---
title: "What is a Promise to Pay (PTP)? - AR Dictionary"
description: "A promise to pay (PTP) is a customer's dated commitment to pay an overdue business invoice. What it includes, how to track it, and what a broken one means."
url: https://www.paidnice.com/dictionary/promise-to-pay
---

# Promise to Pay

Written by [Denym Bird](https://www.paidnice.com/authors/denym-bird)

## What is a promise to pay?

**A promise to pay (PTP) is a customer's commitment to pay a specific overdue business invoice, or part of it, on a named date.** In business-to-business receivables the promise is made by phone, email, text or from a customer portal, usually in reply to a reminder or a call. It is not the consumer phone or utility "promise to pay" arrangement.

The promise matters because it changes what the seller does next. A reminder schedule that keeps running after a customer has given a date reads as if nobody listened, so the seller pauses the schedule until that date and records the promise.

## What does a promise to pay include?

**A usable promise to pay names four things: the invoice, the amount, the date, and who made the promise and how.**

- **The invoice.** The number, or the statement balance if the promise covers several.
- **The amount.** The full balance, or the part the customer has committed to.
- **The date.** One calendar date. "Soon", "next week" and "after month end" are not promises, because there is no day on which they can be missed.
- **Who and how.** The person's name and whether it came by phone, email, text or the portal, so the follow-up goes back the same way.

For larger invoices, confirm the promise in writing. The [promise to pay agreement and letter template](https://www.paidnice.com/blog/promise-to-pay-agreement-template) covers the wording.

## What is the difference between a promise to pay and a payment plan?

**A promise to pay covers one date for one amount, and a payment plan splits the balance into several dated installments.** A promise fits when the customer can pay in full and the only question is when. A [payment plan](https://www.paidnice.com/blog/payment-plan-for-overdue-invoices) fits when they cannot, and each installment carries its own date. A missed installment is a [broken payment arrangement](https://www.paidnice.com/dictionary/broken-payment-arrangements).

## Is a promise to pay legally binding?

**Whether a promise to pay is legally binding depends on where you are and how it was made, and the invoice and your payment terms still apply.** The [promise to pay agreement template](https://www.paidnice.com/blog/promise-to-pay-agreement-template) covers what makes one enforceable. Ask a lawyer before relying on a promise. This is general information, not legal advice.

## What is a broken promise to pay?

**A broken promise to pay is a promised date that passes, after any grace period the seller allows, without the money arriving.** The right response is a short follow-up the next business day that names the invoice, the date and the amount, and asks for one new date. The guide on [how to follow up on a broken promise to pay](https://www.paidnice.com/blog/broken-promise-to-pay) gives the messages and an escalation table.

## How do you track a promise to pay?

**Record the date, the amount and the owner against the invoice, and set the promised date as the expected payment date in your accounting system, so a missed date shows up on a report rather than in someone's memory.** Give each invoice one owner, and log phone promises as carefully as written ones.

In Paidnice, [customers can promise a date from the invoice page](https://www.paidnice.com/customer-payment-portal) of the customer payment portal, and staff can record one from a call. Policies set to skip when a payment is promised wait until that date. When a promise is marked broken after the grace period, the invoice owner can get a Broken Payment Promise email and raise an [escalation](https://www.paidnice.com/escalations).

**Related terms:** [Broken payment arrangements](https://www.paidnice.com/dictionary/broken-payment-arrangements), [Invoice query management](https://www.paidnice.com/dictionary/invoice-query-management), [Dispute management](https://www.paidnice.com/dictionary/dispute-management), [Collection policy](https://www.paidnice.com/dictionary/collection-policy).

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