Google Sheets

How do you chase unpaid invoices from a Google Sheets spreadsheet?

To chase unpaid invoices from a Google Sheets spreadsheet, connect the sheet where each invoice has its own row, with a number and a due date. A Muzau agent rereads it before every send, follows up on overdue invoices and logs its progress in a "Muzau follow-up" column, without touching yours. It stops as soon as the row says "Paid" or "Settled", or the customer replies. Your team keeps the status and can approve each reminder.

Why an invoice spreadsheet chases no one

A Google Sheets invoice spreadsheet fits in a few columns: a number, a customer, an amount, a due date, a status. It says who owes what, but it chases no one. Every week, you have to filter the overdue rows, find the address, write, then note who received what, and when.

That is where reminders slip: an invoice a month overdue has received only one message, while another, settled the day before, is chased by mistake. Your team keeps the relationship with the customer and the decision to go further; keeping up the reminders, row by row, is what the agent takes on.

How the agent goes about it

Input

Your invoice Google Sheet, one row per invoice with its number and due date

It does

Rereads the sheet before every send, follows up on overdue invoices, stops when the row is marked settled or the customer replies

It delivers

Reminders that cite the invoice, and a record of them in the "Muzau follow-up" column

The invoice Google Sheet is reread before every send

You create the agent in the Workshop and give it your invoice Google Sheet. Muzau rereads it before every send: an invoice added or a status changed in the meantime is picked up, with nothing to reimport. The agent follows up once the due date has passed, or earlier if you ask. Reminders go out by default Monday to Friday, at 9 a.m., Paris time.

Each unpaid invoice reminder cites the invoice on its row

Each reminder repeats the reference, due date and amount from the row, then gets firmer from the second one on, without threats. The amount quoted is the one on the row, never calculated. In Management, you read each planned reminder before it goes out, have it rewritten with an instruction or save your own text; on the Autonomy page, you choose whether reminders wait for your green light.

The follow-up is written in a "Muzau follow-up" column, never in yours

After each send, the agent writes its follow-up in a column reserved for it, "Muzau follow-up": it notes the last reminder sent, dated, for example "message no. 2 sent". To find the right row, it needs a stable reference column, the invoice number, and a Google Sheets connection with write access: without them, it writes nothing in the sheet.

Chasing an invoice stops at payment or when the customer replies

The status stays your column, and the sheet is the source of truth. When someone writes "Paid", "Settled" or "Cleared" there, the invoice becomes settled at the next reread and nothing more is chased. "Unpaid" stays unpaid, and a deposit leaves the invoice open. Chasing also stops as soon as the customer replies or the team writes to them. With invoicing software connected, the agent also sees the settled invoice and stops: see chasing invoices with Pennylane.

How to prepare an invoice spreadsheet that is easy to chase

With or without an agent, a reminder is only reliable if the spreadsheet is:

• One row per invoice, never one row per customer: two invoices from the same customer make two rows, each with its own due date.
• A unique invoice number, in a column of its own: a duplicate number makes two rows impossible to tell apart.
• The due date in a real date cell, not "end of month" or "30 days".
• The invoice amount, with the header saying whether it is excl. or incl. tax.
• The email address of the person who pays, often the customer's accounting team, not just your contact's.
• A status written in plain words, "Unpaid", "Paid", "Deposit paid", rather than a cell colour, which no formula reads.
• A column for the record of reminders, separate from the status.

A "Days overdue" column, calculated as TODAY() minus the due date, and conditional formatting on overdue rows give you the week's list at a glance. Switch the status to "Paid" the same day the payment arrives: a customer chased for an invoice already settled remembers it. For the wording of the message, see how to chase an unpaid invoice by email, and for the timing, when to chase an unpaid invoice.

What it does not do

• It does not change the status in your Google Sheet: that is your column, and the sheet is the source of truth.
• Without invoicing software connected, it does not see a payment that nobody has entered in the sheet: update the status, or stop the reminders with one click.
• Without an invoice number column, or without a connection with write access, it writes nothing in the sheet, and a row without a readable due date is not chased.

Frequently asked questions

Which columns does the Google Sheet need to chase unpaid invoices?

You need one row per invoice with a readable due date, and a stable reference column, such as the invoice number, so a Muzau agent writes its follow-up on the right row. Your other columns stay as they are: the agent writes only in its "Muzau follow-up" column.

Can you chase dozens of unpaid invoices at once?

Yes, but not all on the same day: a Muzau agent brings in at most 10 new people to the follow-up per 24 hours, and the others wait for the following days. The same person never receives more than one scheduled message per 24 hours, across all agents.

Can you chase unpaid invoices from an Excel file instead of Google Sheets?

An Excel or CSV file dropped into Muzau is a copy: it does not update on its own, you have to drop it again, and it downloads again as a CSV with what the agent wrote in it. An Excel workbook stored in OneDrive and connected is reread before every send, like a Google Sheet.

Can you send invoice reminders from Gmail or Outlook based on Google Sheets?

Yes: when the company mailbox, Gmail, Outlook or another, is connected to Muzau, the agent's reminders go out from that mailbox, with the reputation of your address. With several mailboxes connected by password and no Outlook, or an agent set to its own address, they go out from the agent's address. Without a connected mailbox, they go out from the company's Muzau address, and customers' replies come back to the agent.