A proposal to pay an invoice in instalments may help, but also shifts your risk. First check the debtor, the established amount and realistically achievable payments. An arrangement is not payment, and a friendly message does not determine what happens if an instalment is missed. A business lawyer can help where debt is disputed, security must remain effective or proceedings are underway. This guide concerns agreements between businesses under Dutch law; consumers, tax debts and insolvency proceedings require separate assessment.
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1. Set out the existing debt before choosing new dates
Collect the order, invoices, due dates and all payments received. Separate principal, interest and costs, identifying what the customer accepts. An accounting balance does not replace delivery evidence. Check credit notes and possible allegations of defective work too. An arrangement based on an incorrect opening balance may complicate the original dispute.
Record creditor and debtor's full legal names. A director negotiating for a BV does not automatically become personally liable for the debt. Ask who can validly sign the arrangement. Also identify any collection agency, bailiff or lawyer already involved. Without coordination, proceedings may continue while someone assumes instalment payments have stopped everything.
2. Request a workable proposal with specific payment dates
Ask the customer to propose amounts and dates matching expected receipts. Ask what information supports that expectation and how new invoices will be paid. A plan for old debt helps little if the same business immediately accumulates new arrears. A cash-flow forecast gives insight but does not establish that the named client will actually pay later.
Assess your own position too: how much delay can you sustain and what costs arise from further delay? Discuss an initial payment and monitoring later instalments. Do not promise every debtor entitlement to the proposed duration. Ondernemersplein identifies contact and payment plans as possible steps for unpaid invoices; their content remains a specific agreement between the parties.
3. Record interest and costs alongside repayment
Specify whether interest continues, is frozen or is conditionally waived. Identify its calculation basis and period. Monthly payment amounts do not automatically reveal whether they include interest and collection costs. If disputed, assess which interest and costs are legally payable before including them as an acknowledged total for signature.
Do not apply an unchecked current interest rate to all earlier periods. Ondernemersplein distinguishes commercial interest from interest on consumer transactions. A business context likewise does not mean every damages or repayment obligation automatically attracts commercial interest. Give your adviser the original agreement and calculation. Agree how payments are recorded and how the customer receives an updated statement.
4. Determine what happens after a missed instalment
Describe when payment must be received, where it is made and the required reference. Set out consequences of a missed or incomplete instalment: initial contact, an additional period or a claim for the balance? Align the chosen consequences with the existing legal position. Strict wording is not automatically enforceable in every situation.
Also record whether you temporarily postpone collection measures and when that postponement ends. A scheduled hearing does not disappear because the parties discuss matters privately. Ask the handling lawyer which procedural steps remain necessary and who informs the court where appropriate. Keep deadlines in court documents visible alongside the payment schedule; discussing an arrangement does not safely justify ignoring them.
5. Examine security without silently binding additional parties
If guarantees, pledges or retention of title already exist, assess what postponement means for them. Do not merely add a sentence preserving all security without reading the original documents. Changing the principal debt may affect others. A guarantor or co-debtor is not automatically bound by every new agreement between two other parties.
New security warrants separate checks of authority, creation and value. A promise to pledge stock later is not a validly created pledge. Ask about existing financiers and others' rights too. Where there are specific indications of inability to pay, assess whether an individual arrangement remains responsible. This guide does not address ranking or vulnerability of security in a later bankruptcy.
6. Treat acknowledgement and final release as separate choices
Acknowledging debt may have consequences beyond payment dates. Identify defences preserved and amounts the parties intend to establish definitively. In a substantive dispute, a settlement agreement may suit better than a simple instalment note. Make the legal intention visible so acknowledgement is not unintentionally inferred from an administrative attachment.
Final release does not automatically mean the same as temporarily refraining from litigation. Expressly agree when any waiver of claims takes effect and which items remain outside the arrangement. Consider invoices not yet due, an ongoing warranty claim or agreed returns. Read the other party's proposals completely before confirming everything is resolved. The document's title alone does not determine its consequences.
7. Fictional example: old invoices and a new order
A supplier receives a proposal to collect six old invoices in four instalments. Meanwhile, the customer wants new goods and confirmation that further costs are waived. The supplier has not checked which invoice is disputed. This fictional example says nothing about any actual company's creditworthiness.
First separate the balance, dispute and new supplies. The parties then work out dates, interest and missed-instalment consequences. The supplier has the effect on existing security assessed. This produces a verifiable choice rather than merely a hopeful schedule. Preparation guarantees no receipt; it clarifies the risk accepted and legal step following non-payment.
8. Prepare a focused engagement for your lawyer
Provide the opening balance, evidence, proposal and next deadline. Specifically request assessment of acknowledgement, security or ongoing proceedings. Agree whether the lawyer only reviews wording or also negotiates and monitors deadlines. A conversation about an arrangement does not itself transfer all collection work.
Keep the signed version, attachments and receipt evidence together. After each instalment, reconcile it with your records. Record changes again and avoid unclear verbal promises existing alongside a different written schedule. If payment fails, ask what next step fits the agreed arrangement and current circumstances before arbitrarily adding old and new amounts together.
Frequently asked questions
Must a business creditor accept every payment plan?
Do not assume automatic entitlement to every proposed schedule. Assess the agreement and circumstances and make your consent or conditions explicit.
Do proceedings stop automatically during negotiations?
No. Monitor court deadlines separately and agree with the person handling the case which procedural steps remain necessary.
Does signing make the director personally liable?
Not automatically. It matters on whose behalf they sign and whether a separate personal obligation was validly undertaken.
Sources
These sources relate to this page. For a specific case, check current rules and your own documents.
- Ondernemersplein — klant betaalt factuur niet Accessed: 2026-10-23
- Ondernemersplein — betalingstermijn, rente en incassokosten Accessed: 2026-10-23
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