Late Fee on a $1,500 Invoice, 30 Days Overdue
Interest at 1.5% a month
$22.50
1.5% a month, simple interest charged pro rata by day, with no flat fee added.
How that number is worked out
These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.
- Unpaid invoice amount1500 $
- Late fee rate you wrote in the contract1.5 % per month
- Days past due30
- Flat fee, if your contract has one0 $
Now owed$1,522.50
| Original invoice | $1,500.00 |
|---|---|
| Days late | 30 (1 months) |
| Interest at 1.5% a month | $22.50 |
| Flat fee | $0.00 |
| Total now due | $1,522.50 |
| Annual rate this equals | 18% |
| Per day from here | $0.75 |
Days past due compared
Interest is simple and pro rata by day, so it climbs in a straight line rather than accelerating.
| Days past due | Now owed | Total now due |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days | $1,522.50 | $1,522.50 |
| 60 days | $1,545.00 | $1,545.00 |
| 90 days | $1,567.50 | $1,567.50 |
| 120 days | $1,590.00 | $1,590.00 |
What else matters here
Fifteen hundred dollars at 1.5 percent a month is $22.50 in 30 days, $1,522.50 due, and 75 cents a day from there. At 60 days it is $45.
Before assuming this one is being refused, find out whose desk it is on. The person who hired you is very often not the person who releases payment, especially on a property management job, a builder's account or anything with an office behind it. An invoice waiting on an approval that nobody asked for is not a dispute, it is a missing signature.
So the useful first call is not about the money. Ask who approves invoices, what they need to approve it, and when their payment run happens. Getting into the right run is worth more than any fee, and every business that pays slowly has a day of the month on which it pays.
What this calculator assumes
- A late fee is only collectable if it was in the contract or on the invoice before the invoice went late. A fee that first appears in a reminder email is not enforceable anywhere.
- 1.5 percent a month is 18 percent a year and is the common trade figure, but states cap this. Several cap it below 18 for consumer work, and a rate over the cap can void the whole fee clause, not just the excess.
- Interest here is simple, charged pro rata by day. Compounding monthly is legal in some states and not others, so the simple figure is the safe one to put on paper.
Questions people ask
What is the late fee on a $1,500 invoice at 30 days?
$22.50 at 1.5 percent a month, making $1,522.50 due and 75 cents a day after that.
Why do invoices sit unpaid without anyone disputing them?
Usually because they are waiting on an approval. The person who hired you often cannot release payment, so the invoice sits until somebody signs it.
What should I ask when an invoice goes past due?
Who approves it, what they need in order to approve it, and which day of the month payments run. Getting into the next run beats arguing about interest.
The late fee calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.