
Quiet mode + customer controlsincluded
Activity log + reminder historyincluded
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 that's serious about collecting — 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 — PayTime syncs automatically every day, and you can trigger a sync anytime from the dashboard. PayTime marks the invoice paid and stops the sequence. If this is your first eligible recovery, PayTime starts the plan you selected — $99/month or $948/year — and only grants paid access after Stripe confirms the payment.
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 {{client_name}}, {{invoice_number}}, {{amount}}, {{days_overdue}}, and {{payment_link}}. Or pick one of the four built-in tone profiles and never touch the copy again.
Filed · Sun, Sep 27, 2026 · 11:42 AM

Somewhere in your books,
an invoice is still late.

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

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