Automatic payment reminders for physios billing insurers

Some of your income is billed to insurers and employers, and it arrives late. If you send 25 such invoices a month and 10 are paid late, each costing 12 minutes of emails and calls, that's 2 hours a month chasing.

Xero has automated invoice reminders. You set it to remind insurers and employers before and after the due date, and you only step in on the ones still unpaid. Patients who pay at the appointment aren't invoiced at all.

A three-physio clinic in Reading sends about 25 invoices a month to insurers and local employers, and about 10 are late. The practice manager sets up Xero reminders on those customers.

About 1.2 hours a month saved (6 fewer chases x 12 minutes = 72 minutes), worth around £54 if your time is worth £45 an hour. That covers the £39 a month cost by about £15, and faster cash is the extra gain.

1. 1Check Xero's pricing page. Ignite is limited to 20 invoices a month, so 25 invoices needs Grow at £39 a month, excluding VAT.
2. 2Add insurers and employers as contacts with their billing email and payment terms.
3. 3Turn on invoice reminders and write a polite wording for the reminder email.
4. 4Keep invoice descriptions to the minimum, such as 'physiotherapy sessions', with a reference rather than clinical detail.
5. 5Once a week, ring the invoices that are still overdue after the reminders.

• Many insurers pay through their own portals or ask for specific claim forms. Reminders help only for invoices you bill directly.
• An invoice with a patient's name and condition is health data. Use references and keep clinical detail out.
• Automatic reminders go to whatever address is on the contact. A wrong address sends payment details to the wrong person.
• The saving is thin: at £39 a month it only pays if you really do chase around 10 late invoices a month. If few of yours are late, it isn't worth it.