Your French customer received the goods, your team completed the service, and the invoice has now sat unpaid for two months while reminders go unanswered. For a foreign company selling into France, or a foreign founder running a French SAS (société par actions simplifiée, the flexible joint-stock company most overseas founders choose) or a SARL (société à responsabilité limitée, the limited-liability company with stricter statutory rules), this silence is stressful but it is not the end of the story. French law gives business creditors a fast paper procedure called the injonction de payer, the order-for-payment procedure, which lets a judge order the debtor to pay on the strength of documents alone, without a hearing and without the creditor travelling to France.

This guide walks a business reader through the complete path from the first formal demand to money in the account: how to set payment terms and penalty interest so they run automatically, what the formal demand letter (the mise en demeure, the written notice telling the debtor that payment is overdue and that legal consequences now run) must contain, how to file the payment-order request from abroad with the right court registry (the greffe, the clerk office of the court), what happens when the debtor objects within the one-month deadline, and how you seize a French bank account or use the European payment order across borders. Every French term is explained on first use. Every decisive rule is tied to the exact statute or ruling that states it, quoted word for word. If you are still setting up the French vehicle itself, start with our pillar guide to setting up a company in France as a foreign founder, which covers the bank account, the Kbis (the official company identity extract issued by the greffe) and VAT registration before the first invoice goes out.

I. How do you turn an unpaid French invoice into an enforceable payment order from abroad?

French business debt collection follows a fixed ladder: a compliant invoice with a lawful payment term, a formal demand that starts interest and documents the file, then a one-sided application (the requête, the written request to the judge) that produces a payment order in a matter of weeks. Foreign creditors lose time at each rung for avoidable reasons: a payment term the contract could never impose, a demand letter that forgets a mandatory mention, or an application sent to the wrong court with an incomplete bundle. This first part climbs the first two rungs so the third one holds.

A. What must your formal notice and invoice file contain to trigger penalties?

Start with the payment deadline itself, because many foreign suppliers discover too late that French law caps what the contract may stipulate. Article L441-10 of the Commercial Code provides that “le délai de règlement des sommes dues ne peut dépasser trente jours après la date de réception des marchandises ou d’exécution de la prestation demandée”. Where the parties agree a term, the same article caps it in these terms: “Le délai convenu entre les parties pour régler les sommes dues ne peut dépasser soixante jours après la date d’émission de la facture”. A longer alternative of forty-five days end of month is possible only if it is expressly written into the contract and does not amount to a manifest abuse toward the creditor. A clause giving the customer ninety or one hundred and twenty days is simply unenforceable, and your demand should rely on the statutory ceiling instead. The article stood in force on 13 September 2026 with a deferred repeal flagged for 1 January 2027, so check the version applicable on your filing date, but the thirty and sixty-day architecture has governed French business payments for years and underpins every penalty computation below.

The starting point of the clock matters as much as its length. Courts compute the period from performance and invoicing, not from the customer’s internal validation circuit. In a dispute between a law firm and its business client, the Second Civil Chamber of the Cour de cassation held that “il résulte de l’application combinée de ces textes que, dans les rapports entre un avocat et son client professionnel, le délai de règlement de trente jours des sommes dues, visé au second de ces textes, court à compter de la date à laquelle l’avocat a délivré la facture au client comme il est tenu de le faire dès la réalisation de la prestation de services” (Cass., 2nd Civil Chamber, 3 May 2018, No. 17-13.167). The case concerned lawyers, but the reasoning illustrates the general discipline: once the service is performed and the invoice is delivered, the debtor cannot restart the clock by adding internal approval steps. For a foreign supplier, the lesson is practical. Date your invoices on real performance, deliver them provably by email with read receipt or through a platform that logs transmission, and keep the delivery slips, acceptance emails and timesheets that prove when the goods arrived or the service went live.

Once the deadline has passed, the money produces penalties automatically, and your formal demand is what documents them for the judge. Article L441-10, II of the Commercial Code requires your payment conditions to state “les conditions d’application et le taux d’intérêt des pénalités de retard exigibles le jour suivant la date de règlement figurant sur la facture”. Unless your contract sets a different rate, which cannot be lower than three times the legal interest rate, “ce taux est égal au taux d’intérêt appliqué par la Banque centrale européenne à son opération de refinancement la plus récente majoré de 10 points de pourcentage”. The article adds two sentences foreign creditors should read twice: “Les pénalités de retard sont exigibles sans qu’un rappel soit nécessaire.” Penalties run the day after the due date shown on the invoice, even if you have not yet sent a reminder. And the professional debtor owes a fixed recovery fee by operation of law: “Tout professionnel en situation de retard de paiement est de plein droit débiteur, à l’égard du créancier, d’une indemnité forfaitaire pour frais de recouvrement, dont le montant est fixé par décret.” The decree sets that figure plainly: Article D441-5 of the Commercial Code states that “Le montant de l’indemnité forfaitaire pour frais de recouvrement prévue au II de l’article L. 441-10 est fixé à 40 euros.” Where your real collection costs exceed that sum, the statute lets you claim a supplement on proof.

Your mise en demeure should therefore do four jobs in one letter: identify each unpaid invoice by number, date and amount, recall the contractual or statutory due date, compute penalties at the European Central Bank rate plus ten points plus the forty-euro fee, and set a final deadline, typically eight to fifteen days, before court action. Send it by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt or by a commissaire de justice (the enforcement officer who serves formal notices, formerly called huissier de justice), because the signed receipt proves the date from which the debtor can no longer claim ignorance. Attach the computation sheet line by line so the judge later sees a creditor who applied the statute rather than inventing a number. Keep every exhibit in its original language plus a certified French translation, since proceedings are conducted in French and a foreign-language invoice without translation slows the file. This bundle, invoice plus contract plus delivery proof plus demand plus computation, becomes the documentary core of the payment-order request.

B. How do you file the payment-order request with the right French court?

The order-for-payment procedure is available only for defined claims, and the first control is eligibility. Article 1405 of the Code of Civil Procedure states that “Le recouvrement d’une créance peut être demandé suivant la procédure d’injonction de payer lorsque : 1° La créance a une cause contractuelle ou résulte d’une obligation de caractère statutaire et s’élève à un montant déterminé”. An unpaid invoice for delivered goods or performed services fits squarely: the cause is the contract, the amount is fixed by the invoice plus penalties computed under the statute. Claims that need a judge to assess damages, unliquidated tort claims or claims requiring witness evidence belong in ordinary proceedings, not here. Interest and penalties determined by statutory formula count as determined amounts when your computation sheet shows the arithmetic, which is why the work done at the demand stage pays off directly at filing.

The request itself is a paper file, and completeness decides speed. Article 1407 of the Code of Civil Procedure requires that “la requête contient l’indication précise du montant de la somme réclamée avec le décompte des différents éléments de la créance, le fondement de celle-ci ainsi que le bordereau des documents justificatifs produits à l’appui de la requête.” In practice the greffe expects the principal per invoice, the penalty interest per period with the European Central Bank reference rate, the forty-euro fee per invoice, the contractual basis, and a numbered list of exhibits with the documents attached. File with the court of the debtor’s domicile: the commercial court (tribunal de commerce) for a business debtor, the judicial court (tribunal judiciaire) or the local proximity chamber for a non-commercial debtor, depending on amount and nature. A request sent to the creditor’s home court abroad or to the wrong French court comes back with a rejection stamp and lost weeks, so verify the debtor’s registered office on the RCS (the Registre du commerce et des sociétés, the French company register) and match it to the competent district before filing.

Running the filing from abroad is routine if representation is organized early. You act through a French avocat, who files at the greffe in French and answers the judge’s questions for further documents. Where a non-lawyer agent files for you, the rule is strict: Article 1415 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that “Le mandataire, s’il n’est avocat, doit justifier d’un pouvoir spécial.” A general company power of attorney is not enough; the agent needs a specific authority for this case. Budget for sworn translation of foreign-language contracts and correspondence, and brief counsel with a chronological bundle in English plus source documents so the firm can present dates, amounts and delivery events without gaps. The judge rules without a hearing, either granting the order for all or part of the sum or rejecting the request. Rejection does not end the case; it simply sends you to ordinary proceedings, and the documents already assembled transfer directly.

Once the order is granted, service is the step foreign creditors most often underestimate. Article 1411 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that “L’ordonnance portant injonction de payer est non avenue si elle n’a pas été signifiée dans les trois mois de sa date.” The order lapses if it is not formally served within three months of its date. Service is performed by a commissaire de justice at the debtor’s address, with the supporting documents made available electronically under current rules. Diarise that three-month deadline on the day you receive the order, instruct the commissaire immediately, and confirm the report of service (the procès-verbal de signification) shows the exact date, address and recipient. An order served late is void, and the whole application must be restarted, with penalties still running but months lost and a second filing fee to pay.

II. How do you collect the money when the debtor stays silent or fights back?

Service starts a one-month fork in the road. If the debtor stays silent, the order becomes enforceable and you seize. If the debtor objects, the case converts to a full adversarial trial where your paper file meets live defences. Foreign creditors win both branches when they prepare for opposition from day one, keep the limitation clock in view, and know which enforcement tool reaches a French bank balance fastest. This second part covers the fight and the collection.

A. What happens if the debtor files opposition within one month?

Opposition is the debtor’s only move against the order, and it is tightly framed. Article 1416 of the Code of Civil Procedure states that “L’opposition est formée dans le mois qui suit la signification de l’ordonnance.” The debtor has one month from formal service to object at the greffe, by declaration or registered letter. Only the debtor can use that door. The Cour de cassation has held that “Attendu que seul le débiteur peut former opposition à l’ordonnance lui faisant injonction de payer ;” (Cass., 2nd Civil Chamber, 4 March 2004, No. 02-12.723). In that case a spouse who was not party to the order tried to object, and the Court declared the step inadmissible. For a foreign creditor this clarity helps: a parent company, a group entity or a business partner cannot object in the debtor’s place, and an objection signed by an unidentified third party can be challenged on standing.

Once a valid opposition is filed, the one-sided procedure ends and the court hears both sides in ordinary adversarial proceedings. Expect four standard defences: payment already made, defective goods or incomplete service, set-off against a counterclaim, or excessive penalties. Your preparation should pre-empt each one with documents rather than assertions. Bank statements showing no matching credit answer the payment claim. Signed delivery slips, acceptance emails and post-delivery correspondence showing continued business without protest answer the quality claim. A penalty computation sheet tied line by line to the statute answers the excess claim. Where the debtor raised quality in writing at delivery, the judge may order expert evidence or keep the case in full proceedings, and settlement often becomes the rational outcome. Where the debtor simply ignored proper invoices, judges enforce the file strictly, and an unprotested invoice thread is very hard to challenge late.

Costs and limitation give both sides reasons to weigh settlement at this stage. On costs, the Cour de cassation has ruled that “Mais attendu que les dépens de l’instance sur opposition à injonction de payer comprennent l’ensemble des frais de la procédure d’injonction de payer ;” (Cass., 2nd Civil Chamber, 14 April 2016, No. 14-24.346). The losing debtor pays not only the trial costs but the whole payment-order phase, before and after the objection. On limitation, creditors must stay diligent after objecting or after the debtor objects. The Court has held that “Aux termes de l’article 2243 du code civil, l’interruption de la prescription est non avenue si le demandeur se désiste de sa demande ou laisse périmer l’instance ou si sa demande est définitivement rejetée.” It drew the direct consequence for this procedure: “Il en résulte que lorsque l’instance sur opposition à une ordonnance portant injonction de payer est déclarée éteinte en application de l’article 1419 du code de procédure civile, faute pour le créancier d’avoir constitué avocat dans le délai requis, l’interruption de la prescription résultant de la signification de l’ordonnance portant injonction de payer est non avenue.” (Cass., 2nd Civil Chamber, 19 November 2020, No. 19-20.238). In plain terms, if you let the opposed case lapse by missing the lawyer-appointment deadline, you lose the limitation benefit the service had given you. Instruct counsel to calendar every post-opposition deadline on receipt, and treat the opposed hearing as the main event rather than an administrative sequel.

Practical management from abroad follows from these rules. Centralize the file with one French firm, keep originals available for translation, and authorize counsel to negotiate within a written range before the first opposed hearing. Most opposed payment orders settle at or just after that hearing, because the debtor has now seen the complete documentary file, faces European Central Bank plus ten points accruing daily plus the forty-euro fee and costs, and understands that losing means paying enforcement costs too. A settlement protocol signed at that stage, ideally approved by the judge so it becomes enforceable, gives you an enforceable title on agreed terms without waiting for judgment. Where settlement fails, the judgment that follows is appealable under ordinary rules, and your counsel converts it into seizure exactly as described below.

B. How do you seize the debtor’s bank account and enforce across borders?

Silence is the faster branch. If no opposition arrives within the month, you ask the greffe for the enforceable formula (the formule exécutoire, the wording that turns the order into a title the enforcement officer can execute), then instruct a commissaire de justice to enforce. The workhorse for invoice debt is the seizure of money claims in the hands of a third party, the saisie-attribution, which freezes and then transfers the debtor’s bank balance to you. Article L211-1 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures states that “Tout créancier muni d’un titre exécutoire constatant une créance liquide et exigible peut, pour en obtenir le paiement, saisir entre les mains d’un tiers les créances de son débiteur portant sur une somme d’argent”. A final payment order with the enforceable formula is exactly such a title for a liquid and due sum. The commissaire serves the seizure on the debtor’s bank, the bank must freeze the available balance, and after the statutory challenge period the funds are transferred to the creditor up to the amount owed plus costs. No further hearing is needed unless the debtor contests.

Debtors contest seizures on procedure, so the seizure report must be flawless. The debtor challenges before the enforcement judge (the juge de l’exécution, the judge who hears disputes about forced execution), and French courts apply the contestation formalities strictly against whoever challenges. In seizure practice the challenger must promptly inform the third-party holder and lodge the challenge papers with the enforcement court within short deadlines, on pain of losing the challenge, and the courts verify each notice. Organize the seizure through a commissaire who knows the debtor’s banking district, serve the debtor within the required days after the bank, and keep proof of every notification. Where the debtor’s account shows funds, the seizure usually produces payment or forces immediate settlement within weeks. Where the account is empty, the commissaire’s report documents that outcome, and you pivot to seizure of tangible business assets or to a mortgage registration strategy on counsel’s advice rather than repeating a dry seizure.

Cross-border cases add a European layer that foreign groups should use deliberately. Where the debtor is in another European Union Member State, or where you sell into France from abroad and prefer a single European form, the European order-for-payment procedure under Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 offers a parallel paper track. French domestic rules designate the competent court for that track: Article 1424-1 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that “La présente section est relative à la procédure européenne d’injonction de payer prévue par le règlement (CE) n° 1896/2006 du Parlement européen et du Conseil du 12 décembre 2006 instituant une procédure européenne d’injonction de payer.” Choose the track once, on advice: the French domestic order is usually fastest against a French-domiciled debtor with a French bank account, while the European order simplifies recognition where enforcement will happen outside France. Do not run both tracks for the same invoice in parallel; parallel titles for one debt create set-off and double-recovery defences that delay collection.

Three public sources confirm the steps above in plain language and are worth bookmarking alongside this guide. The English pages of service-public.fr explain the payment-order application, the one-month objection and the enforcement request sequence. Legalstart’s 2026 payment-order walkthrough and the enforcement-officer guide from commissaire-justice.fr both stress the same documentary discipline and the one-month objection window, while adding practical filing checklists for domestic creditors. What those general guides do not cover, and what this article adds for overseas readers, is the foreign-creditor layer: proving performance and delivery from abroad with translations, computing European Central Bank plus ten points and the forty-euro fee line by line, diarying the three-month service guillotine and the post-opposition lawyer-appointment deadline, and converting silence or an opposed judgment into a bank seizure without opening a French office or attending a hearing. That layer is where foreign files succeed or stall.

Conclusion

An unpaid French invoice is not a write-off. It is the starting point of a procedure French law designed for exactly your situation. Put the payment term on the invoice within the statutory ceiling, prove delivery, and send the formal demand that documents penalties at the European Central Bank rate plus ten points with the forty-euro recovery fee. File the payment-order request at the debtor’s court with a complete bundle showing the exact amount, the basis and the numbered exhibits. Serve the order within three months, calendar the one-month objection window, and treat any opposition as a second chance to win on a file you already built. If the debtor stays silent, convert the order into a bank seizure that needs no further hearing. If the debtor objects, meet the trial with bank records, delivery proofs and a statutory penalty sheet, remember that only the debtor can object, that costs follow the whole procedure and that a lapsed case loses its limitation benefit. With counsel coordinating the commissaire de justice and the diary of deadlines, a foreign company recovers French debts without relocating, without speaking French in court, and often without ever attending a hearing.

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Our firm advises foreign companies and overseas founders on recovering French unpaid invoices, payment-order proceedings and bank seizures every week. You receive a telephone consultation within 48 hours with a lawyer of the firm, with a clear answer on your invoice file, your penalty computation and your chances of enforcement. Call +33 6 46 60 58 22 or write through our contact page, and keep your contracts, invoices, delivery proofs and reminder letters at hand for the call.