Credit control software sends reminders for unpaid invoices, shows who owes you what and, depending on the tool, adds late payment interest or takes the payment itself. Irish small businesses can choose between the reminders built into Xero, QuickBooks or a business bank account, dedicated tools such as Chaser, Paidnice and Payt, and tools that combine payments with chasing. The one that fits depends on how many invoices you chase, whether your customers are businesses or consumers, and whether you want payment in the same place as the reminder.
In this article
The short version
- Xero, QuickBooks and Revolut Business all send automatic invoice reminders.
- Chaser prices by revenue; Paidnice and Payt price by invoice volume.
- Adfin's Essential credit control is free; Enhanced costs 0.3% per paid invoice.
- Statutory late payment interest is 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026.
- Interest and compensation apply to business customers, never to consumers.
What credit control software does for you
Credit control is the routine of getting invoices paid once they've gone out: reminding customers before and after the due date, keeping track of who owes what, sending statements, adding interest where you're entitled to it and deciding when an account needs a phone call or a solicitor's letter. Software takes over the repetitive parts so you aren't writing the same email every week.
The tools available in Ireland split into three groups. Accounting software and business bank accounts include reminders as one feature among many. Dedicated credit control tools sit on top of your accounting software and do nothing else. A third group takes the payment and chases it in the same place, so reminders and payments sit in one system.
Whichever you pick, it can't make a customer pay. Disputes, a customer in genuine difficulty and the decision to go legal stay with you, and the software's job is to make sure nothing slips while you deal with those.
Reminders built into your accounting software or bank
If you already use Xero or QuickBooks, automatic reminders are already in the software. In Xero you can set automatic payment reminders to go before or after the due date, as often as you choose. QuickBooks Online in Ireland sends up to three automatic reminders, timed up to 90 days before or after the due date, with templates you can edit. QuickBooks only sends them for unpaid invoices that have already been emailed from QuickBooks, so invoices you've sent another way won't get them.
Revolut Business, whose plans start from €10, €35 and €125 a month, lets you send invoices from the business account. Revolut's invoices remind customers automatically at three points: a week before the due date, on it, and three days after it. Customers can pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Revolut Pay or bank transfer, but without an active Merchant account the invoices can only be paid by bank transfer.
If most of your customers pay after a single nudge, built-in reminders may be all you need. If you want more than a reminder schedule, such as automatic statutory interest or a debtors list where each account has an owner and a next step, the next two groups are designed for that.
Dedicated credit control tools
Chaser is credit control software priced by your company's annual revenue, in three bands. Customers can pay from a Chaser reminder through Chaser Pay (card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or instant bank transfer), or by card and SEPA direct debit through your own connected Stripe account. You can connect one payment service at a time, not both.
Paidnice prices by invoice volume, and publishes its prices in euro. Essentials costs €59 a month for up to 150 invoices and two team members, Pro starts at €85, and SMS reminders cost €0.08 each. It works with Xero, QuickBooks Online and Stripe, and adds late fees and interest automatically.
Payt is another invoice-volume tool, priced in euro at €39.95, €69.95 and €159.95 a month for up to 30, 75 and 250 invoices, with tailored pricing above that. Ireland isn't among the countries listed on Payt's site, so ask them about Irish customers before you start a trial.
The two pricing models behave differently as you grow. Revenue-based pricing rises as your business grows, whether or not you have more late payers. Invoice-volume pricing rises with the number of invoices you send, even if most of them are paid on time.
Tools that take the payment as well as chase it
Stripe Invoicing sends invoices and can email automatic reminders before, on or after the due date, chosen from preset options. It costs 0.4% (Starter) or 0.5% (Plus) per paid invoice on top of Stripe's payment fees, which start at 1.5% + €0.25 for standard European Economic Area cards. For SEPA direct debit, Stripe's Irish pricing lists €3.50 for a failed payment and €15 for a dispute.
Adfin combines payments and credit control, priced in two parts. Essential credit control is free under fair use: unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp, two-way sync with Xero or QuickBooks, statements and an aged debtors view where you can give each debtor an owner and next steps. Enhanced credit control is charged at 0.3% per paid invoice, and only when you use it. With Enhanced, Adfin's collection agents choose the timing, channel and tone of each reminder within rules you approve, statutory late payment interest is added to overdue business invoices automatically, and emails go out from your own address.
Your customers can pay with SEPA direct debit, card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or bank transfer, using links you send by email, SMS or WhatsApp. The standard price is 20c + 1% per successful payment. Card payments are charged on the full amount, while on SEPA direct debit and bank transfer the 1% part is capped at €2, so any of those payments up to €2,000 costs no more than €2.20. There's no monthly fee, setup fee or contract, and payments are marked paid in Xero or QuickBooks automatically.
The tools compared
| Tool | Type | Published pricing | Chasing | How customers pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xero | Accounting software | Built in | Automatic reminders before or after the due date | Through Stripe (cards) or GoCardless (direct debit) |
| QuickBooks Online | Accounting software | Built in | Up to three automatic reminders, up to 90 days either side of the due date | Depends on your setup |
| Revolut Business | Business account with invoicing | Plans from €10, €35 or €125 a month | Reminders 7 days before, on and 3 days after the due date | Card and wallets with an active Merchant account; otherwise bank transfer only |
| Chaser | Credit control software | Priced in sterling, from £199 a month, by company revenue | Follow-up of overdue invoices | Chaser Pay, or card and SEPA direct debit through your own Stripe account |
| Paidnice | Credit control software | €59 a month (up to 150 invoices); Pro from €85; SMS €0.08 each | Late fees and interest applied automatically | Works with Xero, QuickBooks Online and Stripe |
| Payt | Credit control software | €39.95, €69.95 or €159.95 a month by invoice volume | Overdue invoice follow-up | Not covered here |
| Stripe Invoicing | Payment provider's invoicing | 0.4% or 0.5% per paid invoice plus payment fees | Reminder emails before, on or after the due date | Cards and SEPA direct debit |
| Adfin | Payments and credit control | Essential free; Enhanced 0.3% per paid invoice; payments 20c + 1%, with the 1% part capped at €2 on SEPA direct debit and bank transfer (cards not capped) | Unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp; Enhanced adds collection agents and statutory interest | SEPA direct debit, card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, bank transfer |
Irish late payment rules to set up in your software
If you sell to other businesses or to public bodies, the European Communities (Late Payment in Commercial Transactions) Regulations 2012 (S.I. 580 of 2012) give you a right to interest and compensation on late invoices. The rules don't apply to consumers, so if you sell to individuals, switch interest off for those customers.
The interest rate is the European Central Bank's main refinancing rate plus 8%, which is 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026. It's reset each 1 January and 1 July, so a tool that calculates it for you should pick up the new rate each half-year. Interest runs from the day after the payment date until the invoice is paid, and you don't have to send a reminder first.
On top of interest, you can claim fixed compensation of €40 on an invoice up to €1,000, €70 on one over €1,000 and up to €10,000, and €100 above €10,000, plus reasonable recovery costs beyond that. If you and your customer never agreed a payment date, payment is due 30 days after the later of receiving the invoice or delivery.
ISME's survey of SME owners for Q1 2026 found that they waited 44 days on average to be paid, that 82% don't charge interest on late payments, and that 13% are afraid to in case they lose the customer. If that worry applies to you, look for software that lets you set a grace period and waive interest for particular customers, so you can apply the rules to most accounts and hold back where a relationship needs it.
When reminders stop working, the next steps are legal ones. A 7-day demand letter before proceedings is usual practice, though not always a legal requirement. An unpaid invoice can't go to Small Claims, because debts are excluded from that procedure. Claims go to the District Court (up to €15,000), the Circuit Court (up to €75,000) or the High Court above that.
How to choose for your business
If you send a handful of invoices a month and most get paid after one reminder, start with the reminders in Xero, QuickBooks or Revolut Business. It should soon be clear whether a fixed schedule is enough.
If you chase a steady volume of business invoices and want interest applied for you, compare tools that do it automatically. Paidnice applies late fees and interest for a monthly fee set by invoice volume, and the Enhanced credit control described above adds statutory interest for 0.3% per paid invoice, only when it's used.
If your customers are mostly consumers, statutory interest doesn't apply, so weigh reminder channels and how easily customers can pay. SMS and WhatsApp reminders with a payment link may suit customers who don't read email closely.
If you want payment and chasing in one place, so you aren't matching payments from one system against reminders in another, look at Stripe Invoicing or Adfin, and compare what each charges per paid invoice and per payment.
If your business is growing quickly, check how the price moves with you. Revenue-based plans rise with turnover, invoice-volume plans with the number of invoices, and per-paid-invoice pricing with the invoices you actually collect.
Common questions
Is there free credit control software in Ireland? Xero and QuickBooks Online include automatic reminders in the software. Adfin's Essential credit control, with unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp, statements and an aged debtors view, is free under fair use.
Can credit control software add late payment interest automatically? Paidnice applies late fees and interest automatically, and Enhanced credit control in Adfin adds statutory interest to overdue business invoices, with grace periods and waivers for individual customers.
What is the late payment interest rate in Ireland? From 1 July 2026 it's 10.4% a year, which is the ECB main refinancing rate plus 8%. The rate is reset every 1 January and 1 July.
Can I charge late payment interest to consumers? The Irish late payment rules cover invoices between businesses and to public bodies only. Consumers are excluded, so you can't charge statutory interest to individuals buying outside their business.
Can I use the Small Claims court for an unpaid invoice? Small Claims excludes debts, so an unpaid invoice can't go through it. Claims up to €15,000 go to the District Court.
How is credit control software priced? Chaser is priced by company revenue, Paidnice and Payt by invoice volume, Stripe Invoicing by a percentage of each paid invoice, and some tools offer basic reminders free.
Sources
- Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 580 of 2012, European Communities (Late Payment in Commercial Transactions) Regulations 2012 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2012/si/580/made/en/print
- Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment - Late payment interest rate (accurate as of November 2026) https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do/supports-for-smes/late-payments/late-payment-interest-rate-
- ISME - Prompt Payments Report Q1 2026 (accurate as of November 2026) https://isme.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Q1-2026-Prompt-Payments.pdf
- Chaser - Detailed pricing breakdown (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.chaserhq.com/chaser-detailed-pricing-breakdown
- Paidnice - Pricing (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.paidnice.com/pricing
- QuickBooks - Send invoice reminders, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-ie/help-article/invoicing/send-invoice-reminders-automatically-manually/L84cQjpxo_IE_en_IE
