How to send automatic payment reminders from Tally on WhatsApp
Why reminders get missed
In most Indian SMEs, follow-up depends on one person remembering. The owner notices a big invoice when cash gets tight, the accountant is busy with GST, and the salesman does not want to annoy a good customer. Small invoices are never chased at all. The result is collection periods of 60 days or more while the business borrows at 10% to 14% on CC or OD to fund the gap.
The fix is not more effort. It is a reminder that goes out by the calendar, every time, for every invoice, without anyone deciding to send it.
Three ways to do it
| Method | How it works | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| TallyPrime’s own WhatsApp | Send invoices, ledgers and reminder letters from inside TallyPrime through the official WhatsApp Business API. | Sending a statement when you remember to | Someone still has to trigger it. Check current pricing and requirements with your Tally partner. |
| Tally add-ons (TDL plugins) | Third-party plugins that send messages from Tally through an SMS or WhatsApp provider. | Sending invoices as they are made | Provider credits, plugin compatibility after Tally updates, limited scheduling. |
| Sheet-based reminder system | Daily Tally export goes into a Google Sheet. A schedule sends day 15, 30 and 45 reminders and alerts the owner at 45+ days. | Follow-up that runs on its own, with ageing on your phone | Needs a one-time setup and clean phone numbers. |
Many businesses use Tally’s own tools for sending invoices and a scheduled system for the follow-up. They do different jobs.
The reminder schedule that works
- Day 0: invoice sent (from Tally or by hand).
- Day 15: gentle reminder with invoice number, date and amount.
- Day 30: firmer reminder, with the total outstanding for that customer.
- Day 45: final reminder, and an alert to the owner with the customer’s name, amount and phone number.
- After payment: reminders stop automatically; an optional thank-you message.
Adjust the days to your credit terms. If you give 30 days credit, start at day 25, 35 and 50.
Message wording
Short, specific and polite. Name the invoice and the amount; never threaten. For example:
Namaste Sharma ji, a gentle reminder for invoice INV-1042 of ₹1,20,000 dated 12 September. Kindly arrange payment at your convenience. Thank you, Gupta Traders.
Send in the language the customer uses with you: Hindi, English or Marathi. Customers pay faster when the message looks like it came from you, not from a collection agency.
Setting it up step by step
- Export outstanding from Tally. Use the Bills Receivable or ledger outstanding report and export it to Excel daily. Keep the same format every day.
- Create a customer phone list. One sheet with party name exactly as in Tally and a WhatsApp number. This is the step most people skip.
- Bring both into a Google Sheet. Upload the export, or have it emailed and read automatically.
- Calculate days outstanding. Today’s date minus invoice date, per invoice.
- Schedule the sending. A Google Apps Script trigger runs every morning and picks invoices that hit 15, 30 or 45 days. Fully automatic WhatsApp needs the WhatsApp Business API (Meta charges a small per-message fee, roughly ₹0.11 to ₹0.16 for a utility message in early 2026 plus your provider’s margin). Zero-cost alternative: the sheet prepares one-tap WhatsApp links and staff send them in a minute.
- Alert yourself. Accounts past 45 days go to you on Telegram or WhatsApp every morning.
- Stop on payment. When the next day’s export no longer shows the invoice, it drops out of the schedule.
A note on MSME payment rules
If your customers buy from you as a registered micro or small enterprise, Section 43B(h) of the Income Tax Act encourages them to pay within the agreed period, up to a maximum of 45 days, to claim the expense in that year. Mentioning your Udyam registration politely on invoices can help. Confirm the details for your case with your CA before using it in messages.
Payment Follow-up is a proven starting point we tailor to your business, in your own Google account, at one fixed price with no monthly fee.