Late payment is the worst part of running a trades business. Mucka's job is to make chasing easy enough that you actually do it, instead of leaving it for a day that never comes.
When an invoice goes overdue
The status changes from sent to overdue the day after the due date passes. The invoice gets a red badge on the list and shows up in Mucka's daily summary so you know to act.
Ask Mucka
The fastest path:
"Chase the Walker invoice."
"Send a reminder to everyone with overdue invoices."
For one client, Mucka drafts the reminder email and shows it for your approve. For multiple, Mucka asks you to confirm each one before sending, so you can skip any clients you've already spoken to in person.
Ask "who owes me money?" in the app and, when two or more invoices are overdue, they come as a table: each customer, the invoice, how many days overdue it is and what is still owed, with the total at the bottom. Invoices that aren't due yet stay in the answer above it, not in the table. An invoice marked overdue with no due date says Overdue in place of a day count, and sits at the bottom. Tap a row to open the invoice. Tap Chase beside one and Mucka is asked to chase it, just as if you had typed it. The reminder is then drafted for you to check and send as usual, so the tap itself sends nothing. There is no Chase button on an invoice the customer has disputed, on a customer under Breathing Space, or where there is no email address on file.
Or use the chase button
From the Invoices page, any overdue invoice has a Chase button. On a phone, tap the invoice card to open it and Chase it is in the panel at the bottom. Either way Mucka opens the email window with:
- Subject: prefixed with "Reminder" so the client sees it's a chase
- Body: firm but friendly template with the amount, the original due date and how to pay
- Attachment: the original PDF, so they don't need to dig through their inbox
Edit the wording if you want a softer or firmer tone, then send.
Let Mucka chase automatically
If you'd rather not approve every reminder, Mucka can send them itself. Go to Settings → Customers → Automatic messages and open Overdue invoice reminders.
- Email, text, or both. Each has its own switch, and both start off. The email carries the link to view and pay the invoice. A text can't carry a link (UK networks block them), so it gives your number instead.
- You pick the days. Up to three reminders, at however many days overdue you like. It starts at 7, 14 and 21 days.
- Weekdays, during the working day. Reminders go out Monday to Friday between 9am and 4:30pm, spread through the day rather than all at once. One that falls on a weekend goes on the Monday.
- One a day per customer. Someone with three overdue invoices gets them on different days, not three at once.
- The wording is yours. It's edited on the same screen, one box for the text and one for the email.
What it won't chase
- Anything already well overdue when you switch it on. Each reminder only goes in the week after its day, so with 7, 14 and 21 an invoice more than 27 days overdue is never chased automatically. It keeps coming to you as a card to approve. The settings screen tells you how many invoices that is before you save. This is deliberate: switching it on should never send a reminder to every old debtor on your books the same morning.
- Invoices brought in from your old system. They may have been paid there, and Mucka can't see that.
- Disputed invoices and customers under Breathing Space. The same rules as below.
- Customers you've muted. If you've switched off Mucka's automatic messages on a customer's record, they get nothing from this either.
When the reminders run out
While the reminders are handling an invoice, you won't get the usual cards for it. A week after the last reminder, if it still isn't paid, Mucka puts it in front of you once to decide what's next. It says how many reminders have already gone, so you don't send another "gentle reminder" thinking it's the first. You can send a firmer email from the card. If you have the AI Voice Receptionist, the card also offers Have Mucka ring them. Mucka reads the call back to you before it dials, and it never rings anyone on its own.
If a reminder couldn't reach someone (they've unsubscribed, or the number is a landline), that invoice goes back to the normal cards straight away.
How often to chase
There's no rule, but a sensible rhythm:
- First chase: a few days after the due date passes.
- Second chase: a week later, with "please get in touch if there's an issue".
- Third chase: two weeks after the first, with a clear next step ("I'll need to escalate this to a debt collector if it isn't settled by Friday").
Mucka tracks how many times you've chased each invoice. Worth checking before sending another one, so the same client doesn't get three reminders in two days.
When Mucka stops chasing on its own
There are two situations where chasing someone isn't just awkward, it's against the rules. Mucka takes those off you rather than leaving it to memory.
- The customer disputed the invoice. If they tell Mucka on a call that they don't accept the bill, that invoice drops out of chasing from that moment. No more cards, no more reminders. Chasing a debt somebody has formally disputed is the kind of thing that turns a disagreement into a legal problem, so Mucka stops and leaves it with you.
- The customer is under Breathing Space. That's the government's Debt Respite Scheme: when someone in serious debt gets a debt adviser involved, creditors have to leave them alone for a set period, usually 60 days. Not just phone calls, the whole thing, including taking money. Mucka won't raise a chase for them at all while the cover lasts, and it starts again by itself the day after it ends.
Telling Mucka about Breathing Space
Usually you'll hear about it on the phone, so the quickest way is to say so:
"Sarah Patel's got a debt adviser involved, breathing space until the 12th of October."
Mucka puts it on her record, drops any chase for her, and tells you what it's done. Give it the case reference too if the adviser gave you one, though it's fine without.
You can also do it from the customer's record. Open the client, and under Notes & flags there's a Record Breathing Space button — it only appears for customers who actually have something overdue, since that's the only time it's any use to you. Put in the date the adviser gave you and save.
Once it's on, their record shows how long is left and what it's stopping. If it gets withdrawn or you put it on the wrong customer, End early takes it straight off.
You're not writing the debt off. The invoice still stands, and chasing picks up again the day after the cover ends without you having to remember.
Both are checked twice, deliberately: once when the card would be raised, and again the second you tap to send. A card raised on Monday can sit until Friday, and things change in between. If a chase is blocked at that point, Mucka tells you who and why instead of quietly sending less than you asked for.
Someone asking not to be rung is different, and doesn't stop a chase. The reminder goes by email, which is also the only way to send them a link to pay.
When a client says "I've paid"
Don't take their word and mark it paid immediately. Check the bank, then Record the payment when it's actually landed. If they're sure they've paid but it hasn't arrived, ask for the date and reference so you can investigate.
What Mucka doesn't do (yet)
Some things on the roadmap that aren't here yet:
- Tiered templates. First/second/final-notice templates with different tones. For now one wording covers every reminder, automatic or not. Edit it per send, or in Settings for the automatic ones.
- Debt-collection handoff. Manual today. Some owners use a third-party service for stubborn cases.
Common gotchas
- Client disputes the invoice. Don't chase further until it's resolved — and if they told Mucka that on a call, it has already stopped chasing that one for you. Have the conversation, then sort the invoice out either way.
- Wrong email. If reminders keep bouncing, the email on file is stale. Update it in Clients and tag the client as "needs new contact".
- Client always pays late. Tag them as slow payer on their client profile. Mucka uses the tag to chase earlier next time.