Attorney at law Annika Vait commented on how to timely collect invoices in an article published in Äripäev on March 29th 2012

Attorney at law Annika Vait commented on how to timely collect invoices in an article published in Äripäev on March 29th 2012. From this year’s survey of credit policy performed by Credit Information it appears that 61% of Estonian entrepreneurs pay their invoices in time.

The average delay with payments amounts to 10 days. In order to fight payment delays European Parliament and Council have developed a Directive 2011/7/EU on combating late payments in commercial transactions. Estonia has until March 16th 2013 to enforce the Directive.

The aforementioned Directive has received quite a lot attention, but entrepreneurs should not count only on that. For example the Directive allows excluding from its regulation such agreements that were concluded before the respective changes were effected. Whether it will be done or not is decided internally in member states. Therefore the existing agreements should be reviewed already today and watertight sanctions for late payments should be entered into new agreements. In concluding the respective agreements it would be sensible to consider already the provisions of the Directive.

The article, including Annika’s recommendations for preventing late payments can be reviewed in the March 29th 2012 issue of Äripäev.

For those who find deeper interest the aforementioned topic it is possible to participate in a web seminar taking place on April 26th 2012, where Annika discusses briefly the extra-judicial practical activities in collecting debts and calculating delay penalties. Further information on the web seminar can be found at http://addenda.ee/veebiseminar-praktilised-toimingud-volgade-sissenoudmisel-ja-viiviste-arvestamisel.

Annika will discuss the practical activities of debt collection in more detail at the training taking place on May 10th 2012. The training takes place in law firm Glikman & Partners, further information can be found at http://addenda.ee/arendushommik-praktilised-toimingud-volgade-sissenoudmisel.

Annika has specialised in advising in the fields of transactions and corporate law. In the present economic climate it inevitably means participating as an advisor in processes of prevention, collection and contesting of debts. Due to her prior work experience in banking Annika also has a practical experience in debt management.

Glikman & Partnerid

10.04.2012