Questions answered
- What should happen in the first 72 hours?
- When should professional escalation occur?
- How should evidence be protected?
Who should use it
This playbook is for owners, directors, advisers or financiers facing persistent liquidity pressure, uncovered maturities, a major customer loss, supplier failure, significant litigation, tax/social liabilities, sharp margin deterioration or uncertain funding.
It does not replace restructuring advice or statutory processes. Under OHADA, the AUPC organises preventive and collective procedures, including mechanisms before cessation of payments and court-supervised proceedings after that point. The first discipline is therefore to qualify the situation early enough not to confuse a manageable business problem with a legal state that requires a different route.
Outcome
The company should finish with a dated liquidity view, a 13-week cash bridge, a stakeholder map, a decision register, a minimum evidence file and an explicit route: internal remediation, lender negotiation, specialist support, preventive procedure, asset disposal, ownership transfer or another legally validated path.
What this playbook must never become
No magic distress score. A warning indicator can trigger review; it does not legally determine cessation of payments.
No rushed asset sale. Disposals can worsen the situation if they damage operating capacity, breach security, prejudice stakeholders or conflict with an applicable procedure.
No promise of absolute secrecy. Some proceedings or obligations require formalities. Confidentiality must be classified, not assumed.
Reference journey
SIGNAL → TRIAGE → LIQUIDITY → OPTIONS → PROFESSIONAL / PROCEDURE → PLAN → EXECUTION → EVIDENCE
Gate 1 : Stabilise information within 48–72 hours
Freeze data versions, appoint an owner for the cash report, separate confirmed cash from conditional cash, identify continuity-critical payments and log exceptional decisions.
No strategic option should reach the board until liquidity figures are dated and reconciled to bank evidence.
Gate 2 : Build a 13-week cash bridge
The forecast is not about false precision. It identifies