Two things get chased
One runs towards a date. One runs away from one.
A certificate is chased before its expiry, counting down. An invoice is chased after its terms, counting up — and it keeps counting until the money arrives.
Certificates, chased before they lapse
Every certificate has an expiry. OnPoint contacts the customer a set number of days before it, so the renewal comes back to you instead of being forgotten — or picked up by whoever happens to knock first.
You choose how far ahead. It's on by default, because a reminder nobody switched on is a renewal nobody sends.
Invoices, chased until they're settled
Once an invoice passes its terms it's flagged overdue and chased, then chased again on a repeating interval you set, until it's paid. You set the terms, whether chasing runs at all, and the gap between chases.
- day 0Terms passed · flagged overdue
- day 1First chase sent
- day 8Second chase · interval elapsed
- day 15Third chase
- day 22Next chase, tomorrow morning
Seven days means seven days. The interval counts in whole days, not hours, so the cadence your customer experiences doesn't drift because one chase went out late.
Both go by email, and every reminder carries a link straight to that document in the customer's own portal — no login, no attachment to lose, and the current version rather than whatever was attached last time.
The look-ahead
See what it will say, before it says it
Businesses switch automated chasing off for one reason: they don't know what it's about to say to their customers. So OnPoint shows you — by day, in advance, and you can stop any of it.
The look-ahead does not have its own copy of the rules.
It answers the same questions the overnight run will ask, using the very same code — is this invoice late, has a full interval passed since the last chase, is this certificate inside its window. Not a reimplementation of them.
A forecast that reimplements the logic drifts from the real thing the first time either side is edited, and that failure is the worst kind available: a business trusting a list that quietly lies about what it's about to send. “Preview what will be sent” is a feature. “The preview cannot disagree with the send” is the reason to believe it.
What it refuses to do
An automated chaser is only as good as what it declines to chase
If you've been burned by an automation emailing a customer something wrong, this is the section that matters. Every one of these five is a real rule, not an intention.
- 01
It never chases a settled invoice
Settlement is worked out with the same balance calculation the rest of OnPoint uses, so a credit note and a CIS deduction both count. An invoice you've already been paid for — by any route — drops out of the queue.
- 02
It never chases a renewal that already happened
Issue this year's gas safety record and last year's stops counting down against the same property. That includes certificates issued elsewhere and recorded in OnPoint — the property's history is what's checked, not just what you produced.
- 03
It errs towards chasing
Matching a renewal to a property is deliberately conservative: a certificate whose property can't be identified with confidence is never suppressed.
Getting that wrong in one direction shows a customer a duplicate. Getting it wrong in the other means a legal deadline passes unchased. Those are not equal, and the software is built to know it.
- 04
It stops trying when trying is pointless
If a chase can never succeed — the contact was deleted, there's no address on the record — it switches itself off for that document rather than failing quietly every night forever.
- 05
It counts in days, not hours
“Seven days since the last chase” means seven days, regardless of what time of day the last one went out. The cadence a customer experiences doesn't drift forward an hour at a time.
Chasing is email. It doesn't send texts, letters or WhatsApp messages, and it never rings anyone.
It doesn't escalate to a debt collector, add interest on its own, or take any action beyond sending your customer an email with a link.
We're not going to quote you a recovery rate, because we haven't got one worth quoting. What we can show you is the queue.
You find out what happened
One email in the morning, and the list is closed
Automation you can't audit is just hope. So the morning after each run you get a digest of exactly what went out on your behalf — and delivery comes back afterwards, shown against the renewal itself.
- A digest each morningOne email, telling you what was chased overnight on your behalf.
- Delivery comes backDelivered, opened, clicked — against the renewal, so “did they get it?” isn't a guess.
- Ranked by urgency, not by dateOverdue, due this week, then further out — so the list reads as a priority order rather than a wall of dates.
3 reminders went out for you last night.
2 certificate renewals, 1 invoice chase. Nothing failed. One send was suppressed because the invoice had been settled.
- Gas Safety Record · 14 Aspen WayP. Raval · 30 days before expiryopened 07:41
- EICR · Flat 3, Bell CourtBell Court Mgmt · 30 days before expiryclicked 08:02
- Chase 4 · INV-1042 · £96.0022 days overdue · 7-day intervaldelivered
- INV-1044 · £240.00paid in full · not chasedsuppressed
What you control
Tunable, not a black box
Five settings, and each one is a number or a switch you can change without asking us. Sensible defaults so it works on day one.
Certificates
30 days
Ahead of expiry. Set it to whatever gives you time to get the visit booked.
Invoice chases
7 days
Between chases, counted in whole days, repeating until it's settled.
Payment terms
14 days
When an invoice becomes overdue in the first place.
Master switch
On
Chasing on or off for the whole organisation, either kind.
Per document
Opt out
Exclude one invoice or one certificate — the customer you'd rather ring yourself.
Straight answers
Ten, including the ones about what it won't do.
01What does OnPoint chase automatically?
Two things: certificate renewals before they expire, and overdue invoices after your payment terms have passed. Both run overnight without anyone opening OnPoint.
02Can I see what's going out before it goes?
Yes — the queue is visible by day, in advance, and you can stop any of it. The look-ahead runs the same code as the overnight send rather than a second copy of the rules, so the preview can't disagree with what actually goes out.
03Will it chase an invoice I've already been paid for?
No. Settlement uses the same balance calculation as the rest of OnPoint, so credit notes and CIS deductions count as payment. If the balance is clear, the invoice leaves the queue.
04Will it chase a certificate I've already renewed?
No. Issuing this year's record stops last year's counting down against the same property, including certificates that were issued elsewhere and recorded in OnPoint. Where a certificate's property can't be identified with confidence, it errs towards chasing rather than staying silent.
05How far ahead do certificate reminders go?
You set it — however many days before expiry suits how you book work. It's on by default, because a reminder nobody switched on is a renewal nobody sends. See the certificate range.
06How often does it chase an unpaid invoice?
On an interval you set, repeating until it's settled. The interval counts in whole days, so “seven days” means seven days no matter what time the last chase went out.
07Do reminders go by text?
No — certificate and invoice chasing is email only. Every reminder links to the document in the customer's portal rather than attaching it, so they always open the current version.
08Do I find out what was sent?
Yes. A digest each morning lists exactly what was chased overnight, and delivery status — delivered, opened, clicked — comes back and shows against the renewal itself.
09Can I turn it off?
Yes, at two levels: a master switch for the whole organisation, and an opt-out on an individual invoice or certificate for the customer you'd rather ring yourself.
10What does it cost?
£19 for the first seat and £9 for each seat after. Reminders are on every plan — there's no higher tier to move up to. See pricing.
Look at tomorrow's queue before you trust it.
14 days free, no card. Import your certificates and open the look-ahead — you'll see which renewals were already slipping past you, before a single email goes out.
Email us
support@onpointbusiness.co.ukCall us
+44 7884 697405On every plan
£19 + £9 a seat · no higher tier