A step-by-step guide to the European order for payment procedure: who can use it, which court to file with, the 30-day objection window, and how to enforce the order in 26 EU countries.
You delivered the work. You shipped the goods. The invoice is 90 days overdue, and your client is in another country. They stopped responding. Here is what actually changes once the debt crosses a border — and what to do next.
Germany: 3 years. UK: 6 years. UAE: 15 years. Once the limitation period expires, your claim is unenforceable. A 58-second animated briefing with the real deadlines by country.
Germany pays net 30 + 8 days late. Italy agrees net 60, pays 48 days beyond that. China: add 55 days to whatever you agreed. The real payment behaviour data, country by country.
The cheapest debt is the one you never extend. A domestic credit check takes minutes. An international one requires different data sources, different risk signals, and different benchmarks — because the absence of negative information is not the same as a clean bill of health. This briefing covers the five data points with the highest predictive value, the red flags to spot before signing, and how to set a credit limit that reflects actual risk.
DSO is not an abstract finance metric — it is the number of days your business waits to turn a completed sale into usable cash. Every day it sits above your sector benchmark, you are financing your customers' operations with your own working capital. This briefing explains the formula, maps DSO against industry benchmarks and country norms, and identifies the levers that actually reduce it.
You've placed the call. Hired the agency. Now you're staring at your inbox wondering when the money arrives. The honest answer is that it depends on the debtor's country, whether amicable recovery works, and how old the invoice was when you placed it. This briefing walks through the real timeline in sixty-two seconds, country by country and phase by phase.
You've decided your overseas unpaid invoice is worth chasing. Good. Now the question is what it actually costs. This briefing lays out the real math — write-off, DIY, or specialist agency — with actual dollar figures.