1. See what you are owed
Open Sales then Invoices and filter to Overdue, or run the Accounts Receivable Ageing report under Reports (Who owes you). That gives you the total outstanding and how many days each invoice is past due. The number is usually larger than expected, and seeing it is the first step to recovering it. For a quick estimate without logging in, the free calculator does the same from your own figures.
2. Use QuickBooks reminders for the easy cases
QuickBooks can send automatic invoice reminders on a schedule you set in Account and settings under Sales, and you can send batch reminders by hand. For the customer who forgot, that recovers the money with no effort, so switch it on first. Check the exact setup in your own QuickBooks, since the area changes. Reminders handle the forgetful; they do not handle the deciding, which is where automated reminders run out.
3. Chase by value, not by age
The instinct is to chase the oldest invoice. The money says chase by value first, weighted by how late it is. A £4,000 invoice thirty days late deserves more attention than a £200 one ninety days late. If you do one thing a week, make it the single highest-value chase, kept short, specific and polite.
4. Escalate the persistent few
For a commercial debt that keeps slipping, you are entitled to statutory late-payment interest (Bank of England base rate plus 8 per cent) and a fixed compensation sum, then a letter before action. QuickBooks will not calculate the interest for you, so work it out with the late-payment interest calculator and state it in your chase.
Where Kelo fits with QuickBooks
Kelo connects to QuickBooks read-only, works out what you are owed, ranks what to chase first by value and days late, and drafts each chase in your voice for you to approve and send from your own inbox. It cannot change or send anything in your accounts without you. See how it compares to QuickBooks reminders.