Business-hours payment reminders

> Cost: Paid. Paidnice from $69/month; a school this size likely needs a Pro tier based on invoice count. SMS per text.

Honest note: rules automation, not AI. This is a Paidnice-published story. The time numbers don't match: it says chasing took 2–3 hours a week before, but "4 hours every fortnight" were reclaimed after. "Significantly reduced" late payments has no figure. The pieces are simple and easy to copy: business-hours sending, SMS, a warning before any fee, and staff discretion to waive.

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.
• Optional (Australia): an existing Pinch payments account if you want families to pay through Pinch.

Step-by-step setup

Step 1. Connect Xero. Sign up at paidnice.com, click Xero and approve. Families (contacts) start in the Default Group.

Step 2. Send only in business hours. In your group click Add New Automation Policy → Email, name it and choose a template. In the schedule dropdown pick Weekdays (or Weekdays (or later)) so nothing goes out at weekends. Under More Options & Filters, set Action Time to 9:00. Switch off Xero's own reminders so families don't get two.

Step 3. Add SMS as a second nudge. Click SMS Alert, name it and choose when it sends (for example on the due date). Add {{{InvoicePortalLink}}} so families can pay from the text. Under More Options, set the action time and default country code, and set a monthly SMS cap.

Step 4. Warn before any fee. Add an email or SMS a few days after the due date that says a late fee will apply on a stated date. The {{{ForecastPenaltyAmount}}} merge tag shows the amount.

Step 5. Add the late fee. Choose Add new policy → Invoice Late Charge, set the amount or percentage, a grace period after the warning, and one-off or recurring.

Step 6. Let staff waive fees. When a family agrees a payment plan, staff open Completed Actions → Remove late fee. Agree internally who can do this.

Step 7. Optional: pay through Pinch. If you already use Pinch, go to Organisation Settings → Payment Providers and switch Pinch on. A Pay Now button appears on the portal and statements.

Step 8. Test, then activate. Use a test family with your own email and mobile. Send with action now, check the timing and wording, 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

Fee chasing becomes a short weekly review. Families get calm, predictable reminders at sensible hours, and the few late fees collected cover the subscription.

Common issues & fixes

• A reminder went out on Saturday: the schedule is set to Days, not Weekdays.
• Parents complain about surprise fees: add or move the warning message earlier.
• SMS not received: check the mobile number format in Xero and the default country code.

Optional: Maintenance

• Each term: check groups (for example scholarship families who shouldn't get fees).
• Monthly: review waived fees to keep them consistent.

Copy-paste prompt

I run a tutoring centre. Families are invoiced [weekly/termly] on [NUMBER]-day terms, and our policy says a late fee of [AMOUNT] applies after [NUMBER] days: [PASTE POLICY].
Write:
1. A friendly due-date email (under 70 words) with a payment link placeholder.
2. A warning email 3 days after the due date that names the fee and the date it applies (under 90 words, kind but clear).
3. Two SMS versions under 160 characters.
4. A short script for staff offering to waive the fee in exchange for a payment plan.

Sources

• Case: Paidnice success story (Australian tutoring academy). Credit: the academy's team (vendor-published).
• Paidnice blog: Skip Xero reminders at the weekend
• Paidnice Help: Sending email reminders (advanced)
• Paidnice Help: Sending SMS reminders
• Paidnice Help: Late fees and interest
• Paidnice Help: Paidnice & Pinch Payments
• Paidnice: AI agents (MCP)
• Paidnice pricing