For SMEs and businesses in
their first year of trading, late payments can hit hard. Too many delays and
the financial situation can become intolerable and even be a contributing
factor for business failure.
SMEs are owed an average of £39,000. Half of UK businesses are currently facing this situation – that’s 861,000 firms that are struggling to make ends meet because their customers aren’t paying on time. The hardest hit industry is retail and distribution, who are owed in excess of £16.6billion. The real surprise is that large companies that are the worst offenders, responsible for 48% of SME late payment debt.
What can you do?
You don’t have to put up with
late payments. The EU Late Payments Directive is due to come into force in
2013, making 30-day invoicing periods compulsory. While we wait for the
legislation to go through, there are organisations that can take the worry out
of chasing late payments for you. There is no reason to suffer in silence – if
you’ve done a job you expect to get paid for it. Rather than simply accept that
late payments are ‘a fact of life’, you can utilise free services that help you
to claim back what is rightfully yours. This service is available to businesses
of all sizes, not just the big multinationals. So if late payments are starting
to affect your business then it may be worth your while contacting a company
such as ComparetheDCA.com, who can help get your business back on track.