Late fees give you a straightforward way to cover the cost of chasing overdue payments and to encourage customers to pay on time in future. You can apply a late fee directly to any overdue invoice in a few clicks, then either charge it straight away or send the customer a payment link.
What you can do
Late fees give you a clear, consistent way to charge for overdue payments and encourage customers to pay on time.
You can:
Apply a late fee to any overdue invoice.
Choose how the fee is calculated:
Fixed amount
Percentage of the overdue invoice
A combination of both
Charge a saved card instantly, or send a payment link for the customer to pay later.
Automatically notify the customer of the full fee details.
This helps you cover the cost of overdue payments and keep your billing clear for customers.
How to set your late fee defaults
Set defaults for each site so the Apply late fee form is pre-filled with your usual fee type, tax rate and collection method.
Go to Sites.
Select the site you want to update.
Click Edit Site.
Select Late fees.
Set your Default fee type, Fixed amount and/or Percentage, and Default tax rate.
Choose your default Collection method and whether to notify customers by default.
Optionally add an Accounting nominal code to include the late fee on your invoice CSV exports.
Click Save.
These defaults now pre-fill the Apply late fee form, though you can still change any of them each time you raise a fee.
How to apply a late fee
Go to an overdue invoice in Stora.
Click Apply late fee.
Review the pre‑filled fee.
Adjust the fee if needed:
Set a fixed amount, percentage, or both.
Change the Tax rate if the site default doesn't apply.
See a live preview of the total charge.
Choose how to collect payment:
Charge card on file.
Send a payment link by email.
Confirm to apply the late fee.
Once applied, the late fee is added and processed according to your selected payment method.
⚠️ If you choose to charge a saved card on file, the late fee is collected immediately. Check the amount and payment method before you confirm.
💡 Tax is included in the late fee amount shown, not added on top.
Customer notifications
When you apply a late fee, Stora can email the customer with the details.
The notification email explains:
The late fee amount.
Which invoice the late fee relates to.
Whether the late fee has already been charged or still needs to be paid.
This helps avoid confusion and keeps communication transparent.
If you send a payment link, the email also includes a button that lets the customer pay the late fee online.
Invoicing & reporting
Late fees are fully integrated with your invoicing and reporting.
Stora creates each late fee as a separate invoice with the type
late fee.The late fee invoice is linked to the original overdue invoice, so you can see what it relates to.
You can filter your invoice list by late fees to review all fees you have charged.
Late fee revenue appears in your existing revenue reports.
Unpaid late fee invoices are included in your unpaid invoice totals, so you can follow up on them.
What's next
This article covers manual late fees, where you choose when and how to apply a fee.
We are working on fully automated late fees, so you will be able to set rules and let Stora apply fees automatically when invoices become overdue.
💬 If you would like help setting up your late fee approach or defaults, contact Support.