Your payment reminders should go to the person who actually pays the invoice, which in most businesses is the accounts payable team or the owner, not the person who hired you. Ask who that is when you take on a new customer, keep them on the reminders with the buyer copied where it helps, and save a more senior contact for invoices that stay unpaid.
In this article
The short version
- Reminders should go to whoever pays the invoice, often accounts payable or the owner.
- Ask who pays, where invoices go and who to contact about late payment at onboarding.
- Copy the buyer where it helps, and use a shared accounts inbox alongside a named person.
- Agree in advance when an overdue invoice goes to a more senior contact.
- For individual customers, remind only the person you contracted with unless they ask otherwise.
Why reminders often reach the wrong person
The person who asked for the work is usually the one whose email address ends up on your invoice. In a small business that may also be the person who pays. In a bigger one it often isn't: a marketing manager or site manager signs off the work, and a finance team or an outsourced bookkeeper pays the bills.
When reminders go only to the buyer, they rely on that person forwarding them. Sometimes they do. Often the email sits in an inbox belonging to someone who can't approve a payment, doesn't know where the invoice is, and may be on holiday. The Small Business Commissioner gives this as a common cause of late payment: an invoice sent to the business contact that never reached the finance team.
How to find out who pays
The easiest time to ask is before the first invoice, when nobody is overdue and the question sounds like admin. A few questions at onboarding cover most cases:
- Who should invoices go to, and is there an accounts inbox?
- Do invoices need a purchase order number or have to go through a portal?
- Who approves them, and how often do you pay suppliers?
- Who should we contact if a payment is late?
Write the answers on the customer's record so they're there when someone else picks up the account. For existing customers, the first overdue invoice is a reasonable moment to ask the same questions: "Can you tell me who looks after supplier payments, so I can send this to the right place?"
It helps to recognise the common set-ups. Large companies and public bodies usually have accounts payable teams with a shared inbox. Small and medium businesses may have a finance manager, an office manager who pays the bills, or an external bookkeeper. In owner-run businesses, the owner often approves every payment personally, whoever placed the order.
Who to send each reminder to
Once you know who pays, put them first. Reminders, statements and payment links go to the payer, with the buyer copied where the relationship suits it. Copying the buyer keeps them aware without putting them in the awkward position of chasing their own finance team, and many buyers would rather not be the only name on a payment reminder.
Where there's a shared accounts inbox, use it alongside a named person. Named contacts leave, and shared inboxes don't. For customers who pay several invoices at once, a statement of everything outstanding sent to accounts payable tends to get further than separate reminders for each invoice.
In Adfin you can add several contacts to each customer. The primary contact gets every email and reminder, the others are included unless you exclude them, and SMS and WhatsApp reminders go to the primary contact. You can set the accounts payable contact as primary and keep the buyer included, or exclude the buyer from reminders altogether. Adfin's collection agents then send reminders and statements on the schedule you approve, so the right people hear about an invoice without anyone forwarding it.
Individual customers are simpler. Reminders go to the person you contracted with. If someone else, such as a partner or a family member, pays the bill, include them only when your customer asks you to.
When to go to someone more senior
If reminders to accounts payable go unanswered, the next step is usually a more senior contact: the finance director, the owner, or whoever signed your contract. It's often more effective when the message comes from someone senior on your side too, since a director writing to a director tends to get a reply. Keep it factual: the invoice, the amount, how overdue it is, and what you've already sent.
Agree when that happens before you need it, for example once an invoice is a set number of days overdue or above a set amount, so the decision doesn't depend on how anyone feels that week. And tell the buyer first, if you can. A senior contact hearing about an overdue invoice for the first time from a supplier can create a difficult moment for the person who hired you.
On Adfin's Enhanced credit control, escalations can do this for you. You connect a mailbox and can choose a different one for each stage, so a firmer escalated notice can come from a director's address. Later stages can offer a payment plan, place an automated phone call and send a final notice, and each stage only goes out if the invoice is still unpaid.
Related guides
- How do I get paid by big companies that use supplier portals?
- Who should own your overdue invoices?
- What to do when a customer ignores your payment reminders: a staged approach for UK businesses
- Overdue invoice escalation timeline: when to send each notice (with a worked example)
- Credit control: a complete guide
Common questions
Should payment reminders go to the person who ordered the work? Only if they also pay the bills. In most larger businesses, reminders should go to accounts payable, with the buyer copied where it helps.
How do I find out who pays a customer's invoices? Ask at onboarding who invoices should go to, whether there's an accounts inbox and who to contact if a payment is late. Note the answers on the customer's record.
Should I copy the buyer on reminders? Often, yes. It keeps them aware and lets them help get an invoice approved, without making them responsible for chasing their own finance team.
When should I contact someone more senior about an unpaid invoice? When reminders to the payer have gone unanswered past a point you've agreed in advance, such as a number of days overdue or an amount.
Can Adfin send reminders to more than one contact? Yes. You can add several contacts to a customer. The primary contact gets every email, the others are included unless you exclude them, and SMS and WhatsApp go to the primary contact.
Who should get reminders when the customer is an individual? The person you contracted with. Include anyone else who pays the bill only if your customer asks you to.
Sources
- Small Business Commissioner - A guide for effective invoicing (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.smallbusinesscommissioner.gov.uk/help-and-guidance/all-advice/a-guide-for-effective-invoicing/
- Adfin Help Centre - Managing multiple contact persons per customer (accurate as of November 2026) https://support.adfin.com/en/articles/10289748-managing-multiple-contact-persons-per-customer
- Adfin - Changelog: product updates (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.adfin.com/resources/changelog
