GoHighLevel Overdue Invoice Reminder Workflow: Setup (2026)

By Dr Priya Jaganathan, GoHighLevel Certified Admin · HL Growth Partner, Australia · Updated 10 September 2026 · 10 min read

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A GoHighLevel overdue invoice reminder workflow is the automation I build most often for Australian service businesses, and it usually pays for the subscription within a month. Chasing money by hand is awkward, inconsistent and easy to forget when the week gets busy.

This is the exact build I use: a trigger when an invoice goes out, a four-step reminder ladder across email and SMS, an If/Else that exits the moment it is paid, and a human escalation at the end. You can build it in under two hours and it runs on every invoice from then on.

Why an automated GHL invoice follow-up workflow beats chasing by hand

Australian small businesses are still being paid late. Xero Small Business Insights (March 2026 release, December quarter 2025 data) put the average at 6.6 days late, the second-best quarterly result since tracking began in 2017. Even a good quarter means a week of waiting on money already earned.

The real cost is not the 6.6 days. It is the invoices that quietly slide to 30, 45 and 60 days because nobody sent the second reminder. A workflow does not get busy, does not feel awkward, and never skips the day 7 message because the client is a mate. It also fixes the tone problem: silence for three weeks, then a message far too sharp.

What GoHighLevel supports natively (and what it doesn't)

GoHighLevel has an Invoice workflow trigger that fires when an invoice changes status. The documented filters are Sent, Viewed, Paid, Partially Paid and Void. HighLevel's help article mentions "overdue" in passing, but I do not treat it as a dependable trigger because the filter list has shifted between releases.

GoHighLevel also has a separate Invoice Reminder Settings panel under Payments → Invoices → Settings. It sends templated reminders before or after the due date, but it cannot branch, tag, create tasks or move pipeline stages, and it only covers invoices created after you switch it on. See HighLevel's Invoice trigger documentation for the current filter list.

My verdict: use the Workflow, not the settings panel, and anchor everything to the Sent trigger plus Wait steps. That pattern works on every release I have touched.

Which payment setup this assumes

The build assumes you invoice from GoHighLevel with Stripe (or GHL's native processor) connected, so Paid status updates automatically. If you are not there yet, start with my GoHighLevel Payments and Stripe invoice setup guide.

The reminder ladder: day 1, 3, 7 and 14 from friendly to firm

Every step has one job, from a helpful heads-up to a clear statement of what happens next. Here is the cadence I deploy for Australian clients on 7 or 14 day terms.

Notice the SMS is not in step 1 or step 4. A text on the due date feels aggressive, and a text at day 14 is the wrong channel for a formal notice. Email carries the paper trail; SMS makes sure it is seen.

Step-by-step: building the HighLevel payment reminder automation

Step 1: Create the custom fields

Go to Settings → Custom Fields and create three contact-level fields: Invoice Due Date (date), Invoice Amount Outstanding (number) and Invoice Number (text). These let messages quote real figures and let the Wait step count from the actual due date. My custom fields setup guide covers the naming conventions I use.

Step 2: Add the Invoice trigger

Create a new Workflow called "Overdue Invoice Reminder Ladder". Add the Invoice trigger, filter Invoice Status is Sent, and add a second filter, Tag does not include "invoice-no-chase", to exclude retainer clients on direct debit.

Step 3: Write the invoice details to custom fields

Add an Update Contact Field action that writes the due date, amount and number from the trigger's invoice values into your fields. Do this before any Wait step so the values are locked in.

Step 4: Wait until the due date

Add a Wait step of type "Event / Custom Field" set to wait until the Invoice Due Date field (or a fixed wait equal to your payment terms if that option is unavailable). Then add a second Wait using the time window option so nothing releases before 9am or after 5pm AEST, Monday to Friday.

Step 5: If/Else on paid status before every message

Before each reminder, add an If/Else that checks whether the contact has the tag "invoice-paid" (applied by the exit workflow in Step 8). If yes, route to End Workflow. If no, send the reminder. This check before every send is what stops the embarrassing "please pay" text arriving an hour after the money landed.

Step 6: Build the four reminder messages

• Day 0 email: Subject "Invoice {{contact.invoice_number}} was due today". Two short lines, the GST-inclusive amount, and the pay-now link.
• Day 3 email + SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, just checking you received invoice {{contact.invoice_number}} for ${{contact.invoice_amount_outstanding}}. Pay here: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out."
• Day 7 email + SMS: Reference your terms ("our terms are 14 days from invoice") and ask for a payment date by reply.
• Day 14 email: Formal final notice with your late-fee clause if you have one, and a line saying a team member will be in touch.

Separate the messages with Wait steps of 3, 4 and 7 days, each followed by the business-hours window and the paid-tag If/Else.

Step 7: Escalate to a human at day 14

After the final email, add an Add Task action assigned to the account owner titled "Call re overdue invoice {{contact.invoice_number}}", due the next business day, then a Move Opportunity action into an "Accounts Receivable" pipeline stage called "14+ days overdue".

Step 8: The exit workflow

Create a second workflow, "Invoice Paid: Exit Reminders". Trigger: Invoice, status Paid. Actions: add tag "invoice-paid", Remove From Workflow (select the ladder), send a short thank-you email, and clear the custom fields. Clone it for status Void without the thank-you. For Partially Paid, add a tag and let the ladder continue.

Not on HighLevel yet? Start with a free 30-day trial here — long enough to build everything in this guide before you pay a cent.

Keeping Stripe, GHL Payments and Xero in sync

The whole ladder depends on GoHighLevel knowing the invoice is paid. When the client pays through the GHL invoice link, Stripe reports back and the status flips to Paid within seconds. The messy path is a bank transfer that lands in Xero and never touches GoHighLevel.

Either mark the invoice paid manually in GHL the same day, or set up the GoHighLevel Xero integration so payment status syncs back. If you do neither, your workflow will chase people who have already paid, and that costs you trust.

Australian compliance: Spam Act, ACMA and GST on every message

Every SMS and email in this ladder is a commercial electronic message under the Spam Act 2003. ACMA enforces three requirements: consent, sender identification and a working unsubscribe. An existing customer relationship generally covers consent for invoice messages, but the other two still apply. ACMA's guidance on avoiding sending spam is worth reading once.

• Put your trading name in every SMS and keep "Reply STOP to opt out" on it.
• Send inside business hours only; the time-window Wait step handles this.
• State amounts as GST-inclusive and include your ABN in the email footer.
• Put your payment terms (7, 14 or 30 days) on the original invoice so the day 7 message can quote them.
• Register your sending number properly. My guide to SMS compliance and A2P registration in GoHighLevel covers what Australian senders need.

On the email side, invoice reminders cannot afford to land in spam. Check your DMARC before going live; the Mailgun email deliverability setup takes about half an hour.

Testing before you switch it on

Create a test contact with your own mobile and email. Send yourself a $1 invoice, shorten every Wait to a few minutes, then pay halfway through and confirm the exit workflow pulls you out.

Restore the real Wait durations and publish for new invoices only. Do not bulk-enrol existing overdue invoices, or the ladder will send day 0 messages for invoices already 40 days late.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Forgetting the exit workflow. Reminders keep going after payment, and you find out from an annoyed client.
• Anchoring waits to the send date, not the due date. A 30-day invoice gets an "overdue" message on day 7.
• Sending SMS outside business hours. A 6:40am text about money loses clients and attracts ACMA complaints.
• No human escalation. Automation should stop at day 14; a real conversation resolves what the ladder cannot.
• Merge fields left blank. If the Update Contact Field action runs after the first message, the email reads "Invoice for $".
• One workflow for every client type. Retainer clients on direct debit need different handling, so use tags to exclude or route them.

If you want an overdue invoice reminder workflow built and tested inside your own GoHighLevel account, book a strategy call with the HL Growth Partner team.

Book Your Strategy Call →

Or if you just need the software first: grab the 30-day HighLevel trial and book us when you're ready to scale it.

Frequently asked questions

Does GoHighLevel have a native "invoice overdue" workflow trigger?

The Invoice trigger fires on status changes and its documented filters are Sent, Viewed, Paid, Partially Paid and Void. Overdue is referenced in HighLevel's help content but I have not found it reliable across releases. The dependable approach is to trigger on Sent, store the due date in a custom field and use Wait steps to time each reminder.

Should I use the built-in Invoice Reminder Settings instead of a workflow?

The built-in reminders are fine if all you need is a templated email or SMS at fixed intervals. They cannot branch on tags, create tasks, change pipeline stages or escalate to a person. For anything beyond a basic nudge, the workflow build gives you far more control.

How many reminders should an Australian small business send before calling?

Four automated touches across 14 days is the sweet spot I have settled on. Fewer than three and invoices slip; more than five and clients feel harassed. After day 14 a phone call resolves the account faster than another email.

Is it legal to send SMS payment reminders in Australia?

Yes, provided you meet the Spam Act 2003 requirements enforced by ACMA: consent (an existing customer relationship generally covers invoice messages), clear sender identification and a working opt-out. Send during business hours and keep your business name and a STOP instruction in every text.

What happens if a client pays by bank transfer outside GoHighLevel?

GoHighLevel will not know the invoice is paid unless you mark it paid manually or sync payment status from Xero. Marking it paid in GHL triggers the Paid workflow, which removes the contact from the reminder ladder. Make this a same-day habit.

Can the workflow handle partially paid invoices?

Yes. Build a small workflow on the Partially Paid status that adds a tag and updates the outstanding amount field. The main ladder can then use an If/Else to swap in copy that acknowledges the partial payment and asks for the balance.

Related Articles on HL Growth Partner

Billing and payments in GoHighLevel

• GoHighLevel Payments: Stripe, Invoices and Subscriptions
• GoHighLevel Xero Integration: Setup and Cost
• GoHighLevel vs Tradify: True Cost for Tradies

More reminder workflows to build next

• Quote Follow-Up Workflow Setup Guide
• Renewal Reminder Workflow Setup Guide
• Service Reminder Workflow Setup Guide

Foundations that make workflows reliable

• Missed Call Text Back Setup
• Database Reactivation Campaign Setup