Wholesale accounts paying late? You are a roaster, not a bank.

What it looks like on a normal day

You are a roaster with café accounts. Or a shop that services other businesses. Or a distributor. Same pain.

The coffee went out weeks ago. The invoice went out with it, or a few days after, when you got to it. Then nothing. The café is still ordering, still texting "same as last week," and still not paying the last three.

You do not want to be the person who nags. They are a good account. The owner is nice. So the reminder sits in your drafts for a week. When you finally send it, you soften it so much it does not sound like a request.

Meanwhile you are paying for green coffee, bags, labels and your own people on time, because your suppliers do not wait. You are carrying the float for your customers. That is what a bank does, and nobody is paying you for it.

Month end comes. You open the spreadsheet to work out who owes what. It takes an evening. Two accounts you thought were current are not. One paid, but for the wrong invoice.

What it costs you

We will not put a number on it. Your books are yours, and the honest answer depends on your terms and your accounts. But you can feel the costs:

• Cash you already earned, sitting in someone else's account. Every late invoice is coffee you have paid for twice: once to buy it, once to wait for it.
• The evening. The monthly "who owes what" session. The reminders written one by one.
• The awkwardness. Chasing money strains a good relationship. Not chasing it strains your business.
• Errors. Payments matched to the wrong invoice. Credits nobody logged. An account that quietly slides from net 30 to net 60 because nobody noticed.

Most tools built for roasters will make an invoice. Few will follow it up. That is the part we build.

What fixing it looks like

The goal is simple. Every account knows what they owe, gets reminded without you writing a word, and can pay in one tap. You see one list of who is current and who is not.

What we would build for you:

1. One accounts list. Every wholesale customer, their terms, their open invoices, and the days outstanding. Read it in ten seconds, not an evening.
2. Reminders that go out on schedule, from you. A friendly note before the due date. A clear one on the due date. A firmer one after. Written in your voice, sent from your own email or number, on the days you choose.
3. A pay link on every invoice. Card or bank transfer, so "I will get to it" becomes "done."
4. Payments matched to the right invoice. When money comes in, the list updates. No more guessing which one they paid.
5. A nudge to you, not to them, when it matters. An account passes the line you set, and you get a note before the next order goes out. You decide what to do. The system never holds a delivery without you.
6. Plain monthly numbers. What was invoiced, what was paid, what is still out, in one short note.

If you sell on Shopify, it already offers trade ordering with terms, and we build around that rather than replacing it. If your invoices come from somewhere else, tell us what you use.

See also wholesale and distribution, and how we build the reminder side on automations. If your accounts need a place to see their own history, that is a custom tool.

Proof

We have not built this for a client yet. We would rather say that plainly than borrow proof from somewhere else.

What we have built nearby: for Barista Plus Coffee, a Dallas roaster, we built the online store and the wholesale enquiry form that starts a trade relationship. That store has not opened to the public yet, so there are no accounts on terms to show you.

The reminder-and-approval pattern is one we use inside our own company. Nothing goes out from Buzzy without an approval card first, and we would build your reminders the same way: you see them before your customers do, until you trust them to run alone.

Honest limits

• We can make sure every reminder goes out on time, in your voice, with a pay link. We cannot make an account pay. Whether you get paid faster depends on your accounts and your terms, and we will not promise a number.
• Late fees, interest, and what your terms should say are between you and your accountant or lawyer. We will put your terms on the invoice. We will not write them.
• Holding a delivery over an unpaid invoice is always your decision, made by you, that day. We flag. We do not block.
• This has not shipped for a client. Ask on the call and we will tell you where the pattern has and has not been proven.

Questions people ask

Roaster? See what we build for coffee roasters.