Automating Subscription Payment Reminders with n8n and Lemon Squeezy

Key Takeaways

• Separate event routing from the delayed reminder step.
• Keep credentials and webhook signing secrets outside exported workflow JSON.
• Test failure, recovery, and success events independently.
• Verify webhook authenticity before relying on external payment events in production.

Failed subscription payments can create support work and lost revenue. This template turns payment events into a structured follow-up process without mixing credentials or customer data into the exported workflow.

Workflow Architecture

[ Lemon Squeezy Webhook ]
            |
            v
[ Normalize Event Data ]
            |
            v
[ Route Payment Event ]
       /       |       \
   Failed   Recovered  Success
      |         |          |
      v         v          v
[Wait 3 Days] [Log]      [Log]
      |
      v
[Send Gmail Reminder]
      |
      v
[Log Reminder in Sheets]

Template Inputs & Configuration

• subscription_payment_failed — failure event that enters the reminder path.
• subscription_payment_recovered — recovery event that is logged without the failure reminder.
• subscription_payment_success — successful payment event that is logged.
• Gmail credential — used only by the reminder email node.
• Google Sheets credential — used by the logging nodes.
• Invoice Reminders — spreadsheet sheet used for event tracking.

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Import the workflow

Open the n8n workflow and export it from n8n. Import the JSON into your own n8n instance, then reconnect your credentials.

2. Configure Lemon Squeezy

Create the webhook in your Lemon Squeezy account and point it to your own n8n webhook endpoint. Select the payment events required by your workflow. Keep the signing secret private.

3. Configure Google Sheets

Create or select a private spreadsheet and an Invoice Reminders sheet. Map the fields used by the imported logging nodes and verify that your credential has the required access.

4. Configure Gmail

Connect your Gmail credential to the reminder node and review the recipient, subject, and message before enabling production traffic.

5. Review the delay

The documented template waits three days after a payment-failure event. Choose a delay that matches your business policy and test it before production.

Test the Template

Payment failure

Send a test subscription_payment_failed event. Expected path: normalize → failure route → three-day wait → Gmail reminder → Google Sheets log.

Payment recovery

Send a test subscription_payment_recovered event. Expected path: normalize → recovery route → Google Sheets log, with no failure reminder.

Payment success

Send a test subscription_payment_success event. Expected path: normalize → success route → Google Sheets log.

Download & Import

Sanitized workflow: the exported package should contain no Lemon Squeezy signing secret, Gmail token, Google credential, or private spreadsheet identifier.

Open the n8n workflow, then use n8n’s export/download option to save the JSON package.

1. Import the JSON into your n8n instance.
2. Reconnect Gmail and Google Sheets credentials.
3. Replace the spreadsheet/document reference with your own.
4. Confirm the Invoice Reminders sheet and mappings.
5. Run the failure, recovery, and success tests.

Troubleshooting

• Webhook receives nothing: verify the endpoint, selected Lemon Squeezy events, and test-mode configuration.
• Failure routes incorrectly: inspect the normalized event name before the routing node.
• No reminder arrives: check the Gmail credential, recipient, delay node, and execution history.
• No log row appears: verify the Google Sheets credential, document, sheet name, and field mappings.
• Duplicate reminders: add a stable event/subscription identifier and deduplication check before sending production emails.

Security Notes

• Never publish the Lemon Squeezy signing secret.
• Keep Gmail and Google credentials inside n8n Credentials.
• Use test-mode events before customer-facing production email.
• Verify webhook signatures before treating external requests as authenticated in production.
• Restrict spreadsheet access to the people who need payment information.

Extend the Template

After the base workflow is verified, you can add CRM updates, support alerts, account-access changes, internal notifications, or analytics. Test each extension independently so a failed integration does not accidentally trigger customer-facing payment messages.

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