# Payment reminders that chase themselves > Nobody likes sending payment reminders. It feels awkward, so you put it off, and the invoice stays open. Backbone does the chasing for you until it's paid. Source: https://back-bone.io/en/blog/mahnwesen-auf-autopilot Published: 2026-10-16 · Updated: 2026-10-18 Category: Product > You shouldn't have to feel bad about payment reminders – and yet you do. That should be taken off our hands. > > Automating workflows like this with AI agents and AI integrations is the future – that's why I built Backbone. > > — Luca, founder of Backbone ## Set up once. Automated forever. In Settings › Reminders, you switch automatic reminders on and decide how many days after the due date each stage goes out. After that, you can forget about it. Switching them off works the same way. Automatic dunning comes with every paid plan: Solo, Growth and Agency. ## How Backbone chases **Payment reminder:** one day after the due date. Just the open amount, as a PDF. No interest, no late fee. Maybe the invoice just got buried in someone's inbox. **1st notice:** after 7 days. Now interest up to the day it goes out and the late fee are added, line by line in the PDF. **2nd notice:** after 14 days. Same layout. This is the last stage. Those are the defaults, and you can change the days any time. Seven days before the due date, a short heads-up also goes out. That one can't be changed. ## One text for everything You write one text, subject and body, and it's used for every stage. You'll find it under Settings › Reminders › Reminder text. Placeholders fill in the client, invoice number, amount, due date and stage. Your client gets the email from your workspace, with the open amount and the reminder as a PDF. A copy of every email to you: Coming soon. Need different words for one client? Send the stage with "send now" and adjust the subject and text for that one send only. ## Interest and late fee You don't have to look up any rates. Backbone uses the statutory one, based on where your company is registered: Germany or Austria. If your client has a VAT ID, it's B2B, including the €40 flat fee. Without a VAT ID, it's B2C, with no flat fee. Outside DE and AT, Backbone charges no interest and no fee. The rate can't be edited. Interest and the flat fee start with the 1st notice. Want them from the payment reminder already? Switch on "Fee and interest from the payment reminder" in Settings › Reminders. [AI in dunning](https://back-bone.io/en/blog/ki-mahnwesen) explains when a client is in default. Want to check a number yourself? Use the [late-payment interest calculator](https://back-bone.io/en/tools/late-payment-interest-calculator). ## Paid? It stops. As soon as the invoice counts as paid, Backbone stops chasing. The history stays on the invoice. Two ways. Easy and easier. Mark the invoice paid with one click. Or upload your [bank statement](https://back-bone.io/en/features/bank-statements) and assign the payment to the invoice. If the full amount is there, it's paid, and the reminders stop. Clear matches are assigned automatically; for unclear ones, Backbone asks you first. If only part of the money came in, the invoice stays open until the payments together cover it. Billy can mark an invoice paid for you too, and asks you first. And if you cancel an invoice, the chasing stops as well. Bank connections: Coming soon. Until then, the uploaded bank statement does the job. ## When you want to step in Your client says the payment will be late? Pause the invoice and pick it back up afterwards. Want it to go faster? Use "send now" to send the next stage right away. Lost track of who still owes you? Ask Billy. Our friendly ghost knows every open invoice, so you don't have to haunt your inbox. More on the [payment reminders page](https://back-bone.io/en/features/payment-reminders). ## How Backbone does it Dunning on autopilot. In the app, or in a chat with ChatGPT, Claude and many more. 1. **Switch on dunning** Set it once. Runs by itself. 2. **Who's overdue?** One question, every open invoice. 3. **Send the reminder** You approve. Only then does it go out. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can I choose when reminders go out? Yes. In Settings › Reminders you choose how many days after the due date the payment reminder, the 1st notice and the 2nd notice go out. The defaults are 1, 7 and 14 days. You can switch automatic reminders off completely. ### Does the payment reminder already include interest? No, it only states the open amount. In Germany and Austria, interest and, for clients with a VAT ID, the €40 flat fee start with the 1st notice. With the "Fee and interest from the payment reminder" switch, they start with the first stage. ### When do the reminders stop? As soon as the invoice is paid: with one click, through your uploaded bank statement or with Billy. Partial payments add up. Cancelling the invoice stops them too. ### Can I change the text per stage? No, one text covers every stage. Only with "send now" can you adjust it for that one send. ### Is dunning in every plan? Yes, in Solo, Growth and Agency. **Let the next late invoice chase itself.** 7-day trial, card required. [Try for 7 days](https://back-bone.io/en/sign-up) --- Product article, not legal or tax advice and no review of your case. Checked on 18/10/2026