Number of Overdue Invoices Hit A Record High in Scotland
The number of overdue invoices in Scotland hit a 2022 high between August and October this year with more than 100,000 companies failing to pay on time.
An analysis of Creditsafe data has revealed 593,114 invoices in Scotland went unpaid past their deadline, 13,941 (2.4%) more than September’s figure of 579,173.
It is not just the number of unpaid invoices that has risen, the number of Scottish businesses owing overdue invoices has also soared to 101,835!
Where does this leave us?
We’re already seeing many businesses in the UK on the brink of collapse with company insolvencies continuing to soar this year.
As more businesses face financial difficulties and struggle to pay their invoices the knock-on impact this will have on other businesses could be catastrophic, putting even more businesses at risk of closing for good.
The Federation of Small Businesses recently warned 440,000 small businesses could be forced out of business by the late payment crisis. That is more than 10% of the total SME population in the UK!
These issues stretch beyond Scotland, it impacts the whole of the UK. The majority of Scottish businesses trade across the UK so these issues with unpaid invoices are not exclusive to Scotland.
With the longest recession on record looming and less cash flowing it is more important than ever that you ensure you are paid on time and have a plan to recover your unpaid invoices.
Ensuring you are paid on time
Credit control is no longer a “nice-to-have” function of your business, now it is essential your credit management is effective and guarantees you are paid on time.
However, credit control can be overlooked as businesses either do not understand its significance until it is too late, they find it inaccessible due to costs and hiring new staff or they simply do not understand the fundamentals of credit management.
This is where Darcey Quigley & Co can help.
We offer a full professional credit management service bespoke to your business.
Managing your sales ledger is critical to the success of your business as it ensures you are paid on time for the work you do, resulting in a healthy cashflow. But, implementing these processes can be time consuming with most businesses struggling to keep on top of their sales ledger, resulting in a delay in payments.
Outsourcing these functions to Darcey Quigley & Co allows you to take back control. We will provide a personalised business to business credit control programme for you including: customer invoicing, telephone, email and post reminders, scheduling statements and chasing all outstanding payments and invoices.
If you already have internal credit control we seamlessly integrate with your existing team and processes where you can think of us as an extension of your current team, freeing up resources in your business so you can focus on other areas.
Find out more by scheduling a call with one of our specialists.
What to do if you have unpaid invoices
If you have outstanding invoices it is vital that you act quickly to avoid losing out on what you are owed.
With the number of company insolvencies continuing to climb businesses are at significant risk of losing out on what they are owed to due to their clients going into administration or liquidation.
If you have unpaid invoices find out what additional late payment interest and compensation you are entitled to today by requesting a free no-obligation quote!
Lynne is the Founder and CEO of Darcey Quigley & Co.
She is passionate and determined to help businesses get overdue invoices paid quickly.
Having worked within the credit management industry for over 27 years and ran UK leading commercial debt recovery specialists Darcey Quigley & Co for over 17 years, Lynne has helped businesses recover commercial debts from every continent across the globe.
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