Business and transportation services, small and medium businesses that suffer the most delays in payment

One of the biggest problems facing small and medium-sized businesses and the self-employed, who sometimes have balances so tight that the gap between cash and cash can lead to a business shutting down, is the backlog of both public and private providers. They know this very well in the business services, transportation and logistics sector, and they are currently the ones who suffer the most from non-compliance with payment deadlines. With an average delay of more than 64 and 62 days, respectively, according to Intrum’s 2021 European Payments Report.

Although the situation is much better than last year, when the delay in both sectors averaged 90 and 75 days, it is still higher than that set by the legislation. Since 2013, the Late Payment Act establishes the maximum payment terms in business operations from the delivery of products or the provision of services. For public administrations it was 30 days and for companies and the self-employed 60 days, or 30 days if no date was specified in the contract. Payment date fixed in the contract. The law is also contemplating the possibility of claiming interest for the default and reimbursing the collection costs that should have been incurred. However, in the vast majority of cases, they are not required for fear that collection will be delayed further.

Other sectors that, although experiencing the second assumption set by the regulations, are also experiencing high deadlines are: technology, media and communications (60 days), energy, mining and public services (57 days), real estate and construction (55 days), and hospitality and entertainment (54 days). ).

Overall, the time companies take to pay their suppliers is 52 days, compared to 65 days in 2020. A number that leaves Spain at the same level as the European average, and as one of the regions with fewer deadlines. With the UK and Italy (also with an average of 52 days), Germany (53 days) or France (50 days).

Paying attention to the European total from more than 11,000 companies surveyed, it is noticeable that none of the 29 countries analyzed exceeded 60 days on average, although there are some companies that are still very close. This is the case of Bulgaria or Greece, with 58 and 57 days, respectively.