Dunner automatically sends escalating follow-up emails to clients with overdue invoices. SMS reminders are coming soon. Here's how to get up and running in three steps.
Step 1 — Set up your sender profile
Go to Settings and add your sender name, reply-to email, and email signature. This is what your clients will see when they receive a follow-up.
Step 2 — Customise your templates
Go to Templates to edit the email messages sent at each of the 4 escalation stages. Each stage has its own subject and body. SMS templates will be configurable once SMS reminders launch.
Step 3 — Add invoices and start escalating
Add invoices manually or import them from Stripe, QuickBooks, or a CSV file. Once added, set an invoice's status to Escalating to begin the follow-up sequence. Dunner will automatically send messages on the right days.
Dunner runs a check every day at 9 AM UTC. For each invoice set to Escalating, it checks whether enough days have passed since the due date to send the next stage.
The default schedule sends a message when an invoice is 7, 14, 21, and 30 days overdue — one message per stage. You can customise this schedule per invoice.
| Stage | Default trigger | Tone |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | 7 days overdue | Polite nudge |
| Stage 2 | 14 days overdue | Firm follow-up |
| Stage 3 | 21 days overdue | Collections warning |
| Stage 4 | 30 days overdue | Final notice |
After Stage 4, escalation stops. If the client still hasn't paid, you can use the Small Claims PDF generator to produce a formal demand letter.
Invoice statuses
Use these placeholders in your email subjects and email bodies. Dunner replaces them with the actual invoice data before sending.
| Placeholder | Replaced with |
|---|---|
| {{clientName}} | The client's name on the invoice |
| {{amount}} | The invoice amount (e.g. 1,250.00) |
| {{invoiceNumber}} | The invoice reference number |
| {{dueDate}} | The original due date (formatted for your locale) |
| {{paymentLink}} | A direct link to the Stripe payment page for this invoice |
Tip: Use Templates to click placeholder chips directly into the editor — no need to type them manually.
Connect your Stripe account to import outstanding invoices automatically. Dunner also creates a hosted payment page for each invoice — when a client pays via the link in your emails, the invoice is automatically marked Recovered.
To connect, go to Add Invoice → Connect Stripe inside the dashboard.
Connect your QuickBooks Online account to import outstanding invoices. Dunner reads your unpaid invoices and imports them as drafts — you then set them to Escalating to begin follow-ups.
Available on the Agency plan.
Export unpaid invoices from any accounting tool (Wave, FreshBooks, PayPal, spreadsheets) as a CSV and upload them in bulk — up to 500 rows per file.
Required columns: client_name, amount, invoice_number, due_date. Optional: client_email, client_phone.
What happens after Stage 4 if the client still hasn't paid?
Escalation stops after Stage 4. At that point you can use the Small Claims PDF generator to produce a formal demand letter suitable for small claims court proceedings in many US jurisdictions. You can also mark the invoice as paid or recovered manually if the client settles outside the system.
Can I pause escalation on a specific invoice?
Yes. Open the invoice detail page and set the status to Paused. Dunner will stop sending follow-ups until you set it back to Escalating. The stage counter is preserved — it picks up from where it left off.
Can I customise the number of days between each stage?
Yes. Each invoice has its own escalation schedule. The default is 7, 14, 21, and 30 days overdue. You can change these on the invoice detail page before or after escalation begins.
What does "Recovered" mean vs "Paid"?
Recovered means the client paid via the Dunner payment portal link included in your escalation emails — Dunner detected the payment automatically. Paid means the invoice was marked paid manually, or a Stripe invoice.paid event was received for an invoice that was already at a non-escalating status.
When exactly are follow-ups sent?
Dunner runs the escalation engine once per day at 9 AM UTC. If an invoice crosses its stage threshold overnight, the message goes out the next morning. You can also trigger a manual run from the dashboard using the Send Reminders Now button.
How do I cancel my subscription?
Go to Settings → Plan & Billing and click Manage Billing. This opens the Stripe billing portal where you can cancel, downgrade, or update your payment method. Cancellations take effect at the end of your current billing period.