Unethical accounts teams and finance directors are pulling out the all stops to avoid paying suppliers on time for work done, triggering a mass reissuing of invoices.
Research by Creditsafe reveals that more than 90% of firms have had to send invoices again and again over the past year because of clients’ tactics to delay payment.
Suppliers awaiting cash for work already completed are most likely to be told that their invoice never arrived, even if it was sent by registered post, the study shows.
Other firms ‘out of pocket’ said that their client queried the size or total sum of the invoice, effectively buying the end-user more time before making the final payment.
“Unscrupulous accounts teams and finance directors are using every tick in the book to avoid paying on time,” said David Knowles of Creditsafe. “It is bad practice and flouts the moral obligation to pay on time.”
Half of the businesses surveyed that accept cheques said customers were making deliberate mistakes, such as failing to sign the cheque or writing the incorrect amount or date to delay pay day.
Outlandish responses from end-users were reminiscent of the 'dog ate my homework' schoolboy excuses, said Knowles, with one saying, "Our accounts lady is off at the moment as her cat died."
Knowles said: "Firms can take proactive steps to identify those businesses that represent a poor credit risk or are habitual late payers".
Feb 16, 2010
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