The first Payt × Ipsos Barometer confirms it: 71% of French companies have no collections software, and 41% have already forgotten to chase an invoice
Surveyed in late March 2026 by Ipsos on behalf of Payt, 400 French business leaders reveal the scale of the gap: 53% say unpaid invoices have threatened their company's financial viability, yet 71% still manage collections with no dedicated tool at all — and 41% admit they simply forgot to chase an invoice.
The barometer, run online from March 24 to 26, 2026 among 400 private-sector business leaders (excluding groups with over 5,000 employees), paints a precise picture of the gap between perceived risk and actual tooling. 54% still chase payments by manual email, 52% by phone, and only 26% have automated reminders in place. The direct consequence: 42% have already written off a debt because the cost of chasing it exceeded the amount owed, and 47% spend at least two hours a month managing late payments.
The most telling figure for AppH isn't the risk one — already documented by the payment-delay observatory — but the attitude toward AI: 49% of leaders believe it will significantly improve collection efficiency within five years, while 29% remain skeptical it can replace the human relationship in this task. That's exactly the Pack Accueil's position: automate the reminder and the deadline, never claim to replace human contact when it matters.
For AppH
- 71% of French companies have no collections software at all and 41% have already forgotten to chase an invoice: it's a market that's still largely unequipped, with a need documented by an independent barometer, not a sales pitch.
- Leaders themselves anticipate AI's role (49%) while refusing to let it replace the human relationship (29% skeptical) — exactly the line AppH follows: an automated reminder that logs every send, never a substitute for human contact.
Against / the honest limit
- The barometer covers invoice chasing in general, not mail pickup or mandate renewal at a domiciliation agency: the analogy to the Pack Accueil is AppH's extrapolation, not a conclusion of the study.
- The study was commissioned by Payt, a collections-software vendor with a direct commercial interest in demonstrating a lack of tooling — the figures come from a recognized institute (Ipsos), but the commission remains partisan.
That 71% of French companies still manage collections with no tool at all, and that half of leaders expect a real gain from AI without wanting to sacrifice the human relationship, describes a space the Pack Accueil already occupies for a different kind of deadline: the reminder sent at the right moment, logged, without replacing the agent when the client needs a human.
Reviewed by a human at AppH