Why Contractors Lose Money on Unpaid Invoices (And How to Fix It)
By Ted Reminders
If you’re a plumber, electrician, or general contractor, you’ve been there: you finish a job, send an invoice, and then… nothing. Weeks go by. You’re busy on the next job and forget to follow up. By the time you remember, the customer has “lost” the invoice and needs another one.
The real cost of late payments
Industry data shows that small contractors write off an average of 5-10% of their annual revenue to unpaid invoices. For a business doing $200,000 a year, that’s $10,000-$20,000 left on the table — not because clients refuse to pay, but because nobody followed up.
The problem isn’t bad customers. It’s that follow-up is tedious, easy to forget, and feels awkward. You’re not a collections agency — you’re a tradesperson.
Why manual follow-up fails
Most contractors try one of these approaches:
- Mental notes — “I’ll remember to call them next week.” You won’t. You’ll be elbows-deep in a pipe fitting.
- Spreadsheets — Great in theory, but opening Excel after a 10-hour day on-site isn’t happening.
- Accounting software — QuickBooks and FreshBooks have reminder features, but they’re buried behind complex setups most contractors never finish configuring.
The fix: make it automatic
The best approach is one where you don’t have to think about it. You enter the invoice once, set the due date, and the system handles the rest:
- Automatic email reminders go out when an invoice is overdue
- SMS follow-ups reach customers where they actually see messages
- Daily checks catch overdue invoices so nothing slips through
No spreadsheet to maintain. No awkward phone calls. No money left on the table.
Start getting paid on time
Ted Reminders was built specifically for this. Add your invoice, and we’ll handle the follow-up. It’s free during our beta — no credit card, no QuickBooks integration, no complexity.