
Despite this being the season of goodwill, the Scrooge-like culture of businesses not paying bills will take the gloss off anyone?s Christmas.
One of the plus points when coming out of a recession is that business leaders continue to think smart about how they run their enterprises, keep things tight, but take a more cautiously optimistic approach to the future.? On the flip side, there are firms that extended payment terms during the recession and have continued to apply this disgraceful practice to our improved economy.? According to some research by a company called Tungsten a few months ago, nearly a quarter of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the UK are under pressure because of the late payment on invoices. This research reckons that the average SME is owed about ?40,000 in unpaid invoices with more than half of it overdue. Applied to the UK?s 5.2m SME businesses, the total owed could be an eye-watering ?212bn. The impact late payments have on SMEs cannot be underestimated, especially for those that are VAT registered and don?t operate on cash terms, but pay tax based on the value of the invoices issued and received rather than the payments received and made. Some firms end up relying on overdrafts to keep things going or become offenders by delaying paying bills and staff. All this does is create a domino effect where the pain is passed on and no one in the business community is immune. Read more from Charlie Mullins:- Any firm with the opportunity to employ an older worker should grasp it with both hands
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