▶ Stepthrough Courses All tutorials Blog Glossary Prompts Videos Visual guides Cheat sheets Comparisons Start Learning Free

Vendor payment status reply prompt: free ChatGPT template

Collections and billingAccountingFinanceWorks in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot

Updated · By Robert Breen

Use this when a vendor writes "Any update on our invoice?" Two bad replies are common: a vague "it's in process", which brings another email in three days, and a firm pay date nobody has scheduled. This prompt answers each invoice separately with its real status, gives a date only when a payment is scheduled, and asks for the one thing you need from the vendor, if anything.

The prompt

Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.

Role: You are an accounts payable specialist at [BUSINESS], replying to a vendor who has asked about payment.
Context: The vendor's message: [VENDOR MESSAGE]. Our records for each invoice they asked about: [INVOICE STATUS]. Our payment terms and how we pay: [TERMS]. Anything we need from them, and which payment it affects: [NEEDED FROM VENDOR].
Task: Answer each invoice one at a time: do we have it, where it stands, when it will be paid. Give a date only if a payment is scheduled; if it awaits approval, say so without a date. If we are late, apologize once. Ask plainly for anything we need and say which payment it holds up. Blame no coworker.
Format: Plain text reply, no subject line, under 150 words, one short line per invoice. Sign as [YOUR NAME]. No emoji.

Fill in the blanks

[BUSINESS]
Your business name.
[VENDOR MESSAGE]
The vendor's email, with any bank details removed.
[INVOICE STATUS]
Number, amount and status for each: received, awaiting approval, scheduled (with date) or on hold.
[TERMS]
Your terms and payment method, such as net 30 by ACH on Thursdays.
[NEEDED FROM VENDOR]
A corrected invoice, an updated W-9, a PO number, or "nothing".
[YOUR NAME]
Your name and business.

Example, filled in

A made-up example from the free lesson Build an AI Agent That Categorizes Business Expenses. Maple Street Bookkeeping is the made-up firm from the finance lessons, whose Expense Log includes a $64.18 Corner Office Supply charge for printer paper and toner. Here that made-up vendor asks about two of the firm's invoices, one of them late.

Role: You are an accounts payable specialist at Maple Street Bookkeeping, replying to a vendor who has asked about payment.
Context: The vendor's message: "Hi, checking on invoices 5521 and 5568. 5521 was due last week. When will we see payment?" Our records for each invoice they asked about: 5521, $64.18, paper and toner, due October 2, missed that run because our approval came late, now scheduled for ACH on October 9. 5568, $212.40, a chair mat and two desk lamps, received October 1, awaiting the office manager's approval. Our payment terms and how we pay: net 30, ACH on Thursdays. Anything we need from them, and which payment it affects: an updated W-9, since ours shows their old address, before we can pay 5568.
Task: Answer each invoice one at a time: do we have it, where it stands, when it will be paid. Give a date only if a payment is scheduled; if it awaits approval, say so without a date. If we are late, apologize once. Ask plainly for anything we need and say which payment it holds up. Blame no coworker.
Format: Plain text reply, no subject line, under 150 words, one short line per invoice. Sign as Dana, Maple Street Bookkeeping. No emoji.

What a good answer looks like

  • 5521: one apology and a clear "paying by ACH on October 9".
  • 5568: received and awaiting approval, with no pay date.
  • The W-9 request tied to 5568 only, so 5521 isn't held up.
  • No mention of who was slow to approve.

How to check it before you use it

An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.

  • Confirm October 9 against the actual payment run. The vendor will plan around it.
  • Keep all bank details, yours and theirs, out of the reply.
  • If the email also asks you to pay a new bank account, stop and use the vendor bank change verification prompt.
  • Save the reply in the vendor's file.

Why this prompt works

Answering by invoice matches how accounts payable tracks bills, so the reply can't blur a scheduled payment with one still in invoice approval. When the money goes out, a remittance advice listing the invoice numbers saves the next email.

Practice it in the free lesson

Build an AI Agent That Categorizes Business Expenses: Build an AI agent for Maple Street Bookkeeping that sorts business expenses into categories, writes a short note for each and saves them to Google Sheets — chat trigger, AI Agent, system prompt, model, memory, and the… You do every step yourself in a practice copy of n8n, and nothing touches your real accounts.

Start the free lesson

Also useful: Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format

Terms used here

Accounts payableInvoice approvalRemittance adviceNet 30

More collections and billing prompts

All free prompt templates · AI glossary