$4.1b of arrears owed to small businesses in 2018

Almost a fifth remain unpaid in 2019.

A total of $4.1b worth of invoices were paid late to small businesses in Singapore in 2018, according to small business platform Xero. Moreover, almost one fifth (18.8%) of invoices remain unpaid and have bled into 2019.

Xero’s data also found that last year, only 39% of payments to Singapore small businesses were made on time. About 11.3% of Singapore small businesses experience payments being made more than 31 days late.

“Regardless of how late they are, late payments are stacking up to be a major issue for small businesses,” the company said. Xero previously found that as a result of late payments, small businesses faced a backlog of work (59%), suffered from reduced productivity (46%) and experienced cash flow issues (39%), in addition to reduced morale of employees and struggles to pay staff.

Kevin Fitzgerald, regional director for- Asia, at Xero, commented, “If small businesses are being held back from growing and flourishing, it is likely to have a knock-on effect for the wider economy in the long run.”