Xero automatic invoice reminders: up to five emails before or after the due date

Xero automatic invoice reminders: how many and when

Xero can send up to five automatic invoice reminders in an organization, by email, before or after the due date. Three default reminders come with it, set up for overdue invoices, and the turn-on screen offers presets of 7, 14 and 21 days. Xero sends them once a day between 4 am and 8 am in the organization's time zone, as read on Xero Central on October 31, 2026.

InvoiceSherpa, the tool this site reviews, adds texts to Xero's email reminders; the last section says when that matters.

How to turn them on and set the timing

1. Open Invoice Reminders in your Xero sales invoice settings, switch it on and tick the box to email customers when an invoice is due or overdue.
2. Keep the three defaults, choose a preset of 7, 14 or 21 days, or select Add reminder to change them.
3. For a reminder before the due date choose due in, after it choose overdue by, and for the due date itself set 0 days.
4. Edit the email template if you want, and use Insert placeholder to add fields.
5. Optional settings apply to every reminder: the online invoice link with an amount due summary in the email header, a link to the invoice PDF, and a minimum amount owing below which no reminder goes.
6. Select Save. Xero sends the reminders you set up for all invoices marked as sent.

Xero Central gives two menu paths to this screen, so look for Invoice Reminders in your sales invoice settings. Customer replies go to the login email of the person who first turned reminders on, and you can change that address.

Which invoices get reminders, and when they stop

A reminder goes only for an invoice marked as sent, to a customer with a current email address in Xero, and the person setting it up needs the administrator or standard user role. Reminders stop once a payment is matched. You can also stop them for one customer or one invoice, for example a partly paid invoice or one you have already discussed with the customer.

The limit of five applies per organization, so a bookkeeper sets reminders up in each client's own organization and can reuse one set of timings and wording; how to automate invoice reminders gives a five-touch cadence that fits inside Xero's five.

Texts, pay links and late fees in Xero

Xero's reminders are email. Xero can also text a customer a link to an approved invoice that is awaiting payment, which is an invoice, not a reminder. It is free on paid plans, needs a connected payment service, allows one text per invoice at a time and 30 messages in 24 hours, and the link expires after seven days. You tick a box confirming you have permission to text the customer.

The reminder email can carry an online invoice link, and Xero's US page says Stripe and GoCardless handle the payment. For late fees, Xero's guides say to put them in your payment terms and to check that fees follow your state's regulations; the Xero pages cited here describe no automatic late fee. Xero also points to its App Store for more advanced reminder options.

When a reminder tool for Xero helps

Xero's reminders suit a business whose customers pay after emails written in its own words. Move when you want texts: InvoiceSherpa connects to Xero and adds text reminders to the email reminders Xero sends, and it lists a branded customer portal and autopay on every plan. Autopay needs a customer to have a stored payment method.

Best invoice reminder software for Xero lists the options, and InvoiceSherpa vs Xero sets the two side by side. Texts and autopay can be tried on a Xero organization during InvoiceSherpa's 14 days of free use, which asks for no credit card; you pick a plan and enter card details at the end.