Prompt-payment discounts for faster cash

> Cost: Paid. Paidnice Pro from $99/month (for your own email domain). SMS per text.

Honest note: rules automation, not AI. These are Paidnice-published results from one small agency. "Backlog cleared in under a month" and "paid the same day" are the founder's words. The "~95% SMS open rate" is a general industry-style claim, not something Paidnice measured. Remember the discount costs you 5% of each early-paid invoice, so check your margins first.

Prerequisites

• A Xero organisation with your customer invoices in it (Paidnice also works with QuickBooks Online).
• Admin access to Xero so you can approve the connection.
• Your payment terms, and any late-fee wording, already in your invoices or contracts. Late fees need a legal basis, so check with your accountant.
• Customers' email addresses (and mobile numbers if you want SMS) in Xero.
• Access to your domain's DNS settings.

Step-by-step setup

Step 1. Connect Xero. Sign up at paidnice.com, click Xero and approve.

Step 2. Send from your own domain (Pro). Go to Organization Settings → Email Preferences → Custom Domain, add the 3–4 CNAME records Paidnice shows at your DNS host, click Verify Domain, then set the From Name and From Address. This is what moves reminders out of junk.

Step 3. Add a 5% early-payment discount. In your group, add a Prompt Payment Discount Policy. Choose eligibility (default: invoices issued in the last 2 days), 5%, the number of days before the discount expires (so it lasts 7 days from issue), and the discount account. Attach the discount email template. Check it in an invoice's Preview Policies tab, and use process now for existing invoices.

Step 4. Build the reminder ladder. Add New Automation Policy → Email: the day after issue (mention the discount), 2 days before due, on the due date, and 7 days overdue.

Step 5. Add SMS. Click SMS Alert for the due date and a few days after. Include {{{InvoicePortalLink}}}, and set the action time, country code and a monthly cap under More Options.

Step 6. Warn before any fee. If you charge late fees, send a warning first that shows {{{ForecastPenaltyAmount}}}, then add Invoice Late Charge with a grace period.

Step 7. Monthly statements. Add a Statement policy (outstanding items, monthly).

Step 8. Test, then activate. Test on your own contact, turn off Xero's own reminders, then set policies to Active.

Easier: let your AI do it

On the Pro plan (from $99/month) Paidnice has an official MCP server. That's a secure plug that lets an AI chat such as Claude or ChatGPT read your Paidnice data.

1. In Paidnice, go to Settings → Advanced → API & MCP → Connect an agent (MCP) and copy the address https://api.paidnice.com/mcp.
2. In Claude, open Customize → Connectors, click +, then Add custom connector. Name it Paidnice, paste the address and click Add (Claude's free plan allows one custom connector). ChatGPT needs a paid plan with developer mode turned on.
3. Sign in to Paidnice when asked, pick your organisation, and choose Read (safest) or Read and Write.

Today it can read customer replies, contacts and invoices, and update contact people. Sending reminders and building policies by chat are still in beta. Try: "Which customers replied to reminders this week, and what did they say?" You can revoke access any time under API & MCP.

What success looks like

Most clients pay inside the discount window, the old backlog disappears, and nobody on your team sends "friendly reminder" emails by hand.

Common issues & fixes

• Discount missing on older invoices: it isn't retroactive. Use process now.
• Reminders still in junk: the domain isn't verified yet, or the From Address isn't on it.
• Discount posted to the wrong account: fix the account in the discount policy.

Optional: Maintenance

• Monthly: check how much the discount costs you against faster cash.

Copy-paste prompt

I run a small agency on [NUMBER]-day terms and want to offer 5% off for paying within 7 days. Write: (1) a one-paragraph note to clients announcing it, (2) an invoice email line that highlights the discount and its expiry date, (3) two SMS reminders under 160 characters, (4) a polite warning that a late fee of [AMOUNT] applies after [DATE]. Upbeat, professional, no pressure tactics.

Sources

• Case: Paidnice success story (Melbourne digital marketing agency). Credit: the agency's founder (vendor-published).
• Paidnice Help: Prompt payment discounts
• Paidnice Help: Custom domain for reminders and statements
• Paidnice Help: Sending SMS reminders
• Paidnice Help: Sending email reminders (advanced)
• Paidnice Help: Late fees and interest
• Paidnice: AI agents (MCP)
• Paidnice pricing