Yes, you can automate parts of invoice chasing with Zapier or n8n, usually by sending a reminder email when your accounting software shows an invoice as overdue. It works for simple reminders, but a homemade workflow doesn't see replies, can't easily tell when an invoice has just been paid and needs someone to maintain it. Many businesses use a credit control tool for the chasing and keep Zapier or n8n for moving data into it.
In this article
The short version
- Zapier and n8n can send reminder emails when an invoice in your accounting software goes overdue.
- Homemade workflows don't read replies, can chase invoices that were just paid and need ongoing maintenance.
- A credit control tool can do the chasing while Zapier or n8n feed it invoices and customers.
- Adfin has no ready-made Zapier or n8n app; a webhook or HTTP request step with an API key connects them.
- On Xero or QuickBooks, Adfin's two-way sync usually removes the need for a separate workflow.
What a Zapier or n8n chasing workflow looks like
Both tools connect apps you already use and run steps when something happens. For chasing, the something is an invoice going overdue.
In Zapier, the Xero app has an Overdue Sales Invoice trigger, which fires when a sales invoice is overdue by a number of days you choose. You can follow it with an email step, a filter so only certain customers get a message, and Delay by Zapier to wait before the next step, up to a maximum of 30 days. Each successful action counts as a task against your Zapier plan, while triggers and filters don't.
In n8n, you'd usually start with a Schedule Trigger that runs the workflow every morning, use the Xero node to get all invoices, filter for the overdue ones, and send an email for each. The schedule only runs once you've saved and published the workflow.
For a business with a handful of overdue invoices a month, a setup like this can save a lot of copy and paste. You decide the wording, the timing and who's included, and the tools are well documented.
Where homemade chasing tends to break
The first version is usually quick to build. The problems tend to show up a few months in, once the workflow is running unattended.
- Replies go nowhere useful. A customer who answers "paid this morning" or "the PO number's wrong" replies to an inbox the workflow doesn't read, so the next reminder goes out anyway.
- Paid invoices can still get chased. If the payment hasn't been reconciled in your accounting software before the workflow runs, the invoice still looks overdue. Part payments are harder still.
- Duplicates creep in. An invoice that's edited, re-sent or caught by two overlapping workflows can trigger the same reminder twice.
- There's no payment link unless you build one. A reminder that only asks for payment leaves the customer to find your bank details.
- Nobody owns it. When the person who built it leaves, or an app connection expires, reminders stop quietly and you may not notice until the debtor list grows.
- There's no record. You end up with sent emails scattered across accounts and no single view of who was chased, when, and what they said.
None of these are faults in Zapier or n8n. They're general automation tools, and chasing involves judgement, replies and payment matching that a reminder template doesn't carry.
How Zapier or n8n can feed a credit control tool
A sturdier split is to let a credit control tool do the chasing and use Zapier or n8n only to get invoices and customers into it.
If you use Xero or QuickBooks, you may not need an automation at all. Adfin syncs with Xero and QuickBooks in both directions, so invoices arrive without a workflow, and payments taken through Adfin are marked paid automatically. Payments recorded in Xero or QuickBooks some other way come back as paid externally, and the reminders stop. Essential credit control is free and sends reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp, and Adfin's collection agents chase within rules you approve.
If your invoices start somewhere Adfin doesn't sync with, such as a bespoke billing system, a CRM or a form, Zapier or n8n can pass them across using an Adfin API key. Adfin offers a Zapier connection on request through its developer portal. Without it, or in n8n, you use a step that can make an authenticated web request:
- In Adfin, go to Settings, then Developers, then API keys, and create one named after the workflow. Give Write access to invoices and customers only, since that's all the workflow needs.
- In Zapier, add a Webhooks by Zapier action and put "Authorization" in the Headers section, with "Bearer" followed by the secret as the value. Webhooks by Zapier isn't available on Zapier's Free plan.
- In n8n, add an HTTP Request node and choose the generic Bearer auth credential, which stores the secret in n8n's credentials store and not in the workflow itself.
- Map the fields from your trigger, such as customer name, email, invoice number, amount and due date, then test in Adfin's staging environment before switching to a production key.
Keys can look up, list and create invoices, one-off payment requests and customers. They can't update or void records or mark invoices paid, so a payment taken outside Adfin still needs recording in Adfin or your accounting software. Treat the secret like a password: keep it in the automation tool's credential store, never in a shared note.
Related guides
- How to connect your own billing system to your payment platform with an API key
- Chasing invoices from a custom or in-house billing system
- Do automated payment reminders actually work?
- What to check before you automate collections
- Payment reconciliation: a complete guide
Common questions
Can Zapier send automatic invoice reminders from Xero? Yes. Zapier's Xero app has an Overdue Sales Invoice trigger that you can connect to an email step to send a reminder after a set number of days.
Can n8n chase overdue invoices? Yes. A scheduled n8n workflow can get invoices from Xero, filter the overdue ones and send emails, as long as the workflow is published.
Does Adfin have a Zapier or n8n app? Adfin offers a Zapier connection on request through its developer portal. There's no n8n node, so in n8n you use the HTTP Request node with an API key sent as a Bearer token.
What can an Adfin API key do from Zapier or n8n? It can look up, list and create invoices, one-off payment requests and customers, depending on the permissions you give it.
Will a Zapier workflow stop chasing when the customer pays? Only if your workflow checks the invoice status again before each reminder and the payment has already been recorded, which is easy to get wrong.
Do I need Zapier if I use Xero or QuickBooks with Adfin? Usually not. Adfin syncs with Xero and QuickBooks in both directions, so invoices reach it and payments are marked paid without a separate workflow.
Sources
- Zapier - Send webhooks in Zap workflows (accurate as of November 2026) https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496326446989-Send-webhooks-in-Zaps
- Zapier - Xero integrations (accurate as of November 2026) https://zapier.com/apps/xero/integrations
- n8n Docs - HTTP Request credentials (accurate as of November 2026) https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/credentials/httprequest
- n8n Docs - Schedule Trigger (accurate as of November 2026) https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/core-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.scheduletrigger
- Adfin Developer Portal - API keys integration (accurate as of November 2026) https://developer.adfin.com/products/direct-integration/guides/get-started/api-keys
