Customer Debt Collection in Syria 2026: Aging Table, 6 Reminders

Collecting customer debt in Syria gets easier the day the debt notebook stops being your only record. A controlled system has five parts: a credit limit for each customer, written payment terms in new Syrian pounds, a weekly aged-receivables review, polite reminders on a fixed schedule, and documents that hold up if a customer disputes the balance. This guide covers each, with a table and scripts to copy.

The notebook fails for predictable reasons:

• It records amounts, not due dates, so nobody can say which debt is late.
• It lives with one person, and leaves with them.
• It has no totals by age, so a customer 90 days late looks like one 10 days late.
• Its older pages are in old pounds.

That last point comes first. Decree No. 293 of 2025 applies the 100-to-1 ratio to all financial obligations, and its Article 9 says that, unless agreed otherwise, contracts, commercial papers, records and accounts issued or signed before the currency exchange began on 1 January 2026 are settled at their old-pound value. A 2025 line reading 1,850,000 for Abu Khaled is now 18,500 new pounds. Article 10 adds that an undated document, or one dated within the exchange period, that does not say which pound it means is refused unless the currency is set by agreement or a court ruling. Our new Syrian pound guide covers the rest of the conversion.

So start with a balance confirmation. For every customer with an open amount, list the open invoices or notebook lines with their dates, convert each to new pounds once, and ask the customer to sign one page that ends:

I confirm that my balance owed to «company» on «date» is «amount» new Syrian pounds, as itemised above.

A signed, dated balance that names the currency turns a notebook line into a starting point both sides accept.

Give every credit customer a written limit in new pounds and put a due date on every credit sale; everyone else pays cash. A simple way to set the limit:

• Limit = average monthly purchases × the months of credit you allow. A grocer buying 400,000 new pounds a month on 30-day terms gets a 400,000 limit.
• New customers: cash or a small limit for three months, raised after on-time payments.
• Review limits every quarter, and at once after a late payment.
• Over the limit, or anything in the 61–90 column: no new credit until they pay down.

Credit costs more when prices move. Say you sell goods for 1,000,000 new pounds on 60 days and your replacement cost rises 5% before you collect: you receive 1,000,000 but need 1,050,000 to restock, so the credit cost you 50,000. Protect the margin with terms, not with currency:

• Shorter terms: 15 or 30 days instead of 60.
• Early-payment discount: say 2% if paid within 7 days. That is 20,000 on this sale, far less than 50,000.
• Advance payment: 30% on order for large or special orders.
• Installments: split a big invoice into dated parts, each with its own due date.
• Price validity: quotes valid for set days; confirmed orders keep their price.

In Odoo, both go into a payment term: the Early Discount option and the Due Terms lines described in Odoo's payment terms guide.

Keep the price itself in Syrian pounds. Legislative Decree No. 5 of 2024, listed as in force on the Central Bank of Syria's legislation register as of November 2026, bans dealing in any currency other than the Syrian pound as a means of payment. A dollar price on a domestic invoice exposes you rather than protects you; have your lawyer review any clause linking a pound amount to the dollar. Write the terms where the customer signs: the due date, the amount in figures and in words, and "new Syrian pounds".

When a customer disputes a balance, a notebook is your word against theirs. These documents change that. The articles below are from Commercial Law No. 33 of 2007 as published on WIPO Lex; ask your lawyer to confirm the current text before relying on any of them.

• Signed invoice or delivery note: get the customer's signature and the date on every credit sale. Article 37 requires traders and companies that must register to show their registration place and number on invoices and delivery notes.
• Written guarantee: under Article 109 a commercial guarantee can only be proven in writing, and Article 110 presumes co-debtors and guarantors of a commercial debt jointly liable.
• Agreed late-payment compensation: under Article 107, a judge may not reduce agreed compensation in commercial matters even if it looks excessive, but may waive it if you suffered no harm. Let your lawyer draft it.

For larger balances, a promissory note (سند لأمر) is stronger. Article 345 lists what it must contain:

• The words "promissory note" or an order clause, written in the body in the note's own language.
• An unconditional promise to pay a set sum of money.
• The due date.
• The place of payment.
• The name of the payee, or of the person to whose order it is paid.
• The date and place it was made.
• The maker's signature.

Article 346 rescues only three gaps: with no due date, it is payable on sight, and a missing place of payment or of making defaults to the place written beside the maker's name. Any other gap and it is not a promissory note. Article 344 counts a seal or fingerprint as a signature, but two witnesses must attest that the person signed in front of them, knowing what they signed. Claims against the maker lapse three years after the due date (Articles 337, 347 and 350), so diary every due date.

Every Sunday, sort each customer's open amounts by how many days have passed since the due date. Copy these columns into a spreadsheet:

• Customer | Limit | Not yet due | 0–30 | 31–60 | 61–90 | 90+ | Total | Next action
• Al-Nour Grocery | 400,000 | 180,000 | 150,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 330,000 | Reminder
• Al-Waha Building Supplies | 600,000 | 0 | 0 | 240,000 | 120,000 | 0 | 360,000 | Call, stop credit
• Al-Salam Pharmacy | 250,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 95,000 | 95,000 | Owner visit
• Total | | 180,000 | 150,000 | 240,000 | 120,000 | 95,000 | 785,000 |

Amounts are illustrative, in new Syrian pounds. Watch one ratio: the 90+ column over the total, here 95,000 ÷ 785,000, about 12%. If it rises two weeks running, tighten credit.

Each column gets one action and one WhatsApp or SMS script:

• 3 days before due: Hello «name», a reminder that invoice «no.» for «amount» new pounds falls due on «date». Thank you.
• 0–30, friendly: Hello «name», a kind reminder that invoice «no.» for «amount» new pounds was due on «date». You can pay by «bank or wallet».
• 31–60, call first, then: Hello «name», «amount» new pounds has been open since «date». Can we agree a payment date today, even in two parts?
• 61–90, hold: Hello «name», new orders are on hold until the «amount» new pound balance is settled. Shall we fix a payment plan this week? Then get the plan signed, or a promissory note.
• 90+, formal: the owner calls or visits, then sends a written notice, and passes the file to a lawyer if the final date is missed: Dear «name», invoices «nos.» totalling «amount» new pounds have been unpaid since «date». Please settle them by «final date»; after that date the file goes to our lawyer.
• After payment: Received «amount» new pounds, thank you. Your remaining balance is «amount» new pounds.

Keep proof. Article 106 of the Commercial Law allows notice in commercial matters by letter, phone "or any other means of communication", provided you can prove it was sent, so save every reminder and reply. Message the customer alone, never in a group, and in working hours.

Accept partial payments: a customer who pays something is still paying. Three rules keep them clean:

• Apply each payment to the oldest invoice first, unless the customer names another in writing.
• Give a receipt every time, showing the remaining balance in new pounds.
• Put any payment plan on paper: amounts, dates, and what happens if a date is missed.

For wallet and bank collections, ask customers to type the invoice number in the payment note, and match every payment on the day it lands. Our digital payments guide for Syria covers Sham Cash, Syriatel Cash and a daily reconciliation log.

In Odoo, the whole routine maps onto standard features, set out in Odoo's follow-up documentation:

• Follow-up levels: in Accounting ‣ Configuration ‣ Follow-up Levels, create one level per column, with its days overdue, its action (email, SMS or letter) and a scheduled activity for the responsible user. A negative number of days sends the reminder before the due date.
• Daily run: filter customers by Overdue Invoices or Requires Follow-up, select them in the list view, then Actions ‣ Process Follow-ups. The chatter keeps a record of every action.
• Aging: Accounting ‣ Reporting ‣ Aged Receivable shows the invoices awaiting payment for the selected month and the months before it, and exports to XLSX.
• Partial payments: Odoo accepts several payments on one invoice.
• Shops: Point of Sale's Customer account payment method records sales on credit. A maximum sales credit shows a warning on the customer once it is reached, but it does not block the sale.

Follow-up levels and the Aged Receivable report are part of the Accounting app, which Odoo's editions table lists for Enterprise only. Next step: fill in the aging table for this week, then tell us how you sell on credit. METCH, an official Odoo partner serving Syria, can set up the follow-up levels and train your team in Arabic.