Overview
When you're managing multiple active bids and jobs, following up on open proposals and unpaid invoices can easily fall through the cracks. Handoff's automatic follow-up reminders send timed messages to your clients via email, SMS, or both, so you don't have to track follow-ups manually.
This article explains how to configure your organisation's reminder schedule, enable reminders when sending proposals or invoices, monitor reminder delivery, and manage reminders for existing documents.
These features are available only on the Pro plan, if you are not seeing these features available in your account, please reach out to us at [email protected] to assist.
Step 1: Configure Your Organization-Wide Reminder Schedule
Reminder schedules are configured once at the organization level and apply to all future proposals and invoices you send.
Go to Settings → Follow-up reminders.
Under either the Proposals or Invoices section, enable the master toggle for the document type.
Click + Add reminder.
In the Reminder settings dialog, configure the following:
Days
Choose one of the available offsets
Sending timing (Invoices only)
Before due date
After due date
Send via
Email
SMS
Email & SMS
Message
Optionally enter a custom message.
If left blank, the default template will be used.
Click Save.
Repeat these steps to add additional reminder rules.
You can configure up to 5 reminder rules per document type.
Default Reminder Schedule
If no reminder rules have been configured, Handoff automatically creates a default schedule the first time reminders are enabled.
Proposals
1 day after sending (SMS)
3 days after sending (Email)
7 days after sending (Email & SMS)
Invoices
1 day before the due date (SMS)
1 day after the due date (Email)
5 days after the due date (Email & SMS)
Step 2: Enable Reminders When Sending a Proposal or Invoice
Each time you send a proposal or invoice, a Reminder Card appears in the Send dialog.
Open a proposal or invoice.
Click Send.
In the Send dialog, locate the Enable automatic reminders section.
Review the reminder schedule preview, such as:
1st: 1 day after sending (Email & SMS)
Leave the toggle ON to enable reminders.
To disable reminders for this specific send, turn the toggle OFF.
If you need to modify your organization's reminder schedule, click Customize reminders. This opens Settings → Follow-up reminders.
Complete the send process as usual.
Important
Reminder schedules are created at the moment the document is sent. The reminder message content is snapshotted at that time, so changes made to reminder rules afterward will not affect reminders that have already been scheduled.
Invoice Requirement
Invoices must have a due date before reminders can be enabled.
If no due date is set, the following warning appears:
Set a due date to enable reminders.
Reminders cannot be enabled until a due date is added.
Step 3: Monitor Reminder Delivery
After at least one reminder has been sent, a Follow-up reminders (N) button with a bell icon appears in the proposal or invoice header.
The number indicates how many reminders have been sent.
Click Follow-up reminders (N).
Review the reminder log.
The log displays:
Timestamp
Client name
Document number
If the client opened the reminder link, a green Opened badge appears next to that reminder.
You can also click Customize reminders from the log to update your organization-wide reminder schedule.
Notifications
Each time a reminder is sent, you'll receive:
An in-app notification
A push notification
Example:
7-day follow-up reminder sent through Email & SMS for Proposal EST-00123
Managing Reminders on Existing Documents
You can manage reminders for an individual proposal or invoice through the Handoff AI chat assistant without changing your organization-wide settings.
Disable Pending Reminders
Ask the assistant to disable follow-up reminders for a specific proposal or invoice.
Result:
All scheduled but unsent reminders for that document are cancelled.
Re-enable Reminders
Ask the assistant to re-enable follow-up reminders.
Result:
The reminder schedule is recreated using your current organization rules.
Send a Reminder Immediately
Ask the assistant to send a reminder now for a specific proposal or invoice.
Result:
After your confirmation, the reminder is sent immediately.
This bypasses the scheduled reminder queue.
Check Reminder Status
Ask the assistant for the reminder status.
Result:
Pending reminders
Sent reminders
Cancelled reminders
No changes are made to the schedule.
Additional Notes
Proposals
Reminders are anchored to the proposal send date.
They automatically cancel when the proposal is approved, declined, or cancelled.
Invoices
Reminders are anchored to the due date, either before or after.
They automatically cancel when the invoice is paid or deleted.
Maximum rules
Up to 5 reminder rules are allowed per document type.
If the limit is reached, you'll see:
You've reached the 5-reminder limit.
Minimum offset
The earliest reminder can be sent is 1 day after the triggering event.
Same-day reminders are not supported.
Duplicate offsets
Two reminder rules for the same document type cannot share the same day offset and timing combination.
No snooze or recurrence
Each reminder rule sends only once per document.
Snoozing is not supported.
To send another reminder, use the AI assistant's one-off reminder feature.
Scheduled sends
Automatic reminders are not available for scheduled-send workflows.
Delivery window
Reminders are delivered within your local 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM window, based on your project or organization address.
Recipients
Reminders are sent to your client, the recipient of the proposal or invoice.
Reminders are not sent to you.
Troubleshooting
Reminders cannot be enabled for an invoice
Why it happens
The invoice does not have a due date.
How to fix it
Add a due date to the invoice, then enable automatic reminders before sending.
Cannot add another reminder rule
Why it happens
You've reached the maximum of 5 reminder rules for that document type.
How to fix it
Delete or modify an existing reminder rule before creating a new one.
Changes to reminder rules are not reflected in a sent document
Why it happens
Reminder schedules and message content are snapshotted when the document is sent.
How to fix it
Changes only apply to future sends. To update reminders for an existing document, use the Handoff AI assistant to re-enable reminders.