Key points
- Send the invoice on the day of the visit and follow any open balance with a courteous reminder the team approves.
- The ICO treats a payment reminder with no promotion in it as a service message.2
- In a UK court fines trial, 5.2% of people sent no text paid, against 23.2% to 33.0% of those sent a reminder text.1
- Match every payment to its invoice and visit on the day it lands. UK companies keep accounting records for 6 years.4
- wai drafts each reminder in the clinic's voice and a person at the clinic approves it before it sends.5
Summary
Take payment or a deposit at booking, send any invoice on the day of the visit, and follow an open balance with a short reminder that names the amount and carries a payment link. A person at the clinic approves each reminder, and each payment is matched to its visit on the day it lands.
Month end closes in an afternoon, with every invoice paid or in hand and every payment matched to its visit. You write the reminder sequence once, wai drafts each message in the clinic's voice, and a person at the clinic approves it before it goes.
See it in your clinicThirty minutes on your own patients and doctors.
Request a demoSee an unpaid invoice become a drafted reminder with the amount and a payment link, approved by your team in one tap.
| Stage | When | What the message says | Approved by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice or receipt | Same day as the visit | Name, date, what was provided, amount and a link to pay | Front desk |
| Friendly reminder | Day 7 | A short note that the invoice is open, with the amount and the same link | Front desk |
| Second reminder | Day 14 | The patient's name, the amount, the visit date and an offer to talk if anything is unclear | Front desk |
| Personal call | Day 21 to 30 | A person calls, checks the bill was right and agrees a date or a plan | Senior team member |
| Failed membership renewal | Same day as the failure | The payment did not go through, with a link to update the card and no offer attached | Front desk |
| Decision on next step | After day 30 | Write off, payment plan or formal letter, decided case by case | Clinic lead |
A payment reminder is a service message
The ICO separates marketing from service messages sent for administrative or customer service purposes. Its own example is a gym calling a customer to say their monthly membership payment has not worked, and it says that call is not direct marketing.2
A service message with marketing elements counts as direct marketing, even when marketing is a side purpose.2 Keep each reminder to the visit, the amount and how to pay, and send any treatment offer separately to patients who have consented.
What the trials found
UK government trials run with the Cabinet Office's behavioural science team tested payment wording at scale. Letters to 140,000 taxpayers saying that 9 out of 10 people in Britain pay on time, and that most people in their area had already paid, raised payment by 15 percentage points over the old letter.1
HM Courts and Tribunals Service tested text reminders for unpaid court fines in South East England. In early results 5.2% of people sent no text paid, against 23.2% to 33.0% of those sent one of four text versions, including personalised texts that used the person's name or the amount owed.1
Taxes and fines differ from clinic invoices, so read these as evidence that a specific reminder gets paid far more often than silence.
Invoices that rarely need chasing
A deposit at booking and the balance on the day settle most visits before an invoice is needed. The mechanics are in payment links and deposits for clinics.
For a package, an insurer shortfall or a corporate account, send the invoice on the day of the visit with the patient's name, the date, what was provided and a link to pay.
A failed membership renewal is the ICO's gym example. Send a same-day note that the payment did not go through, with a link to update the card.
A reminder sequence the team approves
Write the sequence once so every open balance follows it. The table below is a courteous default, and a person approves each message before it sends.
wai Admin takes deposits at booking, sends invoices, runs memberships and drafts each reminder in the clinic's voice inside the patient's thread, where the team approves it.5 A reply about the bill or a clinical question goes to a person, as set out in human approval before a clinic message sends.
Match every charge on the day
Match each payment to its invoice and visit daily, and clear refunds, split payments and insurer part-payments while they are fresh.
Self-employed clinicians keep business records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year.3 Limited companies keep accounting records, including invoices and bank statements, for 6 years from the end of the financial year they relate to.4
wai Admin reconciles each charge in the clinic's accounts.5 Invoicing and collection are listed under Admin, priced per location, with the figures on the pricing page.6
Where to start
List every open balance and failed membership payment today, with its age. Write the sequence in the table below in your own words and agree who approves each step.
Run it for 30 days and track the share of invoices paid within 7 days, the balance older than 30 days and the payments unmatched at month end. The coding side of the same chain is in the billing and coding workflow.
Bring your open balances and membership list, and see each reminder drafted, approved and matched to its payment.
Frequently asked questions
Is a payment reminder marketing under UK rules?
A purely administrative reminder is a service message. The ICO's example is a call telling a customer their membership payment failed, which it says is not direct marketing. Adding a promotion makes it marketing.2
How many reminders should a clinic send?
Two written reminders and one personal call is a sound default. After that, a person decides the next step case by case.
Should a reminder name the amount owed?
Yes. A UK court fines trial tested personalised texts using the person's name or the amount owed, and every text version far outperformed no text.1
Who sends the payment reminders?
A person at the clinic. wai drafts each reminder in the clinic's voice in the patient's thread, and a team member approves it before it sends.5
How long must payment records be kept in the UK?
What should a clinic measure first?
The share of invoices paid within 7 days, the balance older than 30 days and the payments unmatched at month end, tracked monthly.
Sources
- 1Cabinet Office Behavioural Insights Team, UK Government, 2012Applying behavioural insights to reduce fraud, error and debtRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 2Information Commissioner's OfficeIdentify direct marketing, What are service messagesRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 3GOV.UK, HM Revenue and CustomsBusiness records if you're self-employed, How long to keep your recordsRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 4GOV.UKRunning a limited company, Company and accounting recordsRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 5wai, 2026wai Admin, the front desk and back officeRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 6wai, 2026wai pricingRead 14 October 2026Read source
Every invoice paid and every charge matched by the evening.
Fifteen minutes on your own invoices, memberships and reminders, each one approved by your team. We reply within one working day.
Partner with us
See it on your own patients, then build it with us
Thirty minutes on your own patients, doctors and rules, in your market. We reply within one working day, and the clinics that partner with us early shape what we build next.
See what wai does between the visits