SME Business News

A Survey carried out by Barclays in Wales found that 48% of Welsh SMEs experience problems with late payment.

This isn’t really news to small business owners across the UK and I think it is fair to say that Barclays would find a similar result in any part of the country.

More disturbing for me, was to see the extent the problem of late payment is having on those companies surveyed.

The report says that 20% admitted that the impact of customers failing to pay on time threatened the day to day survival of their business. Almost half felt they wasted valuable resources chasing money, and worst of all, four in ten bosses are currently using their own money to keep the business afloat while they wait on outstanding payments.

On average SMEs are owed more than £1000 at any given time, from customers abusing the 30 day account policy. Although the majority of accounts are paid within a 45 day period-15 days late, there are always companies that drag things out for months.

With the economy as it is business owners should be more prudent than ever when supplying other businesses on account, and should always be aware of a customers financial history. If you don’t do it already, pay for a credit check for peace of mind. It could end up costing a lot more.