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Before you file, build the packet.

Small claims court is the last step, not the next one. What decides most unpaid invoice cases is not courtroom skill. It is whether the delivery, the acceptance, the invoice, and the final demand sit in one complete packet a stranger can follow in minutes. This page is general information, not legal advice. Here is the work to do before filing, in order, so a filing, if it comes, is built on the record and not on frustration.

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Updated October 24, 2026. The two delivery records quoted below are real and public, with their client decision states read back from the live service on publication day.

Step 1. Confirm the debt is settled on the record

Before anything else, check the four points your claim stands on: the work was agreed in writing, it was delivered, the client accepted it or used it, and the invoice with its amount and due date is unpaid. The record format is AER-1, published as an IETF Internet-Draft (draft-zambo-aer1-26), and each step carries a verifiable receipt: a receipt proves the saved result was not changed since it was saved. The two public records below show the states a delivery can sit in. An accepted record is the strong base for a claim. A record still pending a decision means get the acceptance question answered first, in writing, because filing over an undecided delivery hands the client their defence.

Step 2. Answer any open dispute on the record first

If the client has raised a real dispute about the work or the amount, deal with it before filing, in writing, from the record: what was agreed, what was delivered, where the delivery matches the agreement. Some disputes collapse at this step once the client reads their own acceptance. Some narrow to one item, and a claim for the undisputed rest is cleaner than a claim for everything. Filing while a stated dispute sits unanswered makes you look rushed, and it gives the hearing two arguments to sort instead of one. Close the dispute question first, even if the client never replies: your written answer, sent and saved, becomes part of the packet.

Accepted: the decision is on the record

Pending: checked, and still waiting on a decision

The accepted record is the centre of a filing packet. The pending record is the warning sign: a delivery still waiting on a client decision needs that decision chased in writing first, because it is the fact the whole claim is built on.

Step 3. Send one final demand, with a pay by date

The final demand is the most useful letter in the whole sequence, because a large share of unpaid invoices get paid at exactly this point, when the client sees a complete packet and a real deadline. Keep it to one page: the work, the delivery and acceptance dates, the invoice and balance, the pay by date, and the plain statement that you will file if it is not paid. Attach or link the delivery record. Offer the honest offramps in the same letter: payment in full, or a written payment plan agreed by that date, with the first part paid on agreement. Send it in a form you can prove was sent, and file the proof with the packet.

Step 4. Build the before filing packet in date order

Assemble everything into one packet, in the order it happened: agreement, delivery record, acceptance, invoice, part payments credited, reminders, client replies, and the final demand with its proof of sending. Read it once as a stranger would. Every claim you make should point at a page in the packet, and no page should need your narration to make sense. If a gap shows up, a missing due date, an acceptance you only remember from a call, fill it now if you honestly can, in writing to the client, and note the date you did it. A packet built calmly at home beats a story assembled the night before a hearing, every time.

Step 5. Check the practical basics from the court itself

Rules, limits, fees, forms, deadlines, and where a claim has to be filed vary by place, and they change. Read them from your own court or its official site, not from a forum post, and write down what you find with the date you checked it. The usual questions: is your amount inside the court limit, what is the filing fee, which court covers the client, what identification and copies are needed, and how much time you have to file. This page is general information, not legal advice, and it cannot answer those questions for your case. For a large balance or anything unusual, a short consultation with a local lawyer or a local advice service is money spent before, not after, a mistake.

Step 6. Decide with the full cost in view, then act once

Put the balance next to the honest totals: the fee, your hours, and the separate question of collecting after a decision in your favour. Sometimes the right call is a written settlement or a payment plan. Sometimes it is filing, promptly and completely. What rarely helps is drifting: repeated informal chasing after a final demand has expired teaches the client that deadlines move. When your pay by date passes without payment or an agreed plan, do what the letter said, or formally extend it once in writing with a new date. Either way, keep every step after this point in writing and in the packet, so the record that got you here stays the record that carries the case.

What a record does not settle

A verifiable receipt proves the saved result was not changed since it was saved; it does not prove you will win a case, does not replace a court rule or a filing deadline, and cannot collect a balance a client refuses to pay. This page is general information, not legal advice. Court limits, fees, forms, and deadlines vary by place: check yours with the court itself, and get local legal advice for anything large or unusual.

Frequently asked questions

What should I do before I take a client to small claims court over an unpaid invoice?

Build the before filing packet first, and send a final written demand built on it. This page is general information, not legal advice. Before filing: confirm the debt is settled on the record, meaning the work was delivered, the client accepted it or used it, the invoice states the amount and due date, and the balance is still unpaid. Then send one final demand in writing with the amount, the invoice, the delivery and acceptance record, a clear pay by date, and a plain statement that you will file if it is not paid. Gather the packet in one place: the agreement, the delivery record, the acceptance, the invoice, every payment reminder, and any part payments. Check the practical basics for your own court, its limit, fees, forms, and where a case has to be filed, from the court itself. A case filed from a complete packet is a short story anyone can follow. A case filed from scattered chat has to be rebuilt under pressure.

What goes into the packet I take to small claims court?

Everything that proves the four points, in date order, with nothing extra. The agreement or the written messages that set the work and price. The delivery record showing what was delivered and when. The acceptance, or clear proof the client received and used the work. The invoice with its amount, due date, and any part payments credited. And the written trail after: reminders, the client replies, your final demand, and its pay by date. Print or save it as one packet a stranger could read in five minutes. If a point cannot be shown in the packet, that is the point to strengthen before you file, not during the hearing.

How do I write the final demand before filing?

Short, factual, and complete in one message or letter. Name the work, the delivery date, the acceptance, the invoice number and amount, what has been paid, and the exact balance. Attach or link the delivery record. Set one clear pay by date, and state plainly that if the balance is not paid by that date you will file a claim for it. Offer the working offramps in the same message: pay in full, or agree a written payment plan by that date. Send it in a form you can prove was sent, and keep the proof with the packet. Do not add threats you will not carry out, insults, or new claims. A calm final demand often gets paid, and when it does not, it becomes a strong page in the packet.

Should I file, settle, or use a payment plan instead?

Compare the balance against the real cost of filing: the fee, your time, and the chance of collecting after a decision, which are separate questions. A written payment plan with a first part paid today can be worth more than a larger claim that takes months. A settlement, meaning a reduced amount accepted as full payment, should be confirmed in writing before any money moves, stating that it settles this invoice in full. If the client disputes the work itself, answer that dispute on the record first, because a plan or a settlement built over an open dispute rarely holds. Whatever you choose, choose it in writing, keep the packet, and keep every later step in the same thread.

How does a delivery record help before I file anything?

It turns the centre of the packet from your word into a checkable record: the steps that ran, the saved results, and the client acceptance with its date, behind one link a court clerk, a mediator, or the client can open without an account. When the work runs through Zambo, every step carries a verifiable receipt under AER-1, published as IETF Internet-Draft draft-zambo-aer1-26, and new users get 20 free calls per day, then they upgrade when the job needs more. For $0.99, run the next job that way: get the Day Pass. A Day Pass covers 24 hours. Ongoing use is the Zambo Pass at $29 for 30 days (one payment) or $290 for 365 days, and $19 for 30 days for $ZAMBO holders, which adds private handover links, your branding, and the approval record as PDF and JSON files.

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