In Morocco, the average payment time between companies is well beyond the legal limits, and every day of delay weighs on a small company's cash. Chasing is essential, but chasing badly loses the customer. Here is the sequence we apply, and what an AI agent can take on.
Key point
- Why invoices are paid late
- The sequence, in five steps
- Writing in French and in Arabic
- What an AI agent can do, and what it must not do
Why invoices are paid late
Rarely out of bad faith. Most often the invoice did not reach the right person, a required mention is missing and blocks the customer's accounting, the purchase order was not matched, or the customer is themselves waiting to be paid. Chasing means clearing those obstacles first, not demanding.
Law 69-21 on payment terms, in force since 2023, sets a default of 60 days, 120 days maximum by agreement, and a late-payment indemnity owed by the debtor. It gives a framework, but a small business cannot build its customer relationships on penalties. It needs a method.
The sequence, in five steps
| When | Channel | Tone | Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 days before due date | Service | A courteous reminder of the due date, invoice attached, payment details (CMI, bank transfer). | |
| Day 3 | Neutral | A short message: “Your invoice no. … was due on … Could you confirm the payment date?” | |
| Day 10 | Phone | Personal | A call to your usual contact. The goal: identify the real blocker (invoice, purchase order, cash). |
| Day 20 | Email + WhatsApp | Firm | A written recap, a reminder of the contractual terms and the late-payment indemnity, an instalment plan offered. |
| Day 30 | Letter | Formal | Formal notice. New orders suspended until the account is settled. |
Writing in French and in Arabic
In Morocco, the manager of a customer company answers on WhatsApp, often in Darija or Arabic, sometimes mixing the two. A reminder in administrative French can go unanswered where a polite, direct message in Arabic gets you a date. The right reflex: write in your contact's language, with the formal register in French and the customary forms in Arabic. Two versions of every message, not one.
What an AI agent can do, and what it must not do
- It can send the day-minus-five and day-three reminders automatically, in the customer's language, with the payment link, and record the answers.
- It can spot customers who do not reply and flag them to a human instead of insisting.
- It can offer a standard instalment plan if the customer asks for more time, and submit it for approval.
- It must not call, threaten, or send a formal notice: those steps commit the relationship and stay human.
The three figures to track every week
- 1Average payment time (DSO): the number of days between invoice and payment. It is the indicator that sums everything up.
- 2The amount overdue by more than 30 days, per customer. Three customers often concentrate 70% of the delay.
- 3The rate of disputed invoices: above 5%, the problem is in your invoices, not with your customers.
A small business that applies this sequence consistently, in French and in Arabic, sees its average payment time fall within a few months without losing a customer. The gain does not come from firmness, but from consistency.
Where Cosensible fits in
Conseilor
is the sales assistant for online shops: it answers your buyers from your real catalogue, in English, French and Darija alike, fills the basket and hands you the order. It cannot invent a price.
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