Late-Paying Customers The Biggest & Most Fundamental Problem to SMEs in 2012 Says SBF Survey

SKIPTON, UK, July 15, 2012

Late-paying customers are using an increasingly wide range of reasons to explain why they haven't settled payment on invoices, causing major cashflow problems for SMEs, a survey by Skipton Business Finance has found.

Skipton Business Finance, the invoice financier wholly owned by Skipton Building Society, surveyed its clients to find what excuses were most used to justify late payment of invoices and how the current late payment culture was impacting on the running of clients' businesses.

Respondents claimed that waiting for payment was one of the fundamental business problems they were having, as it severely inhibited cashflow and business owners' ability to grow their business.

Excuses used include that employees who have the authority to sign a cheque, or the accounts department as a whole, are 'unavailable'.

The most comical to arise from the survey is that one customer was unable to pay because their CEO claimed that: 'I've broken my arm so I can't sign any cheques'.

However, the most widely used excuses relate to lost cheques or invoices, as the postal service shoulders the blame for the majority of late payments.

Ed Carney, Head of Marketing at Skipton Business Finance, felt that the survey results indicate customers will say whatever it takes to justify late payments: "Late-paying debtors tend to feel that as long as their suppliers get paid eventually, then there's no real issue."

"However, significant cashflow gaps can appear if the UK's SMEs don't get paid inside a reasonable and agreed time frame, which can then have a knock-on effect and potentially cause late payments for other suppliers."

Businesses suffering from late payments can help eliminate cashflow gaps by taking out an invoice finance facility, which works to release the cash tied up in unpaid invoices quickly.

To read the best excuses, go to http://www.skiptonbusinessfinance.co.uk/late-payments

A subsidiary of Skipton Building Society, SBF is a leading independent factoring and invoice discounting provider, offering a range of working capital solutions for businesses with annual sales ranging from new-start to GBP30m.

Skipton Business Finance, part of the Skipton Building Society Group, is a leading invoice finance company based in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Skipton. For further information, please contact us on 0845 602 9354.