I built PingToPay because I kept forgetting to chase my own international clients for late payments

Following up — the pause toggle we talked about is live now (posted a product update with the full list). You read the client's reply in your own inbox, then pause that invoice's reminders with one click while you sort out the dispute, and resume it yourself whenever it's settled.

This lines up with something another commenter asked about too — whether "late" sometimes means "disputed," not "forgotten." Sounds like you've lived that exact distinction.

Getting written confirmation on verbal extras before doing the work is honestly the more valuable lesson here — no reminder tool fixes a dispute that's already brewing. On the feature side, I built something close to what you're describing, just from the other direction: rather than a client-facing "I have a question" link, I added a freelancer-side pause toggle — you read the client's reply (they can already just hit Reply on any reminder, it lands in your real inbox), then pause that invoice's reminders yourself with one click while you sort it out. Stays paused until you resume it, no auto-timer resuming it mid-conversation. Same outcome as what you suggested, simpler mechanism.

Shipped this — CSV imports and manual adds now check against your existing invoices by client + amount + due date before saving. If something looks like a repeat, you see the actual flagged row and choose to skip it or add it anyway, instead of it silently going through (or silently getting blocked).

Good catch — right now there's no recognition at all. Every add (single or via CSV) creates a brand-new record with no matching against existing invoices, so a re-imported CSV row would create a second entry, could burn a second reminder slot, and — worse — your client would get duplicate reminder emails for the same invoice. That's a real gap, not by design. Adding basic duplicate detection (matching on client email + amount + due date) to the list.

Both of your suggestions are live now — the "I've already paid" link is in every reminder email, pauses that invoice's reminders and pings me to confirm, with a 5-business-day auto-resume if I never do. Posted a full product update with the details. Thanks again for pushing on this one, it was a real gap.

Both of these are really good — especially the "I've already paid" link. Right now stopping reminders requires me (the freelancer) to manually mark the invoice paid in the dashboard, which works but puts the burden on the wrong person if the client's the one who'd notice first. A one-click "I've paid this" link in the reminder itself that pauses the sequence (with some kind of confirmation step so it can't be spoofed) is a much better version of that. Adding it to the list.

On local send time — right now everything goes out on one daily check, not timezone-aware yet. You're right that catching someone at the start of their workday instead of the middle of their night would land better. Good flag.

Genuinely good question, and yes, I've thought about it even though I don't have enough real usage yet to know how common it is. My take: reminders are built for "client fully intends to pay but forgot," not disputes. If someone's actually contesting the hours or scope, an automated reminder is the wrong tool — it'll look tone-deaf on top of a real disagreement. Right now it's on the freelancer to recognize that difference and pause reminders before the tool barrels ahead assuming good faith. Not something I've built explicit handling for yet, but a "pause — this is disputed" option separate from "paid" is probably worth adding.

Good question! honestly still too early to have solid data on this, single-digit real users so far! My design intent: the default wording is deliberately written to sound like a normal person, not a tool, so I'd guess most people keep stage 1 close to as-is and start tweaking the firmer/final-stage emails once they've seen how their own client relationships actually play out. There's a live preview while editing so you always see exactly what a client would receive before saving - that mattered a lot to me, no one should have to guess what tone comes out the other end.

Interesting framing — "from 'I should chase this' to one concrete next action" is exactly the gap I was trying to close. For me the trigger was less decision-paralysis and more plain forgetting under a pile of other client work, but I can see the same "clear default action, no decision needed" design helping either way. Appreciate the offer on the observed session — not something I have bandwidth for right now, but curious to hear what you find if you run it.

Honestly, it's more the second one. The free tier covers 5 overdue invoices, so occasional late payments don't even need Pro. The real value is consistency — every invoice gets the same calm, professional reminder, whether it's a small $200 job or a big $8,000 one, without you writing an awkward email under pressure. Unlimited volume is the real unlock for agencies or people juggling a lot of clients, but even at one significant late payment a quarter, the value is mostly "I never have to write that awkward email from scratch again."