Businesses are almost two months late in paying their bills, with the national tardiness rate blowing out to an average 53 days.
Two-thirds of businesses took longer than the standard 30 day period to settle their accounts, according to figures released today from the Dun & Bradstreet’s Trade Payments Analysis, which examines the ability of firms to pay their bills, and pay them on time.
The study also showed that the number of severely delayed payments, those 90 days or more overdue, rose by 15 percent compared with the same time last year.
“This trend of delinquent payment is hitting the cash flow of firms, with 50 per cent of executives noting negative impacts stemming from their slow paying customers,” Dun & Bradstreet CEO Christine Christian said.
During the September quarter, Australian businesses waited for over $21 billion dollars worth of delinquent payments to be processed.
“The continuing high rate of delinquency from Australian businesses is concerning given the importance of trade credit to the health of the nation’s economy”, Christian said.
The Forestry sector was the slowest to pay, with payments on average taking longer than 60 days. Meanwhile, the Transportation sector was the speediest paying group, taking less than 50 days to process and settle their bills.
Geographically speaking, those firms based in our nation’s capital were the tardiest with their payments, while Tasmanian businesses settled their accounts on an average 51.5 days, making them the fastest paying state.
