Payment terms in Morocco: law 69-21 explained

In Morocco, since law 69-21, an invoice between businesses must be paid within 60 days of its issue date when nothing has been agreed, and never later than 120 days when both parties have agreed on terms. A customer who pays late owes a fine to the Treasury — not to the supplier — and must report it to the DGI (the tax administration). These rules apply to customer businesses whose turnover exceeds 2 million dirhams excluding tax.

That is the gist. The rest of this article covers who is affected, how the fine is calculated, what has to be filed, and what a wholesaler or distributor actually does day to day to stay within the rules.

What law 69-21 says

Law 69-21, published in Official Bulletin no. 7204 of 15 June 2023, amends the Commercial Code (law 15-95) on payment terms, for invoices issued since 1 July 2023. Above all it changes the starting point: the period no longer runs from delivery, but from the invoice issue date.

• No agreement between the parties: 60 days from the invoice date.
• With an agreement: the agreed period, never more than 120 days from the invoice date.
• Sector exception: up to 180 days, only for certain sectors of a specific or seasonal nature, if a decree sets it (after agreement of the trade organisations and an opinion from the Competition Council).

So that nobody delays the invoice to stretch the period, the law also sets a deadline for issuing it: no later than the last day of the month in which the goods were delivered or the service performed. A delivery on 5 March must therefore be invoiced by 31 March at the latest, and the clock starts on the invoice date. If the due date falls on a public holiday or non-working day, it moves to the next working day.

Who is affected, and since when

The law applies to traders, individuals or companies, established in Morocco (as well as public establishments and public-service concession holders carrying on a commercial activity). Customers whose annual turnover excluding tax does not exceed 2 million dirhams are excluded. The payment terms apply to invoices issued since 1 July 2023; the fine and the return came into force in stages, according to the turnover excluding tax of the last closed financial year:

• Over MAD 50 million: invoices issued since 1 July 2023.
• Between MAD 10 and 50 million: invoices issued since 1 January 2024.
• Between MAD 2 and 10 million: invoices issued since 1 January 2025.

A point often misunderstood: it is the turnover of the last closed financial year that decides. In principle, a business that crosses MAD 2 million in its 2025 financial year comes into the scheme in 2026 (for a financial year matching the calendar year). A growing depot can cross the threshold without noticing: that is the first thing to check with your accountant.

The late-payment fine: who pays it, how it is calculated

This is the biggest change for cash flow. Before, late payment gave a right to compensation that the supplier had to claim himself, at the risk of upsetting his customer. Now it is a financial penalty paid to the Treasury, owed by the business that pays late. The supplier does not receive it; his job is still to get paid.

The rate applied to the unpaid amount of each invoice, including all taxes:

• First month late: the Bank Al-Maghrib policy rate.
• Each additional month or part of a month: a further 0.85%.

The policy rate changes with Bank Al-Maghrib's decisions, and the fine's rate follows it; check the one that applies to the period of your invoices. Above all, remember the logic: one extra day late can be enough to add a month of penalty, since any month started counts as a full month. The fine is not deductible from taxable profit (article 11-I of the General Tax Code).

If an invoice is the subject of a dispute brought before the court, the fine is suspended until the final judgment; a simple amicable arrangement suspends nothing. And a promise over the phone is not a payment: to know which date counts when settlement is by cheque or bill of exchange, check with your chartered accountant.

The return to the DGI

The businesses concerned report their late payments online, in the « SIMPL-Délais de paiement » area of the DGI portal (tax.gov.ma), and pay the fine due at the same time as the return.

• Normal rhythm: one return per quarter, before the end of the month following the quarter.
• Transitional period (over): businesses up to MAD 50 million filed an annual return for 2024 (before 1 April 2025) and for 2025 (before 1 April 2026). Since 2026, every business concerned files each quarter.
• « Nil » return: having no late invoice does not exempt you from filing.
• Attachment: a detailed statement of the invoices paid outside the terms, certified by the statutory auditor if turnover reaches MAD 50 million, otherwise by a chartered or certified accountant — including when the statement is empty.

Not filing, filing late or not paying the fine is penalised separately, by a fixed amount depending on turnover: MAD 5,000 between 2 and 10 million, MAD 12,500 between 10 and 50 million, MAD 50,000 between 50 and 200 million, MAD 125,000 between 200 and 500 million, MAD 250,000 above that. An incomplete or inaccurate return costs MAD 5,000 per missing or wrong invoice. The exact calendar that applies to your business depends on the financial year in which you crossed the threshold: settle it once and for all with your accountant.

What to write on your invoices

Since everything starts from the invoice date and the agreed period, both must be readable beyond dispute. In practice, every invoice should show:

• The issue date, within the month of delivery.
• The agreed payment period (for example « 60 days from invoice date »).
• The resulting due date, written out in full: it is the date you and the customer will both watch.
• The planned payment method (bank transfer, cheque, bill of exchange).

These details come on top of those already required by tax rules (ICE, tax identifier, VAT…). The exact list of mandatory details should be confirmed with your chartered accountant; if you are starting from scratch, our invoicing software is a good starting point. And if you grant more than 60 days, put the agreement in writing: in an audit, a period « agreed » orally will be very hard to prove. The law also requires the payment period to appear in the payment terms you give to any business customer who asks for them.

Wholesaler or distributor: what you actually do

A wholesaler sits on both sides of the law. Towards his suppliers, he is the one who pays — and who will pay the fine if he runs over. Towards his customers, he is the one waiting for his money. Both are handled with the same habits.

1. Invoice quickly. Every delivery note of the month must be invoiced before the month ends. A forgotten delivery note is an invoice that goes out late and a payment that slips back just as far.
2. Track due dates, not just balances. « He owes 40,000 » is no longer enough: you need to know which invoice falls due at 60 days, and when. On the supplier side, it is the list that tells you what to pay first to avoid the fine.
3. Link every payment to its invoices. The return is made invoice by invoice. A payment « on account » with no clear allocation becomes impossible to justify later.
4. Chase before the due date, not after. A polite reminder a week before the date prevents most delays. Chasing techniques are covered in chasing a debt without losing the customer.
5. Control credit at the source. A limit per customer caps your exposure before the question of payment terms even arises. See the customer-credit rules for a wholesaler.

The law does not ask you to be harder on your customers. It asks you to know, invoice by invoice, when each one must be paid.

With Gestio: due dates in plain sight

Gestio does not calculate the fine and does not file the return: that is your accountant's job. What it does give you is what makes that job possible and prevents delays in the first place:

• Each customer's balance is up to date after every sale and every payment.
• A credit limit per customer.
• One payment can settle several invoices, which keeps the payment ↔ invoice link clean.
• A bounced cheque automatically reopens the invoices it covered.
• Cheques coming due are shown on the dashboard.
• From the customer record: the statement, and a reminder by WhatsApp.