Work & businessChapter 2 of 5⏱ 8 min

Who hasn't paid?

Month end, and you're highlighting bank transactions one by one. Match payments to invoices and see who still owes you.

✓Matched table✓Unpaid list✓Reminder drafts

Export two files

Your bank statement as CSV from online banking, and your invoice list from your system or Excel. CSV or Excel works better than PDF.

Yellow data: remove full account numbers, balances and personal details. You only need date, description and amount.

Upload both and ask

Attach the two files, then:

File 1 is bank transactions for [month]. File 2 is the list of invoices issued. Match incoming payments to invoices by amount, date and the name in the description. Make 3 tables: 1. Matched: Invoice | Customer | Amount | Date paid 2. Unpaid invoices 3. Payments with no matching invoice. Flag any match you're not sure about.

9:41●●●

≡October payments✎

CSVbank_october

XLSinvoices_october

✓ 18 matched ! 3 unpaid ? 2 no invoice

Here are the 3 tables…

+Reply to Claude…↑

Check table 3 first

Payments with no invoice are usually partial or combined payments.

Draft polite reminders

For everyone in table 2:

Draft a polite WhatsApp payment reminder for each customer in table 2.

9:41●●●

≡October payments✎

Hi Encik Ali, hope you're well! A gentle reminder that invoice INV-1042 (RM1,250) is still open. Could you let us know when we can expect payment? Thank you 🙏

+Reply to Claude…↑

BOOM.

An afternoon of matching becomes a quick check of one table.

Check first

This helps you review. It doesn't replace your accountant. Recheck big amounts before sending reminders.

Next · Chapter 3Contract red flags.→

Claude screens are illustrations. The app may look slightly different.