This report, prepared by Trajectory for Concur, imagines an ‘Invoice Utopia’ in which businesses never fail, jobs aren’t lost because of late payments, cash flow crises are more easily managed and organisations are better protected.
It does so to understand just how far businesses are from achieving that reality. In the UK there has been dramatic growth of small and medium enterprises, with SMEs accounting for 99.9% of businesses, 60% of employment and 47% of turnover. These businesses are extremely vulnerable to late payments however. Each year, nearly 60,000 businesses collapse and 350,000 jobs are lost because invoices are not paid on time. These challenges are set to grow as larger businesses increase their payment terms and Brexit brings with it economic uncertainty.
Invoice Utopia: A Vision of the Future for UK Businesses asserts that there is a need for a fundamental change in UK payment culture. Small businesses must negotiate harder at the start of contracts, large businesses must be aware of the potential damage of late payments and the government and regulators must support businesses of all sizes to thrive and grow.