Checking an AI reminder before you send

Read the draft with the real invoice open beside it. Don't trust your memory, and don't trust the AI.

Australia's privacy regulator notes that wrong output can look convincing.¹ A polished draft can still be wrong. So the check isn't optional.

Facts to match against the invoice

• Customer name. Spelling, title, and the right person at the company. A reminder to the wrong contact can embarrass both sides.
• Business name. Yours, spelled the way it appears on the invoice.
• Invoice number. Letter by letter. Transposed digits are an easy slip.
• Amount. The total still owed, with the currency symbol. If part has been paid, the draft should say what's left.
• Due date. Compare it with the invoice. Watch out for day and month order, which differs between countries. Writing the month as a word avoids the mix-up.
• Invoice date. Where the draft mentions it. For Australian tax invoices, the date the invoice was issued is one of the details the ATO lists.²
• Tax lines. If the draft restates GST, VAT or sales tax, delete it and point to the invoice. The ATO, for example, gives rules on how GST is rounded.² Ask your accountant or tax office about anything tax-related.
• Currency. Check you haven't been given dollars when the invoice is in pounds, or the reverse.

Payment details

• Bank account, reference, payment link. Copy them from your own records. If the draft contains any, compare each character, or better, delete them and paste yours.
• Invented details. AI tools can produce plausible-looking account numbers or links. Treat any you didn't supply as wrong.
• A link you didn't create. Click it before you send, and check it opens your payment page.
• Changed details. If your bank details have changed recently, say so clearly, and phone existing customers rather than relying on email alone.

Promises and extras

• Late fees or interest. Remove any the draft added. Only mention them if your agreement says so, and check the rules in your own country first.
• Deadlines. Delete invented dates such as "by Friday".
• Legal or collection threats. Remove them. A person should decide on that, with proper advice.
• Offers. No discounts, payment plans or extensions the tool dreamed up.
• Claims about what the customer said or did. If you didn't tell the AI, it made it up.

Tone

• Read it out loud. If you wouldn't say it to their face, change it.
• Look for guilt, sarcasm or pressure.
• Check it still sounds like you. Cut "I hope this email finds you well" style filler.
• Check the opening. A reminder should start with the point.

Last checks before you hit send

• Has the customer already paid? Look at your bank feed or invoicing software today.
• Is there a dispute or a note on the account? Then don't send an automatic-style message.
• Are you sending it from your own account to the right address?
• Did you keep a copy and note the date? A simple log helps if a question comes up later.
• Is anything in it sensitive, such as hardship, a complaint or a third party? If so, write or call yourself.

If the draft ever went through a public chatbot with customer details in it, remember that the provider can see what you submit.³ What to give the AI and what to keep back covers how to avoid that.

The same regulator wants routines built around the chance of a wrong output.¹ A written checklist, kept next to your invoices, does that job.