Debt recovery audit: eight questions showing how much money your business leaves uncollected

Most businesses lose money a little at a time rather than through one major debtor: a forgotten invoice, interest never calculated, a reminder without legal effect or insolvency discovered by accounts after the deadline. A recovery audit need not take months. It starts with eight questions a business should answer before a court, insolvency administrator or auditor asks them.

1. Do we know which claims become time-barred this year?

The general limitation period is four years under commercial law and three years under civil law, unless legislation provides otherwise. For civil-law claims for damages and unjust enrichment, the subjective period is generally two years, alongside the applicable objective period. There is no universal ten-year ceiling for all claims. The relevant period and its commencement must be determined by the nature of the claim and the applicable legislation; acknowledgement of the debt and proper commencement of court proceedings may also be significant.

Unofficial English translation:

Unless the law provides otherwise for particular rights, the limitation period is four years.

— § 397 of the Commercial Code

The audit begins with a list of claims, due dates and limitation dates. Claims expiring this year go straight to the top. See when does a claim become time-barred? for details.

2. Do we charge late-payment interest and fixed compensation?

Late-payment interest arises by law without an agreement. Commercial relationships also attract fixed recovery cost compensation:

Unofficial English translations:

The debtor’s default gives the creditor, in addition to the claims […], a right to fixed compensation for costs associated with pursuing the claim, without any separate notice.

— § 369c(1) of the Commercial Code

Fixed compensation for costs associated with pursuing a claim […] is EUR 40 as a one-off amount, regardless of the duration of default.

— § 2 of Government Regulation No. 21/2013 Z. z.

The fixed amount does not apply to consumers (§ 369c(2)). The audit question is how many demands last year included calculated interest and compensation. We explain rates in what late-payment interest can I claim?.

3. Do our reminders have legal effect?

A reminder alone does not stop the limitation period from running; only asserting the right in court does (§ 402 of the Commercial Code, § 112 of the Civil Code). A payment demand should clearly identify the creditor, the debt and the performance sought: the invoices, principal, lawfully claimed ancillary amounts and the payment deadline. Incomplete or misleading communication with a consumer creates a risk of an unfair commercial practice, but the mere omission of one item does not automatically make it one. For loans issued by supervised entities, NBS Opinion No. 2/2022 and its exceptions must also be considered, including specially regulated demands and information apparent from the circumstances. See what must a payment demand contain? and the complete process in how to recover an unpaid invoice.

4. Do we obtain a debt acknowledgement when a debtor asks for instalments?

A written acknowledgement creates a presumption that the debt exists to the extent acknowledged, even if it was already time-barred (§ 323(1) of the Commercial Code); a new four-year limitation period runs from the acknowledgement (§ 407(1)). An instalment schedule without an acceleration clause protects the debtor, not you. See B2B debt acknowledgement and instalment schedules for drafting guidance.

5. Do we have security when supplying on credit?

Written retention of title keeps goods in your ownership, as a rule, until full payment (§ 445 of the Commercial Code). Add credit limits, advances for new customers and a director’s guarantee for larger volumes. Check registers before supply: see how to check a new customer. Without a written contract, delivery notes and emails can prove supply; see goods supplied without a written contract.

6. Do we know when to use a domestic or European payment order?

For an undisputed invoice with a Slovak debtor, a payment order is often a quick route. If the facts asserted in the claim (particularly those based on documents) raise no doubts, the court may decide without a hearing, and the debtor has 15 days from personal service to pay or lodge a substantively reasoned opposition; the court rejects an opposition without substantive reasons (§ 265 and § 267 of the Code of Civil Dispute Procedure). For a debtor in another EU Member State (except Denmark), the European order for payment provides 30 days to oppose. See what is a payment order and how can it be challenged?.

7. Do we monitor debtors’ insolvency and enforcement proceedings?

Since 1 October 2025, bankruptcy has been declared by publishing the court’s resolution in the insolvency register (§ 23(1) and § 199 of Act No. 7/2005 Z. z.). The register must be monitored continuously. Claims should be lodged within the basic 45-day period after declaration, electronically through the specialised portal and authorised; otherwise the claim is disregarded. Late claims are considered, but creditors cannot exercise voting and other rights and are satisfied only from distribution schedules announced after the claim was delivered; a security right asserted after 45 days is disregarded (§ 28(2) to (4)). On an individual’s debt relief, the claim becomes unenforceable against the debtor, but not against a guarantor (§ 166e(2) and (3)); debt relief does not affect, for example, a secured claim to the extent covered by the security (§ 166c). If a company ends without assets, a claim against a director who failed to file in time may come into consideration. See lodging an insolvency claim, the debtor’s debt relief and suing a director.

8. Do we know when to write off a claim or assign it?

Suing a debtor without assets creates another cost, not revenue. Before filing, check assets, enforcement and insolvency. This determines whether to sue, assign at a discount, monitor the debtor and lodge a claim in future bankruptcy, or write it off. That is the purpose of debtor creditworthiness checks.

Acting on the findings

• Claims expiring this year are assessed first, regardless of value: a demand and, if the debtor has the means to pay, proceedings.
• Reminder and demand templates gain calculated interest, compensation and a deadline; consumer portfolios also need an internal reminder policy.
• New transactions start with register checks and a contract containing retention of title and credit limits.
• Debtors in bankruptcy or enforcement are monitored continuously, not once a year at stocktaking.

How this will work under the new Civil Code

On 1 October 2026, the National Council of the Slovak Republic approved the new Slovak Civil Code, which will take effect on 1 July 2027. The Commercial Code is not being repealed for now and Government Regulation No. 21/2013 Z. z. is being repealed, so for relationships between businesses the position will be settled definitively only by the implementing amendment. For claims under contracts concluded from 1 July 2027, the answers to several audit questions will change:

• Question 1. The general limitation period will be three years. The parties will be able to shorten it in writing to no less than one year, or extend it to no more than ten years, but not to the detriment of a consumer.
• Question 2. Late-payment interest will be due at the agreed rate, otherwise at the rate set by government regulation, and a court will be able to reduce a disproportionately high agreed rate. Fixed compensation for recovery costs will apply only between businesses and between a business and a public-law entity; under the draft regulation it will remain EUR 40.
• Question 4. A written acknowledgement stating the ground and amount will start a ten-year period; payment of interest or of part of the debt from which acknowledgement of the remainder follows, only a three-year one.
• Question 5. A director’s guarantee will arise by written agreement, and the director will be liable jointly and severally with the company unless otherwise agreed.
• Question 8. A prohibition on assignment in the contract with the debtor will not prevent the sale of the claim.

It remains the case that a reminder does not stop limitation. The period will stop running only when the claim is asserted before a court or other competent authority.

Claims under contracts concluded by 30 June 2027 will become time-barred and bear interest under the existing rules. In your claims list, also record the contract date for each invoice, and in new contracts agree the late-payment interest rate and recovery cost compensation expressly.

Status as of 22 October 2026: the act has been approved and was signed by the President on 20 October 2026, but has not yet been promulgated in the Collection of Laws. Until 30 June 2027, the rules described above in this article apply.

How to start

We can conduct the audit with you: review your claim list, templates and process, then return corrected documents and an ordered action plan. For consumer portfolios, this includes a recovery audit and reminder system; for larger invoice volumes, bulk debt recovery. We contact individual debtors with a letter before action and check new customers before supply through debtor creditworthiness checks. Send your unpaid invoice list. It lets us answer the first three questions.