OHADA payment order: a guide for SMEs

When an invoice stays unpaid despite reminders, many business owners think there are only two options left: write off the amount or start a long lawsuit. OHADA law, which applies in Cameroon as in the other member states, provides a third, faster route: the payment order, called injonction de payer in French. This guide explains how it works, what it requires from you, and above all how to build, from the moment the contract is signed, a file that makes it possible.

What is the payment order?

The payment order is a simplified procedure set out in the OHADA Uniform Act organising simplified recovery procedures and enforcement measures. The text has been revised: the current version was adopted on 17 October 2023 and published in the OHADA Official Gazette on 15 November 2023.

The principle is simple. Instead of suing your client and waiting for a judgment after both sides have argued, you present your file directly to the judge. If it is convincing, the judge orders the debtor to pay. A hearing only takes place if the debtor objects.

Key point: the payment order is not a procedure “against” a client. It is a procedure “on the documents”: it is worth exactly what your paperwork is worth.

Which claims can be recovered?

Article 1 of the Uniform Act sets three conditions. The claim must be:

All three conditions are proved in writing. Work done on a verbal agreement, with no purchase order and no proof of delivery, leaves a claim that is hard to establish. An invoice with no written due date leaves room to argue about when the client actually became late.

How does the procedure work?

The main steps, in order:

1. The formal notice. The text does not require it before filing the application, but it is your last written reminder, dated, with a final deadline. It proves the client was warned and leaves room for an amicable settlement.
2. The application. It is filed with the registry of the competent court, the one where the debtor is domiciled or actually lives (article 3). It states the amount claimed with a breakdown of its components (principal, interest, charges) and the basis of the claim, and comes with the supporting documents (article 4).
3. The decision. If the claim appears well founded, the judge issues a payment order for all or part of the amount.
4. Service. The decision must be served on the debtor by an extrajudicial act. It is void if it has not been served within three months of its date (article 7).
5. A possible objection. The debtor may object within ten days of service (article 10). The case is then argued before the court.
6. The enforcement formula. If there is no objection within that period, the creditor can ask for the enforcement formula to be affixed to the decision (article 16). It can then be enforced.

What changed with the 2023 revision?

The 2023 revision aims to simplify and speed up procedures. For the payment order, the most visible change for an SME is the objection period, cut from fifteen to ten days after service. If the debtor was not served in person, an objection remains admissible until ten days after the first document served on them personally or, failing that, after the first enforcement measure that freezes their assets.

The revised text also allows certain recovery documents to be drawn up and sent electronically. If you read an older document that mentions fifteen days, it describes the 1998 version.

Which file should you prepare, and when?

The best time to prepare a payment order is before the order. In practice, for each client:

• Before the work: a signed contract or purchase order stating the price, the payment terms in days and, if possible, the late-payment penalty.
• During the work: a delivery note, job sheet or acceptance report signed by the client at each stage.
• When invoicing: an invoice that matches the order and states the due date.
• After the due date: written, dated reminders (WhatsApp, email, letter), then a formal notice delivered against a receipt.

The reminder schedule provides templates for each step, from D-5 to the formal notice at D+30. The payment-terms template helps you write the clauses that make a claim certain, liquid and due.

How do you calculate the amount claimed?

The application must state the amount claimed with a breakdown of its components. Prepare this breakdown yourself, before you see a professional, as a simple table:

Each line must point to a document: the invoice for the principal, the signed clause for the penalty. A penalty that was never written into the contract has no place in the breakdown. One more reason to write it before the order.

What if the client objects?

If the debtor objects within ten days, the case is argued before the court, like an ordinary lawsuit. Your documents then make the difference: a signed purchase order, proofs of delivery and dated reminders show that the claim exists, that its amount is known and that the client was warned. Conversely, a complaint about quality or quantity raised for the first time when payment falls due carries less weight if the client signed an acceptance report without reservations.

Worked example

Fictional example. A maintenance company invoices a client 2,250,000 FCFA, payable at 30 days. The purchase order is signed, and so are the job sheets. On the due date, the invoice is unpaid. The company sends a WhatsApp reminder at D+1, an email at D+7 recalling the 1.5% monthly penalty in the contract, then calls the accountant at D+15. At D+30, it delivers a formal notice against a receipt, with an eight-day deadline.

At this point, its file holds everything a lawyer or a bailiff will ask for: purchase order, proofs of performance, invoice, breakdown (2,250,000 FCFA principal, 33,750 FCFA penalty for one month of delay) and dated reminders. In most cases, the formal notice is enough to get paid. If not, the procedure can start without wasting time rebuilding the file.

What the payment order does not do

• It does not replace a lawyer or a bailiff. The application, service and enforcement are handled by professionals.
• It does not rescue an empty file. Without paperwork, the claim is neither certain nor easy to quantify.
• It does not fix the cause of the delay. A client who always pays late will keep doing so until your contracts, tracking and reminders change.

The goal is not to go to court, but to have a file that makes that option credible. That is often what moves your invoice up the pile.