{"id":71283,"date":"2026-07-20T09:32:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T07:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/?p=71283"},"modified":"2026-07-20T09:38:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T07:38:21","slug":"payment-on-due-date-best-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/blog\/payment-on-due-date-best-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Payment on due date: best practices for getting paid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Payment on due date: a cash flow risk that the law regulates, without eliminating it<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In France, payment terms between businesses are regulated. The Economic Modernization Act<\/a> (LME) sets a default payment period of 30 days from receipt of the goods or completion of the service, and a contractual limit of 60 days net from the invoice date or 45 days from the end of the month if this term is specified in the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a legal framework alone is not enough to ensure timely payment. As of early 2026, the average payment delay between businesses stood at 18.9 days, its highest level in twelve years, compared with 17.3 days a year earlier\u00b9. The Banque de France estimates that if large companies paid their suppliers on time, SMEs would have recovered 13 billion euros in cash flow in 2024 alone\u00b2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every day a payment is late effectively amounts to a free line of credit extended to the customer. For a finance department, the issue is therefore not just a matter of knowing its rights in the event of nonpayment, but of designing a process that automatically reduces the risk of late payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Choosing the right payment methods to ensure payment on due date<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first factor in transforming the due date payment cycle is the choice of payment methods offered to the customer. These directly influence the likelihood that an invoice will be paid on the scheduled date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bank transfers remain the standard in B2B transactions, but they depend entirely on the payer\u2019s initiative: there is nothing to prevent a customer from delaying the transfer by a few days, whether intentionally or simply by oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Pay by Bank, the merchant takes the initiative: they initiate a pre-filled transfer, which the customer simply needs to confirm through their online banking portal. It\u2019s a reliable alternative that ensures payment is made on time without depending on the payer\u2019s goodwill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For one-time payments, a credit card payment link<\/a> sent directly when the payment is due reduces friction: the customer can pay in just a few clicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another option for recurring subscriptions (SaaS, service contracts) is the SEPA direct debit, which is particularly well-suited for monthly payments that are known in advance and recur every month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This variety of payment methods makes it possible to tailor the payment channel to the customer’s profile rather than imposing a single method on the entire customer base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What are the most suitable methods for due date payments? \u2192<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Switching from a passive to an active payment on due date<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of the payment methods selected, the key is to automate the tracking of due dates rather than discovering a late payment only when reconciling bank statements. In practical terms, this means identifying every invoice that has reached its due date as early as the day after the scheduled due date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most advanced companies segment their customer base based on payment profiles (history, amount, industry) and trigger tailored collection scenarios, for example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n