Public vs private collections: why it's not the same job (and how Chorus Pro changes the game)

Chasing a private client and chasing a public sector client are fundamentally different. Legal deadlines differ, so do the stakeholders, and the invoice processing circuit follows rules that many businesses discover too late, often after weeks of unexplained delays. Yet many collections teams apply the same chase sequences to both public and private clients. The result: reminders that land at the wrong time, on the wrong status, with the wrong person.

This article explains what truly distinguishes public from private collections, and why CashNow’s Chorus Pro connector is a decisive advantage for businesses that invoice the public sector.

What sets public collections apart from private

Legal deadlines are not the same

In the private sector, the maximum payment term is 45 days end of month or 60 days from invoice date. In the public sector, the rule varies by entity:

• State and local authorities: 30 days
• Public health establishments: 50 days
• Public local education establishments: 30 days

These deadlines run from the date the invoice is received on Chorus Pro. This detail is crucial: if your invoice is rejected or suspended on Chorus, the clock doesn’t start. And if you’re not informed quickly, you can wait weeks without knowing.

Any breach of the legal deadline automatically triggers late payment penalties and a minimum flat-rate collection indemnity of €40, with no prior formal notice required.

The processing circuit is completely different

In the private sector, an invoice lands in an accountant’s inbox, gets validated, and triggers a bank transfer. The circuit is short and stakeholders are identifiable. In the public sector, every invoice follows a structured journey on Chorus Pro:

Submitted → Made available → Service confirmed → Authorised → Payment initiated

At each stage, successive human validations can block or slow down processing without your team necessarily being informed. An invoice can sit blocked for weeks under the status “Suspended” or “To be recycled” without anyone contacting you.

The purpose of the chase is not the same

In the private sector, chasing a client means reminding them they owe you money. In the public sector, chasing often means unblocking an administrative issue, an invoice rejected due to a SIRET error, a suspension pending a supporting document, a resubmission required under a new reference number. These two logics require completely different approaches, tones and chase schedules. Applying a “payment reminder” sequence to an invoice blocked on Chorus for a technical reason is not only ineffective, it’s counterproductive for the client relationship.

Chorus Pro: understanding the circuit before chasing

Chorus Pro is the national e-invoicing platform for the French public sector. Any invoice addressed to the State, local authorities or public establishments must mandatorily go through it.

An invoice submitted on Chorus Pro can be in one of the following statuses:

• Draft / Submitted: initial processing underway
• Made available: received by the public client
• Service confirmed: the service has been acknowledged, payment can be initiated
• Authorised: validated and passed to the accountant
• Payment initiated: the payment order has been sent by the accounting officer

And the blocking statuses that require your action:

• Rejected: the invoice was not accepted, a correction and resubmission are required
• To be recycled: the invoice must be resubmitted, often under a new reference (e.g. invoice 2955 bis)
• Suspended: awaiting a supplementary action or supporting document

Without real-time visibility on these statuses, your collections team is flying blind.

CashNow’s Chorus Pro connector: track, alert, act

CashNow connects directly to Chorus Pro via an API. The statuses of all your invoices submitted on Chorus are automatically pulled into CashNow, updated daily, with no manual action required.

Real-time visibility on every invoice

In CashNow, you find the Chorus status of each invoice directly in the client record. No need to log into the Chorus portal manually to check progress, everything is centralised in your collections interface.

Automatic alerts on blocking statuses

When an invoice switches to a blocking status, Rejected, To be recycled, Suspended, CashNow alerts you before the legal deadline is even breached. Your team can act immediately: correct the invoice, resubmit it, or contact the right person on the public client side.

A dedicated reporting module to manage your public portfolio

CashNow provides a Chorus reporting module that classifies all your invoices by status, with filters by organisation, client group or collections manager. You have a clear, prioritised view of your public sector portfolio, and you know exactly which invoices need immediate action.

Also read: Medical sector collections: how to manage chasing hospitals and clinics

Adapting your chase sequences to the public sector context

CashNow allows you to define chase sequences specific to the public sector, separate from those applied to private clients:

• Preventive reminders align with the legal deadlines applicable to each type of public entity (30 days for local authorities, 50 days for health establishments). Improving your payment delays in the public sector directly contributes to reducing your overall DSO,  discover 5 levers to improve your DSO.
• Alerts on blocking statuses trigger immediate corrective actions.
• The tone and channel adapt to the institutional register, a formal letter to a local authority is not written the same way as an email chase to a private supplier.
• You can exclude certain statuses from the chase trigger: chasing an invoice whose status is “made available to the accountant” or “payment initiated” serves no purpose.

Contact CashNow for a personalised demo.