Can QuickBooks automatically send invoice reminders? Yes, up to three emails

Can QuickBooks automatically send invoice reminders: what its help article says

Yes. QuickBooks Online sends automatic email reminders: Reminder 1, plus a second and a third reminder if you want them, scheduled up to 90 days before or after the invoice due date. QuickBooks sends a reminder only for an invoice you have already emailed. The help article, updated October 5, 2026, and read on October 31, 2026, lists QuickBooks Online Plus, Simple Start, Essentials, Lite and Free, and QuickBooks Solopreneur and Solopreneur Plus.

Reminders come with the QuickBooks plan. The last section lists where they stop and what InvoiceSherpa, the reminder tool this site reviews, adds.

How to switch them on in QuickBooks Online

Switch these on before you pay for any other tool. The Sales tab steps in QuickBooks' article are:

1. Go to Settings and select Account and settings, then the Sales tab.
2. In the Reminders section, select Edit and turn on Automatic invoice reminders.
3. Open the dropdown for Reminder 1 and turn on its toggle.
4. Choose the number of days and whether it goes before or after the due date.
5. Edit the subject line and message. QuickBooks recommends keeping the word reminder in the subject, and the message can use variables such as Invoice Number and Company Name.
6. Select Save, then Done.

Create the second and third reminders as needed. The templates you set become the standard for every invoice reminder, and rule changes apply only to future reminders. To remind one customer by hand, choose Send reminder from the Receive payment dropdown on the invoice list, edit the message and select Send.

Late fees and the checkout portal in QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online adds late fees from a separate setting in the Sales tab. It applies them to overdue invoices from the day after you turn the setting on, and its help warns that there may be limits on the amount and type of fees you may charge. QuickBooks says you need to turn on invoice reminders or send one by hand to tell a customer about a late fee.

Its checkout portal lets a customer with several unpaid invoices pay them together. Only invoices that have been sent and are currently due appear in it.

QuickBooks Online Advanced and QuickBooks Desktop

On QuickBooks Online Advanced, the article says you can use workflows to create invoice reminders. QuickBooks Desktop has its own help article: you choose how many days before or after the due date to send a reminder, set up groups of customers, and review and approve each reminder before it goes out. The steps above are for QuickBooks Online.

Where QuickBooks reminders stop, and what a reminder tool adds

The documented limits are three reminders, sent by email, one template set for every customer, and only invoices already emailed. A business with a few customers on the same terms can stop here. A five-touch cadence of before due, due day, 7, 14 and 30 days late does not fit in three reminders; how to automate invoice reminders sets that cadence out.

InvoiceSherpa connects to QuickBooks Online and adds text reminders, schedules by customer group and autopay on all three of its plans, and its pricing page lists unlimited payment reminders. See best invoice reminder software for QuickBooks for the options and InvoiceSherpa vs QuickBooks for the two side by side. InvoiceSherpa's trial runs 14 days with a full version and no credit card; at its end you pick a plan and enter card details.