What happens after the last payment reminder
Every invoicing and accounts receivable product has a last reminder: the final email, after which the product has nothing more to say. Most late invoices are paid before that point. This is about the ones that are not, and why they are a product decision for the platform that sent the reminders.
About one invoice in four is late. A small tail is never paid.
About one B2B invoice in four is overdue at any given time. Most are paid after a reminder or two. A tail is not: in one AR platform's data, about 10% of chased invoices were still open after the reminders, and businesses write off around 2% of their receivables a year.
of invoices overdue on average across 35 markets.[1]
of chased invoices still unpaid after the reminders, in Trove's platform data.[7]
of receivables written off, depending on the market.[1]
Nobody publishes the exact share of invoices still unpaid after the final reminder. The figures below are the closest anyone has, and the last section shows how a platform can measure its own.
How late is late?
Late payment is normal in B2B. The figures agree on that even though they measure different things, so they are shown side by side and never added up.
One invoice in four is overdue across 35 markets
Share paid late, by source. Each bar measures something different, named under it.
Small businesses feel it most. 59% of US small businesses had invoices more than 30 days overdue, up from 47% a year earlier, and those waiting were owed USD 17,700 on average.[5] Xero's data from more than 32,000 US small businesses shows invoices paid 9.0 days late on average in the first quarter of 2026.[6]
What the figures share is the shape: late is common, and most late invoices are paid in the end. As Atradius puts it, most overdue invoices are eventually collected.[1] The question for a platform is the rest.
What reminders fix, and what they cannot
Reminders work, and they work early. Trove, an AR tool, published data on tens of thousands of invoices chased through its product between July 2025 and September 2026.[7]
85% of paid invoices needed three reminders or fewer; 6% needed six or more
Share of paid invoices by number of reminders before payment. Cumulative share under each bar.
Source: Trove, invoices chased July 2025 to September 2026, read 14 October 2026.[7]
Chaser's 2026 accounts receivable report points the same way: businesses that follow up on every overdue invoice are paid within a week of the due date 28% of the time, against 16% for those that do not.[8] Sending the reminder matters.
The curve also shows where reminders stop working. Each extra reminder brings in less, and the last tenth does not move. These are the invoices where the customer has gone silent, disputes the amount, has cash trouble, or sits in another country where a polite email carries no weight. A seventh reminder changes none of that.
Trove's 10% is a snapshot: some of those invoices were chased recently and will still be paid, so the final unpaid share is lower. Atradius puts what businesses finally write off at 1.8% to 2.6% of receivables, depending on the market.[1]
Where your product goes quiet
When the last reminder has gone out, most products have nothing left to offer. The invoice sits in the overdue list, and your user is on their own.
They let it go
52% of UK small businesses forfeit late payments up to ten times a year rather than spend the time and cost of chasing them.[9] 30% of UK SMEs wrote off bad debt in the past year, almost GBP 30,000 on average.[10]
They look for an agency
For a customer in the same country, that is a search, a few calls and a new contract. For a customer abroad it is harder: who may contact a debtor, what can be charged and how a court claim works differ by country, so your user needs someone local.
They leave your product
Whatever they choose, the invoice leaves the system that issued it, chased it and knows its history.
If your product promises to get your users paid, this is where the promise stops. The invoices that need the most help are the ones your product hands back.
What the last few percent are worth
A small share of a large invoice volume is a large amount of money. Every input below is an assumption for illustration, not a measured figure. Put in your own.
| Input | Example value |
|---|---|
| Business users who invoice other businesses | 1,000 |
| Invoices each user sends a year | 200 |
| Average invoice | USD 2,000 |
| Invoiced through the platform a year | USD 400 million |
| Share never paid | 2% (Atradius puts write-offs at 1.8% to 2.6% of receivables)[1] |
| Value still unpaid after the last reminder, a year | USD 8 million |
That USD 8 million is money your users have already earned and will mostly write off. Some of it cannot be recovered: the customer is insolvent, or the claim is disputed with reason. Much of it can be, by someone allowed to collect in the debtor's country, working under local law, in the local language.
Your user gets a next step
In the place where the invoice already lives, instead of a write-off or a search for an agency abroad.
You keep the outcome you promised
"Cash collected" now covers the hard invoices too.
You earn on it
Collection is paid by a success fee on money recovered. With Debitura, a platform earns 100% of Debitura's earnings on its cases until it has earned USD 5,000, then 50%.[12] Your users pay no upfront cost: a success fee only when money is recovered.
What that is worth for your platform depends on your volumes. The partner revenue calculator works it out from your own numbers.
Measure your own number
You do not need an industry benchmark: your platform already holds the data to answer the question for your users. Five measures from your invoice and reminder logs are enough.
Share unpaid after each reminder
Of invoices that reached reminder 1, 2, 3 and the last one, how many were still open 30 days later?
What happens after the last reminder
Of invoices still open after the final reminder, how many are paid within 90 days, written off, marked as disputed, or left untouched?
Days from the last reminder to payment or write-off
The longer this runs, the less likely payment becomes.
Share with a debtor in another country
These are the invoices your users find hardest to act on alone.
Average amount of the invoices still open
Small amounts get written off; larger ones are worth a next step.
Together these give you a number no one else can publish: what your users lose after your product goes quiet. It is also the business case for the next step, in your own data rather than ours.
How embedding a next step works
The step after the last reminder can be a button next to the overdue invoice. What it takes to build is small, because the regulated work stays with the people allowed to do it.
Show the button
Next to an invoice that is still unpaid after your last reminder.
Send the invoice from your server
One API call. With Debitura's Starter integration, Debitura handles your user's sign-up, the agreement, identity checks and any invoice fixes, and returns one link if your user needs to finish something.
Show what happens next
Webhooks report each status change, so the case stays visible next to the invoice.
Each case goes to a vetted local collection agency or law firm in the debtor's country, in 180 countries covered. The full walkthrough is in the Send to collection button guide, and the embedded debt collection guide compares the models.
Chaser did this
Chaser, an accounts receivable automation platform in London, added a "Send to collection" step for invoices that stay unpaid after its reminders. In Chaser's words: "Reminders get most invoices paid. For the rest, our customers need a next step they can trust, in any country, without leaving Chaser."[13]
The integration went from kickoff in January 2026 to live in March.
Reported results
80% fewercollections enquiries to Chaser's customer success team
+30% collection volumes and +50% success rates
Figures reported by Chaser, 2026.[13] Read the Chaser case study
After the last payment reminder: questions
How many B2B invoices are still unpaid after the last reminder?
No one publishes this figure. The closest is AR platform data: in Trove's data, about 10% of chased invoices were still open after the reminders (October 2026). Atradius's 2026 survey puts final write-offs at 1.8% to 2.6% of receivables. A platform can measure its own share from its reminder logs.
What share of B2B invoices is paid late?
About one in four. Atradius's 2026 Payment Practices Barometer found an average of 24% of invoices overdue across 35 markets, and 22% of B2B receivables paid late in the US. Large UK businesses paid 15% of invoices outside agreed terms in 2025, according to the UK government.
What share of B2B invoices is never paid?
Usually a few percent. Atradius's 2026 survey puts write-offs at 1.8% to 2.6% of receivables, and US companies report losing 1% to 2% of B2B invoices. EOS's 2025 survey puts invoices never collected in Europe at 5%.
What happens to an invoice after the last payment reminder?
In most products, nothing more. The business either lets it go (52% of UK small businesses forfeit late payments up to ten times a year rather than chase them), finds a collection agency, or takes legal action. A platform can offer that next step inside the product, next to the invoice.
Should an invoicing or AR platform offer debt collection?
If it promises to get its users paid, it is the step that completes the promise. The platform does not collect itself: it passes the invoice to a licensed local collector through an API and shows the status. Chaser did this and reports 80% fewer collections enquiries to its customer success team.
How does a platform earn from debt collection?
Collection is paid by a success fee on money recovered, and many providers share it with the platform that sends the case. With Debitura, a platform earns 100% of Debitura's earnings on its cases until it has earned USD 5,000, then 50%. Its users pay nothing upfront.
Where these figures come from
The figures measure different things: share of invoices, of invoice value, of revenue, or of businesses. They are reported as published and never added together. Several sources sell accounts receivable or collection services, which is noted. No source measures the share of invoices still unpaid after the final reminder directly; Trove's platform data is the closest proxy. All sources accessed 12 November 2026.
- Atradius, What 20 years of payment data tell us about credit risk (29 September 2026): 24% of invoices overdue across 35 markets; 1.8% to 2.6% of receivables written off. group.atradius.com
- Atradius, B2B payment practices trends, US 2026: 22% of B2B receivables paid late; 1% to 2% of B2B invoices lost to bad debt. 240 US businesses, Q2 to Q3 2026. atradius.us
- UK government, Large businesses' payment practices and performance statistics 2025 (14 July 2026): 15% of invoices (14% by value) not paid within agreed terms. 11,178 reports. gov.uk
- Intrum, European Payment Report 2026 (21 April 2026): more than 12% of revenue paid late. 8,385 businesses in 20 countries. Intrum is a collection company. inderes.se
- QuickBooks, Small business late payments report 2026: 59% of US small businesses with invoices 30+ days overdue; USD 17,700 owed on average. 1,305 US business owners, December 2025. quickbooks.intuit.com
- Xero, Small Business Insights, March quarter 2026 (30 April 2026): invoices paid 9.0 days late; 28.8 days to be paid. Data from more than 32,000 US small businesses. xero.com
- Trove, How many invoice reminders should you send? (October 2026): reminders needed per paid invoice; about 10% of chased invoices still unpaid. Tens of thousands of invoices, July 2025 to September 2026. Trove sells AR software. trove.works
- Chaser, The 2026 accounts receivable report: 28% vs 16% paid within a week of the due date with full follow-up. 163 responses. Chaser sells AR software. chaserhq.com
- Federation of Small Businesses and GoCardless, Late payments report (6 March 2025): 52% forfeit late payments up to ten times a year. 2,298 UK small businesses, October to December 2024. gocardless.com
- Bibby Financial Services, SME Confidence Tracker (24 March 2026): 30% of UK SMEs wrote off bad debt in the past year, almost GBP 30,000 on average. bibbyfinancialservices.com
- EOS, European Payment Practices 2025: 5% of invoices never collected in Europe. 2,200 companies in 11 countries; EOS is a collection company. Quoted in Debitura's Global Collection Report
- Debitura, Referral partner program. debitura.com/solutions/referral-partners
- Debitura, How Chaser added debt collection to its product. debitura.com/chaser-case-study
About the author
Lars Holdgaard is the founder of Debitura, a technology platform that connects businesses and software platforms with licensed local collection agencies and law firms in 180 countries. More late-payment data by country is in the Global Collection Report.
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