Summary
A Xero invoice reminder does not send when the invoice is not marked as sent, the contact has no email address, reminders are turned off for that customer or invoice, the amount is under your minimum, or the reminder date passed while reminders were off. Xero does not send missed reminders later, even if you change the due date.
- Where to look: Sales, Invoices, Awaiting Payment: the Reminders column shows statuses such as Email missing, Invoice not sent and Turned off.
- No catch-up: Xero sends reminders once a day between 4am and 8am. A missed reminder does not go out later.
- Two systems: If you also use a credit control app, turn Xero's reminders off, or customers get both.
A customer tells you they never had a reminder about an invoice that is now well overdue. You open Xero, find the invoice under Awaiting Payment, and there is nothing in its history to say a reminder went out. Most of the time Xero skipped it for a reason it records, and the fix takes a minute.
Here is how to find out why a Xero invoice reminder did not send, what each status means, and what changes when reminders come from Paidnice instead.
Free: Payment reminder email templatesCopy the reminder emails for before, on and after the due date.How do you check why a Xero reminder did not send?
Check the Reminders column on your awaiting payment invoices, then the invoice's own history. Xero's guide to checking a reminder's status and history sets out these steps:
- In the Sales menu, select Invoices.
- Select the Awaiting Payment tab and read the Reminders column for the invoice.
- Open the invoice and go to History & Notes.
- Click Show History to see the date and time each reminder was scheduled or sent.
The Reminders column only appears once Xero has tried to send a reminder, or when at least one customer has reminders turned off. It is not updated in real time: if you edit an invoice, the column changes only when Xero next tries to send.
What do Xero's reminder statuses mean?
Each status in the Reminders column points to one cause. These are the ones Xero lists:
| Status | What it means | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Email missing | The customer has no email address in Xero | Add it to the contact record |
| Invoice not sent | The invoice was never marked as sent | Mark it as sent |
| Turned off | Reminders were off for that customer or invoice when Xero last tried | Turn them back on |
| [Number] sent | Some reminders went, more are still to come | Nothing to fix |
| All sent | Every scheduled reminder has gone | Follow up another way |
"Invoice not sent" catches businesses that raise invoices in another system and sync them into Xero as approved. Xero only sends reminders for invoices marked as sent.
Why did it not send when nothing looks wrong?
If the status looks fine, the cause is usually timing or a setting. Xero names four timing reasons a scheduled reminder did not go:
- You turned the reminder on the same day it was due to send.
- You turned it on after the invoice passed its reminder date.
- The invoice was accidentally recorded as paid.
- You changed the due date and the reminder date had already passed.
Two settings can also stop it. A minimum amount ("Don't send reminders for amounts owing on an invoice under") skips smaller invoices, and reminders are limited to five in total for the organisation.
Does Xero send a missed reminder later?
No. Xero sends reminders every day between 4am and 8am in your organisation's time zone, and a reminder that was missed does not catch up, even if you change the due date.
Xero's own example: a reminder is set for 7 days overdue, and reminders are switched off when the invoice is 6 days overdue. If they are switched back on at 8 days overdue, the 7-day reminder never goes. The 14 and 21-day reminders go as usual.
Timing on the day matters too. Turn reminders on before 4am and that day's reminders go the same day. Turn them on after 8am and they go the next morning.
Did it send to someone else?
Sometimes the reminder went, to a person you did not expect. Xero sends reminders to the primary person on the contact and anyone else with "Include in emails" ticked. Customer replies go to the email address of the user who first turned reminders on, unless you changed it.
So a customer who says they "never got it" may have an accounts inbox nobody reads as the primary person. Our guide to Xero reminders going to the wrong person covers how to route them.
What if you use a credit control app as well?
Run one reminder system. Xero's reminders keep running until you switch them off in Xero, whatever your credit control app is doing.
We have seen this in support. A customer reported their clients receiving reminders they did not want while Paidnice was in Safe Mode. Paidnice had sent nothing: the reminders were Xero's own defaults, turned on by the tick box in Xero's reminder settings.
The reverse happens too. A customer whose ledger sync lagged was chasing invoices that were already paid, so they narrowed Paidnice to their customers on credit terms and started with statements and one reminder before the due date.
Why a reminder did not send from Paidnice
Paidnice records a reason for every reminder it skips, on every plan. Open the invoice and go to Preview Policies: Applicable Policy results lists each policy in the customer's group with a tick or a cross and the reason. Failed reminders sit on the Actions page with a note such as "Contact has no email address" or "Invoice is frozen".
The causes overlap with Xero's, with some differences you can control:
- No catch-up by default, with an opt-in: a reminder whose date passed before the invoice arrived is skipped, but a policy set to Days (or later) sends it up to 30 days late.
- Issue date slack: reminders counted from the issue date still go if the date was up to two days ago, for invoices entered a day or two late.
- Holds you set: a frozen invoice, a payment promise or an open query pauses reminders on purpose.
- Send time: you pick the hour, in your organisation's time zone. Without one, emails go at midday.
You can also ask the Paidnice assistant why an invoice was not chased, and it checks each policy against that invoice and gives the reason. For the full checklist that applies to any tool, see why an invoice was not chased. To move your Xero invoice reminders across, switch off Xero's reminders on the day Paidnice's policies go Active.
💡 Paidnice insight
A reminder that "did not send" in Xero is often an invoice that was never marked as sent. If your invoices come in from another system, check that status before you change any reminder settings.
Frequently asked questions
How do I turn off Xero reminders for one customer?
Open the customer's contact record from the Contacts menu, click the menu icon and select Turn off invoice reminders. You can also turn them off for selected invoices from the Awaiting Payment tab, using More.
Why did Xero send a reminder for an invoice the customer paid?
Because the payment was not in Xero when the reminder ran. Xero chases what it shows as unpaid, so reconcile payments before the 4am to 8am send window if you can.
Can I resend a Xero reminder that did not go?
Xero will not send the missed scheduled reminder later. You can email the invoice again from the invoice itself, or send a reminder manually.
How many reminders can Xero send?
Up to five per organisation, counted before or after the due date. They apply to every customer who has reminders on, with the same wording for everyone.
Where do replies to Xero reminders go?
To the email address of the user who first turned reminders on, unless someone changed it. Check it if customers say they replied and heard nothing back.
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About the editorial team
Ashley is a co-founder and lead developer of Paidnice and has built accounting software for more than 10 years. He builds the ledger connections that put reminders, late fees and payments into Xero, QuickBooks and ERPs such as NetSuite and Business Central. Before Paidnice he co-founded A2X, ecommerce accounting software for Xero and QuickBooks.
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