Client Says Payment Was Sent but Nothing Received? The Proof to Ask For, the Real Bank Timelines, and How to Keep Chasing Until It Lands

"We sent that last week." Four words, and suddenly you're the one who has to prove a negative.

When a client says payment was sent but nothing received, there are really only three possibilities. The money is genuinely in transit. The money went somewhere wrong (their typo, your old account, a check to a previous address). Or nobody actually sent anything, and "we paid" is a stalling move.

The good news: you handle all three the same way. You don't argue, you don't apologize, and you don't mark the invoice paid. You ask for one specific piece of proof, compare it against how long that payment method actually takes, and keep the reminders running until the money is in your account.

Step 1: Ask for proof, not reassurance

"Can you check on that?" gets you "sure, will do" and another week of silence. Ask for the exact thing their bank or accounting system already generated when they sent the money. If the payment is real, this takes them 30 seconds.

What to ask for depends on how they say they paid:

• Bank transfer / ACH: The date it was sent, the amount, the last four digits of the account number they sent it to, and the confirmation or trace number. The trace number is the big one. Their bank can use it to find the money.
• Wire: Same as above, plus the Fed reference (sometimes called the IMAD number).
• Check: Check number, date written, date mailed, the address it went to, and whether it has cleared their account yet. That last question is the tell. If it hasn't cleared, it hasn't arrived.
• Card or online payment link: The transaction ID and the receipt email.
• Zelle, Venmo, PayPal: A screenshot showing the recipient name, handle or email, and the date. Half of these "sent" payments went to a lookalike handle.

Here's the email I send. It's polite, but it doesn't leave room for a vague answer:

Subject: Invoice #1042 – payment details needed to locate it

Hi Jordan,

Thanks for the update. I haven't seen it arrive yet, so I want to track it down on my end before it becomes a headache for either of us.

Could you send over the payment date, the amount, and the confirmation or check number? If it was a bank transfer, the last four digits of the account it went to would help too.

Once I have that I can check with my bank today. If it turns out it went astray, I'll let you know right away so you can stop or reissue it.

Thanks, Sam

Notice the framing. You're helping them find their money, not accusing them. But the ask is concrete enough that "I'll look into it" isn't a complete reply.

Step 2: Compare their answer to how long that method really takes

Once you know how and when they paid, you can tell whether "it's probably still processing" is plausible or fiction.

| Method | Normal arrival time | If it's been longer than this, something's wrong |

|---|---|---|

| Wire (domestic) | Same business day if sent before cutoff, next day otherwise | 2 business days |

| ACH / bank transfer | 1–3 business days (Same Day ACH is faster, most businesses don't use it) | 4 business days |

| Card / payment link | Instant authorization, 1–3 business days to settle | 4 business days |

| Zelle | Minutes | Same day |

| Venmo / PayPal | Instant to your balance, 1–3 business days to your bank | 4 business days |

| Mailed check | 2–5 business days in the mail, then 1–2 business days for the deposit to clear (up to 7 for large amounts or new accounts) | 10 business days from the mailing date |

| International wire | 1–5 business days, plus intermediary bank delays | 7 business days |

These are working days. A "sent Friday" ACH won't show until Tuesday or Wednesday, and that's normal. A check "mailed three weeks ago" is not normal, and you should say so.

If their claimed send date is inside the window, tell them you'll check again on a specific date, and put that date in your calendar. If it's outside the window, move to step 4.

Step 3: Check your own side before you push harder

Before you go back to the client with "still nothing," spend five minutes making sure the money isn't already sitting with you.

• Did it land in a different account? Old bank details on an older invoice, a second business account, a Stripe or PayPal balance you didn't sweep.
• Did it arrive under a different name? Their parent company, a payroll provider, or an individual's name instead of the business.
• Did it get applied to the wrong invoice? If you have several open with this client, a payment matching invoice 1038 may have been logged against 1042.
• Is it a partial? A payment that's short by a wire fee or a "discount" they took can be easy to miss if you're searching for the exact amount.
• Is there a physical mail pile? If you still accept checks, ask whoever collects the mail.

Found it? Send a quick "found it, thank you, sorry for the noise" and move on.

Step 4: When the proof doesn't add up (or doesn't come)

Two things count as a red flag here. They can't produce a confirmation number, check number, or receipt within two business days. Or the details they gave are outside the timeline above.

Either way, stop treating the invoice as "paid, pending." It's unpaid. Say so plainly, and give them the fastest path to fixing it:

Hi Jordan,

I've checked with my bank and there's still nothing matching invoice #1042. Given it's been 12 business days since the check was mailed, it's safe to assume it's lost.

The cleanest fix is to put a stop payment on check #2231 and send the amount by bank transfer instead. My details are on the invoice. Once it's sent, a quick screenshot of the confirmation would be great so I can watch for it.

Thanks, Sam

For the classic "the check is in the mail" excuse, this is the move. Ask for the check number and mailing date on day one. Set a 10-business-day deadline from that date. When the deadline passes, ask them to stop payment and pay electronically. A client who actually mailed a check has no problem doing this. A client who didn't will find a reason not to, and now you know which one you're dealing with.

If you need the wording for any stage of this, the payment reminder email generator will draft a version in the tone you want, and the late payment email toolkit has the full escalation set.

Keep the reminders running until the money actually lands

This is where most people get burned. The client says "sent it," you pause the reminders out of politeness, and the invoice drops off your radar for three weeks.

Rule: a claim pauses nothing. A document with a date on it pauses reminders until that date plus the timeline window. Cleared funds close the invoice. Nothing else does.

In practice, that looks like:

1. On "we paid": Reply with the proof request the same day. Leave the invoice status as unpaid. Don't touch the reminder schedule yet.
2. On receiving real proof: Note the expected arrival date. Push the next reminder to the day after that date, not indefinitely.
3. On the check-back date: Look in your account. Nothing there? The next reminder goes out as planned, with one line added: "The transfer from the 14th hasn't arrived yet. Could you ask your bank to trace confirmation #ABC123?"
4. On cleared funds: Mark it paid, send a thank-you, and let the client know it arrived so they can close it on their side.

If you're chasing by hand, the risky part is step 3. You have to remember to look. If you use automated payment reminder software, most tools let you set a "promised" status with a follow-up date, and the sequence resumes on its own if nothing gets marked paid. Either way, the principle is the same: reminders stop when money arrives, not when someone says it's coming.

The next time a client says payment was sent but nothing received, you'll know the drill. Ask for the number. Check the clock. Check your own accounts. Then keep chasing, kindly and specifically, until it clears.