# Client Portal and Payment Reminders in LotsInvoice, Explained

Source: https://lotsinvoice.com/blog/client-portal-and-payment-reminders-in-lotsinvoice
Published: 2026-10-28T00:30:42.782373+00:00

Every invoice you send in LotsInvoice carries a private link to your client's portal: their invoices, balance, statement and how to pay you, on one page, with no login. Reminders then chase unpaid invoices on your schedule, in your words, and stop the moment an invoice is paid or void. Both are included on every plan.

This is the full picture of what each one does, what your client sees, what you can change, and what neither one does. Everything below was checked in the product's code, its live docs and its API reference on 27 October 2026. The online payment parts were added and checked on 30 October 2026, against lotsinvoice.com and its Stripe and Razorpay help pages. The reminder, link and short pay link parts were checked in the product code on 31 October 2026.

## The client portal

The portal is one private page per client. You don't set it up and your client doesn't create an account. The first time you send them a document, LotsInvoice makes their link, and the email you send carries it.

### What your client sees

| Where | What's there |
|---|---|
| **Documents tab** | Every invoice, estimate and credit note you've sent them, newest first, each with its number, dates, total, balance due and status. Drafts never appear |
| **Statement tab** | Opening balance, invoices, credit notes, payments and closing balance for the last 12 months, per currency. Drafts and void documents are left out |
| **Balance due** | What they owe you now, one figure per currency |
| **Pay online** | If you've connected your own Stripe or Razorpay account and offer online payment, a Pay online button for the invoice's exact balance (or a deposit or part payment, if you allow them) |
| **How to pay** | The payment options from your business settings: pay link, bank details, Zelle, check address or whatever you've filled in |
| **One document** | The invoice laid out as the real PDF, a **Download PDF** button, and the amount still due |
| **I've sent payment** | A button for payments made another way, such as a bank transfer, that tells you they've paid, with an optional note on how and when |
| **Leave a note** | A short message that reaches you by email, with an optional reply address |
| **Estimates** | They accept with a typed name, or decline, with an optional note. An expired estimate can no longer be accepted |

When you open an invoice, the **How to pay** card shows that invoice's own payment details. If you used **Change for this invoice** to give one client different bank details, that client sees them on that invoice, and the reminders for it carry the same ones. The portal's front page shows your business-wide options. How to set both is in [How Clients Pay You With LotsInvoice](https://lotsinvoice.com/blog/how-clients-pay-you-with-lotsinvoice).

On INR invoices, a UPI ID gives your client a QR code with the amount due already in it.

### What you hear back

When your client opens the invoice, it shows as viewed on the invoice. When they press **I've sent payment**, leave a note, or accept or decline an estimate, you get an email, as long as your business email is confirmed.

**A payment made online is recorded for you.** When your client pays with the Pay online button, the payment appears on the invoice by itself, shown as Online on your Payments page, and the money goes straight to your own Stripe or Razorpay account.

**I've sent payment does not mark the invoice paid.** It is for payments made another way, such as a bank transfer, Zelle or a check, and LotsInvoice never holds or moves your money, so only you know when that money arrived. You record the payment, and then the invoice is paid and the reminders stop.

### What the portal does not do

- **No login.** The link is the access. Anyone who has it can see that client's documents with your business, so treat it like the invoice itself.
- **No analytics on the page.** You see that the invoice was opened, and when. You don't get how many times, how long, or from where. The portal pages also load no analytics script and set no tracking cookie.
- **No card form of its own.** Pay online goes through your own Stripe or Razorpay account, and a pay link takes your client to your own PayPal or Square page. LotsInvoice never holds or moves the money.
- **No "paid" on the client's say-so.** An invoice becomes paid when a payment is recorded: by itself for a payment made online, or by you for a bank transfer, Zelle, check or any other payment. A client pressing **I've sent payment** never changes it.
- **No chat thread.** Notes go to you by email, one way. You reply from your own inbox, because replies to LotsInvoice emails go to your business.

Previewing is safe: **View as customer** on an invoice opens exactly what your client sees without marking it viewed.

### Getting, sharing and revoking the link

- **Copy it** from the customer's page (**Customer portal**, **Copy link**) or from an invoice's menu (**Copy customer link**).
- **Make a new one** on the customer's page with **New link**. Every earlier portal link for that client stops working, including portal links in emails you already sent. Do this if a portal link went to the wrong person. The short pay link of a single invoice (below) is separate, and a new portal link doesn't replace it. Later emails and reminders use the new link on their own.
- A link doesn't expire on a timer, so nothing breaks if a client keeps an old email for months.
- **A short link for one document.** Every sent document also has a short link at pay.lotsinvoice.com. It opens just that document, never your client's others: the invoice, a Download PDF button and, if online payment is on, the Pay online card. An estimate can be accepted or declined there. The pay button in your emails and reminders, the portal's Pay button and your share messages use it, and older, longer links keep working.

## Payment reminders

Reminders are polite emails for invoices that are sent and not yet paid. They're on by default, and you can change when they go out and what they say.

### The default schedule

| When | Counted from the due date |
|---|---|
| 3 days before | -3 |
| On the due date | 0 |
| 7 days after | +7 |
| 14 days after | +14 |

Each reminder is sent once per invoice. Open **Settings**, then **Reminders** to switch reminders off, remove any of these, or add your own: up to 8 reminders per business, from 60 days before the due date to 365 days after. Dates follow your business's time zone, which is set in the business settings.

### What stops a reminder

- The invoice is **paid** or **void**. A part-paid invoice keeps getting reminders, and each one shows the balance still owed, not the total.
- Reminders are for **invoices with a due date**. Estimates and credit notes don't get them.
- You switched off **Send reminders for this invoice** under **Automatic reminders** on that invoice. The switch works on invoices you've already sent, and it appears once reminders are on for your business.
- A bank payment your client started online is still clearing. No reminder goes out until it settles.
- The client has **no email address** on file, or your business email isn't confirmed yet.
- Your business isn't funded. A business that can't send new documents doesn't send reminders either. The details are on the [pricing page](https://lotsinvoice.com/pricing).
- A sending limit is reached. LotsInvoice limits how many emails a business sends in a day, and how many go to one client, so a scheduled reminder can be held back and retried on a later run (the job catches up for two days).

### What the reminder says

It comes from your business name, and replies go to you. It has a **View invoice** button that opens the portal and, when online payment is on for the invoice, a button that names the balance still owed, such as "Pay $450.00 online", opening the invoice's short pay link. Otherwise it shows your own pay link button, if you've set one. The PDF isn't attached again.

The standard wording is friendly: before the due date it says the invoice is due on that date, and after it says the invoice was due and asks them to ignore the email if they've already paid. To use your own, set a **Subject** and **Message** in **Settings**, **Reminders**. You can use the placeholders `{number}`, `{business}`, `{customer}`, `{balance}` and `{due_date}`. Leave them empty to use the standard wording.

### Send one now

Open a sent, unpaid invoice and choose **Remind**. You can write a message for that one or leave it empty to use your reminder wording. A manual reminder doesn't use up one of the scheduled ones, and it works on any sent invoice that isn't paid or void, so you can chase a client the day an invoice goes late without waiting for the next scheduled one.

### Change the schedule for one invoice

The schedule you set in Settings applies to every invoice. If one client needs a different rhythm, or none, your assistant or the API can switch reminders off for that invoice or give it its own days, through the `reminders` field when it creates or updates the invoice. Everything else keeps your normal schedule.

## Using your AI assistant for both

LotsInvoice works with the AI agent you already use, when you want it. Connect it at [lotsinvoice.com/mcp](https://lotsinvoice.com/mcp). It can look up a client's portal link, make a new one, send a reminder now and read or change your reminder schedule. Everything is in the dashboard too, so you can check what it did.

A prompt that keeps you in charge:

> Read https://lotsinvoice.com/skill.md. In my LotsInvoice business, list the invoices that are more than a week overdue, with the client and the balance. For each one, show me the reminder you would send and wait for my yes before sending anything.

## At a glance

| | Client portal | Payment reminders |
|---|---|---|
| **Included in** | Every plan | Every plan |
| **Setup** | None: made when you first send a client a document | On by default; change in Settings, Reminders |
| **Who uses it** | Your client, with a private link and no login | Your client gets an email; you set the rules |
| **You control** | The link: copy it, or replace it | The days, the wording, and a reminder on demand |
| **Stops when** | You make a new link | The invoice is paid or void |
| **Never does** | Hold or move your money, mark an invoice paid on a client's say-so, track visits | Send for estimates, credit notes or invoices with no due date |

LotsInvoice starts at $12 a month per business, or $120 a year, with unlimited invoices, customers and team members inside the business (pricing checked on 27 October 2026).

## FAQ

### Does my client need an account to see the LotsInvoice portal?

No. Your client opens the private link in your email and sees their documents, balance, statement and how to pay you, with no sign-up or password. Because the link is the access, you can replace it from the customer's page with **New link**, and every earlier portal link stops working.

### When does LotsInvoice send payment reminders?

By default, 3 days before the due date, on the due date, 7 days after and 14 days after, each once per invoice. You can switch reminders off, remove any of those, or add your own, up to 8 per business, in Settings, Reminders. They stop as soon as the invoice is paid or void.

### Can I send a reminder myself, or turn reminders off for one client?

Yes to both. Choose **Remind** on a sent, unpaid invoice to send one now, with your own message if you like. To switch reminders off for one invoice, open it and turn off **Send reminders for this invoice** under **Automatic reminders**; it works on invoices you've already sent. To give one invoice its own days, ask your assistant or use the API: an invoice can carry its own reminder setting.

### Can I see how many times my client opened the invoice?

No. You see that the invoice was opened and when. The portal doesn't report how many times it was viewed or for how long, and it loads no analytics script or tracking cookie.

### Does my client's "I've sent payment" mark the invoice paid, and can they pay online?

No, "I've sent payment" only sends you an email. When the money arrives in your account, you record the payment and the invoice is marked paid. Until then, scheduled reminders continue. Online is different: if you have connected your own Stripe or Razorpay account, your client can press Pay online in the portal, the money goes straight to your account, and the payment is recorded on the invoice by itself.

## Sources

Checked on 27 October 2026:

- LotsInvoice: [lotsinvoice.com](https://lotsinvoice.com), [pricing](https://lotsinvoice.com/pricing), [AI assistants](https://lotsinvoice.com/mcp), [skill.md](https://lotsinvoice.com/skill.md), [API docs](https://api.lotsinvoice.com/docs.md), [tool list](https://api.lotsinvoice.com/tools.json), [changelog](https://support.lotsinvoice.com/changelog), and the product's portal, reminder and statement code.

Related: [Is LotsInvoice safe?](https://lotsinvoice.com/blog/is-lotsinvoice-safe) and [LotsInvoice pricing explained](https://lotsinvoice.com/blog/lotsinvoice-pricing-explained).