Based on the September quarter analysis, it has been identified that businesses are paying their invoice obligations in record time. It highlights that the average time taken to make a late payment to a business was at 10.4 days, which equates to an extraordinary 17.7% decrease YoY (12.6 Days in September 2017).<\/p>\n
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![\"Source:](\"https:\/\/www.marshallfreeman.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/illion-Analysis-Late-Payments-Contrinue-to-Fall-300x194.png\")
Source: illion 2018 September quarter analysis<\/p><\/div>\n
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Key highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Late payment times lowest on record <\/p>\n Late Payments by Region<\/strong><\/p>\n The ACT continues to have the highest level of late payments across Australia, despite seeing the largest year-on-year improvement of 23.1% to 11.8 Days \u2013 compared to 15.4 Days in September 2017. Tasmania recorded the fastest payment times at 8 Days which resulted in a 16.4% drop and has seen its average payment time decrease by 62.6% over the last five years. This significant improvement has been contributed to \u201cstrong economic growth, a sharp lift in business activity and significantly lower unemployment\u201d accordingly to Stephen Koukoulas, illion\u2019s Economic Advisor.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Year-on-year by Region<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 New South Wales:<\/em> 10.5 Days (-19.6%)<\/em> <\/p>\n Late Payments by Size of Business<\/strong><\/p>\n As highlighted by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman and past analysis, the difference in payment times between large and small businesses remains indicative of the power disparity that exists. And looking at the latest report, this trend still continues \u2013 seeing larger entities remaining well behind smaller enterprises. <\/p>\n Source: illion 2018 September quarter analysis<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n With little change in trend over the years which highlights that late payments are generally much higher in large companies, it\u2019s important for businesses to make sure they have the right systems and processes in place to help minimise the impact on your business\u2019s cash flow. Whether this integrating accounting software such as Xero or MYOB to help streamline and automate invoicing and reminders or offering more convenient or flexible payment options, there\u2019s a number of areas that you can review to help you get paid faster.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Are you struggling to get paid on time?
\n\u2022 ACT records annual drop of 23.1%
\n\u2022 Retail worst sector at 13.5 days
\n\u2022 Prompt payments rise to 72%<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Victoria: 10.4 Days (-15.4%)<\/em>
\n \u2022 Queensland: 10.1 Days (-16.8%)<\/em>
\n \u2022 Australian Capital Territory: 11.8 Days (-23.1%)<\/em>
\n\u2022 Tasmania: 8.0 Days (-16.4%)<\/em>
\n \u2022 South Australia: 10.3 Days (-13.5%)<\/em>
\n \u2022 Western Australia: 11.0 Days (-22%)<\/em>
\n \u2022 Northern Territory: 10.8 Days (-9.8%)<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAt the highest level, we are seeing a difference of up to 6.7 days, with average payment times for organisations with greater than 500 employees sitting at 14.6 days, whilst entities with between 6-19 employees currently averaging only 8 days to settle their invoices.<\/p>\n![\"Source:](\"https:\/\/www.marshallfreeman.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Late-Payments-by-Size-300x136.jpg\")
\n<\/strong>Staying on top of your cash flow is very important in ensuring the growth and success of your business. It\u2019s important to look out for your own business\u2019s interest first and foremost, so if you feel you have exhausted all possible avenues to recovering unpaid invoices, it might be time to speak to a debt collection agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n