EUROPEAN
PAYMENT REPORT
2016
European Payment Report 2016
CONTENT
Statement by the CEO
4
EPR 2016 – in brief
6
Unnecessary pressure
on Europe’s SMEs
8
The four Europes
11
Payment behaviour
14
Percentage written off
15
European Payment
Risk Index
16
Risk forecast per
country
17
Country reports
18
How can you boost
your company?
47
Information about the
survey
48
Explanation of
economic indicators
49
Legal disclaimer
49
About Intrum Justitia
50
European Payment Report 2016
This is
The European
Payment
Report 2016
The report is based on a survey that was conducted
simultaneously in 29 European countries between
February and April 2016.
In this report Intrum Justitia gathered data from 9,440 companies across Europe to
gain insight into the payment behavior and financial health of European businesses.
Through this comprehensive survey among European companies, Intrum Justitia
generates awareness and debate among politicians and the media, for example, how
late or non-payments impact the economies of the EU. The survey is documented
and communicated to selected groups. In 2016, we will distribute more than 8,000
reports containing data based on the survey.
Intrum Justitia participates in seminars and meetings in Brussels to inform EU
delegates of the situation and the best approaches in working for a sound economy
and secure payments in Europe.
During 2013 and 2014, we were invited by the European ­Union, as the representative
of the business community, to speak during the campaign in which the directive to
protect companies from suffering from late payments (the Late Payment Directive)
was implemented. In 2015 we provided data to the EU commission in their work
to evaluate a possible review of the current directive. The Late Payment Directive
recommends that payment periods for companies be at most 60 days and for public
authorities 30 days.
Three years after the implementation in all EU countries, the Late Payment
Directive is starting to become known among Europe’s businesses, 28 percent say
that they are familiar with the directive. Still, as little as 20 percent of those that are
familiar with it claim to have seen a positive effect from it.
3
CEO foreword EPR 2016
We all have the
responsibility of
creating sound
European economies
The European economies are now putting the years of financial
turmoil and debt crisis behind them and several macro-economic
indicators are pointing towards a brighter future. Even so,
European businesses large and small, view late payments as a
serious threat to their overall ability to invest in growth and thus
employ more staff. That is one of the conclusions drawn from the
Intrum Justitia European Payment Report of 2016.
Of course, much is proving to go in the right direction.
With a GDP growth of 2 percent (Q4 2015)* and
unemployment rates are down to 8.9 percent* (February
2016), the lowest since May 2009 in the EU28 area,
politicians, central banks and the business society as a
whole should perhaps be able to take a big sigh of relief
for the first time in years.
Still, inflation remains negative in the EU28 area and
the European Central Banks have continued to lower
interest rates during the past year. Even record low levels
seem to have had little impact on businesses willingness
to invest.
Creating economic growth requires stability and
optimism. Entrepreneurs instilled with confidence dare
to increase investments, expand their business and hire
new staff. Evidently, the strategy of keeping interest rates
record low for more than a year has not created that much
sought after stability – 84 percent of the respondents in
our survey claim that they see no impact at all from the
low interest rate levels.
Instead, 33 percent of the respondents regard late payments as a threat to their overall survival and 25 percent
*According to Eurostat statistics
4
say that they are likely to dismiss staff following the fact
that their clients pay late or not at all.
Europe’s 20 million small or midsized companies
(SMEs) are more exposed to the increased financial risk
that comes from not having cash-flow under full control.
”Creating economic growth
requires stability and optimism.
Entrepreneurs instilled with
confidence dare to increase
investments, expand their business
and hire new staff.”
As much as 34 percent of the SMEs say that they would
be able to hire more if they got paid faster (25 percent
among the non-SMEs), and 41 percent say that the
fact that they do not get paid is prohibiting growth
(30 percent among non-SMEs). A strong indication
provided that much of Europe’s future growth will come
from this segment.
”To safeguard a sustainable society
is important for companies.”
More and more of the SMEs experience that they are being squeezed by their, very often, larger clients. As much
as 43 percent of SMEs say that they have been asked to
accept longer payment terms than they are comfortable
with and 39 percent of those that agree, claim that the
request came from a large multinational client. That large
corporations use their much smaller sub-suppliers to act
financier of their own cash-management processes is not
only wrong, it also creates an imbalance in society.
The EU Late payment Directive was developed to solve
this problem, but three years after it was implemented
in all EU member states only 28 percent of European
companies are aware of its existence (31 percent in 2015)
and of those that are, a mere 20 percent has seen a positive
effect from it. As the EU commission just recently
decided not to review the existing directive, mainly due to
the fact that the implementation in many member states
took longer than anticipated, Europe’s business society
must take action voluntary to address this challenge.
To safeguard a sustainable society is important for
companies. To put pressure on smaller companies to
accept longer payment terms while creating instability,
insecurity and fewer job opportunities cannot be in any
business leaders’ long-term interest. On the contrary,
there is a link between corporate responsibility for shorter
payment terms and a reduction in their long-term risk.
I am convinced that questions about fair payment terms
should be lifted high up on management’s agenda and
become an integrated as part of the company’s overall
sustainability efforts. A healthy economy creates stability
and lowers costs for everyone, large or small.
Mikael Ericsson
CEO & President Intrum Justitia
5
EPR 2016 in brief
The Central Banks of Europe have actively fuelled the European economies
for more than a year now and in many countries the key interest rate is
negative or at least at zero. The interest rate should, at least partially, be a
tool that serves to stimulating investment and consumption, thereby creating
more jobs and inflation.
However, the European Payment Report of 2016 shows
that there is still a long way to go to achieve this effect. A
vast majority of the 9,440 respondents of this year’s survey does not see any impact from the low interest rate as
regards their will to invest. As much as 84 percent say that
they see no impact at all, a quite significant increase compared to the 73 percent that said the same in 2015.
A calculation of an investment includes assumptions
of the future. To get the calculation to go together those
assumptions need to include a belief in stability and prosperity in that future. Perhaps the negative interest rates do
not signal that stability at all – rather that we are, still, in
an extraordinary situation?
Consumers are the most punctual
Intrum Justitia has investigated payment behavior and
the impact of late or non-payments among European
companies for more than a decade. Although the burden
of not getting paid on time has eased off since the crisis
6
How has the low interest rates (globally)
affected your business?
Decreased
investments, 5%
Increased
investments, 12%
No change in
investments, 84%
of 2008–2009, this year’s report still reports on serious
consequences for those that do not receive payment for
their goods or services sold.
In general consumers are most punctual when it comes
to owing money to companies. According to our survey,
European Payment Report 2016
consumers are on average only 0.9 days late with their
payments. Businesses are on average 5.6 days late, and
the public sector is 7.2 days late. This may not sound
like a serious delay for any client group, however, in the
extreme cases we are looking at delays of more than a
month. In Italy entrepreneurs selling to public authorities
are forced to wait for 48 days after due date to receive
payment and in Spain the corresponding figure is 34
days. On the more positive side are the Nordic countries
and Germany, that generally are seeing delays below the
European average.
There’s a big spread in the payment terms given by
large companies to other companies. According to our
survey, the average difference between the shortest and
longest payment terms allowed from large companies in
B2B deals are 59 days. Demonstrating that the big companies are skilled in using their leverage.
Severe consequences of late payments
Nearly three quarters (74 percent) of our survey
respondents believe the risks from their companies’
debtors the coming twelve months will remain stable.
This is good news, although 15 percent actually believe
the risks will increase and only 11 percent see their risks
decreasing.
Some might not believe that late payments are very
severe – everybody pays late. But the truth is that it surely
is a major burden for many companies, prohibiting their
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing during
the next 12 months?
Declining,
11% (13)
Increasing,
15% (17)
Remaining
stable, 74% (70)
growth. Almost half (46 percent) of respondents in
our survey say that late payments is causing a liquidity
squeeze to their business as a consequence. More than
four out of ten, 42 and 43 percent respectively, rate
additional interest costs and loss of income for their
company as a mid to high consequence of late payments.
And further to that 40 percent of respondents in our
survey say that late payments are prohibiting growth of
the company.
One conclusion from this is that the opportunities to
get Europe back to growth, at least partly lie in the ability of the European companies to manage their payment
flows. It is also clear that the trend is stable compared to
2015, despite a general pick-up in the economy.
Consequences of late payments
%
100
80
60
40
42
40
43
46
46
49
33
40
40
31
25
24
33
34
20
0
Additional
interest
costs for your
company
Loss of
income
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
Prohibiting
growth
of the
company
Dismissing
employees
[ 2016
[ 2015
Share of
respondents
that rate the
consequence
medium to high (3–5).
Not hiring new
employees
7
European Payment Report 2016
Unnecessary
pressure on Europe’s
SMEs is a threat
to growth
In the European Payment Report of 2016 we are putting extra
emphasis on how Europe’s small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs)
experience the fact that a fair amount of their outstanding receivables
are likely to remain unpaid. Our survey indicates that small
companies are more dependent on fast payments, less protected against
bad payment, and not as geared to raise investments, compared to
their larger peers.
8
European
Report
2016
Our
credit Payment
management
offering
Consequences of late payments
%
100
80
60
40
38
48
41
35
30
23
Share of
respondents
that rate the
consequence
medium to high (3–5).
20
0
Not SME
SME
Liquidity squeeze
Not SME
SME
Not SME
Threat to survival
4 out of 10 SMEs says
late payments prohibit growth
For an entrepreneur the cash-flow is the lifeblood of
the company, which constantly flows through the business allowing all other functions to work as they should.
Strained liquidity is therefore directly linked to the smaller company’s ability to grow to a much larger extent than
the larger corporation that has much more resources and
power to manage cash-flows efficiently.
The European Payment Report of 2016 shows that
41 percent of the SMEs in our survey say that the
consequence of not being paid on time is prohibiting
growth while 30 percent among larger corporations say
the same. Furthermore, late payments clearly means
increased liquidity squeeze for the smaller businesses
with 48 percent of the respondents in this category
rating this consequence with medium to high impact. To
further stress the seriousness of the situation, 35 percent
of the European SMEs view late payments as a threat to
their overall survival, while the corresponding figure for
large corporations is 23 percent. In other words, a large
number of small and midsized companies face serious
threats if payments are not made on time.
SMEs should not be
financing the cash-flow of the
large multinationals
Small to midsized businesses are less protected against bad
payment than larger corporations. About 28 percent claim
that they neither use bank guarantees, credit insurance,
credit checks, pre-payment, debt collection, nor factoring
to protect them against bad payments. The corresponding
figure for large companies is 10 percent. This leaves more
than a fourth of the small and medium sized companies
very vulnerable.
With that in mind, it is worrying that 43 percent of
the SMEs claim that they have been asked to accept
longer payment terms than they are comfortable with,
and 39 percent of those have been asked to do so by
SME
Prohibiting growth
of the company
large multinationals. In general, SMEs are inclined and
keener to allow shorter payment terms than the larger
companies. These figures illustrate an unsustainable
imbalance plaguing Europe’s business culture.
The problem of large multinational corporations
leveraging their economic clout and using their smaller
sub suppliers as a bank, requesting unreasonably long
payment terms appears to be a larger problem in the
Nordic region than anywhere else. In Sweden 52 percent
of SMEs state that have been pressured to accept longer
Would faster payments from your debtors enable
your company to hire more employees?
Do not know, 4%
Yes, definitely, 6%
Yes, probably, 19%
No, definitely
not, 31%
Not SME
No, probably
not, 39%
Do not know, 5%
Yes, definitely, 5%
No, definitely
not, 29%
Yes, probably, 29%
SME
No, probably
not, 33%
9
European Payment Report 2016
payment terms than they are comfortable with from
large multinationals, 58 percent of the pressured SMEs
in Denmark and as much as 73 percent of the pressured
SMEs in Finland. Perhaps surprising when taking into
account that these countries traditionally have been
among the best in class when it comes to paying on time
and maintaining a sound business climate.
Whereas 25 percent of larger companies say that faster
payments from debtors would probably or definitely
enable them to hire more employees, among the small
and mid-sized businesses the corresponding figure is
34 percent. This means that more than a third of SMEs
throughout Europe could hire more people if they got
paid faster. All in all our survey indicates that faster
payments potentially could create 7.7 million new jobs in
Europe – both in SMEs and large corporations.
Legal framework still not
protecting the SMEs
The European Late Payment Directive was developed to
better support Europe’s businesses to master the challenge
of protecting themselves from late or non-payment. Given
the picture painted for SMEs in this report, a stronger
10
legal framework clearly should have a positive impact on
their own risk assessment. Today, three years after the
implementation of the directive, this is clearly not the
case. Instead only 24 percent of the SMEs in our survey
are aware of the existence of the directive, compared to
55 percent among the large corporations. And of those
that are aware of it, a mere 17 percent of SMEs see a
positive effect from it while just 29 percent claim to make
use of the possibility to charge 40 EUR plus interest
when payments are late. Clearly, SMEs do not use the
tools provided to them to protect themselves against an
obvious balance sheet risk.
All in all the general awareness (among all respondents)
of this directive has decreased from 31 percent in 2015 to
28 percent this year. On a more positive note 20 percent
of those that are aware see a positive impact, compared
to 18 percent in 2015. And although the politicians
decided to leave consumer payments out of the directive,
31 percent of all respondents say that they would benefit
from a regulation of late consumer payment in the
directive, a very large increase compared to 2015, when
the corresponding figure was 20 percent.
European Payment Report 2016
The four Europes
The situation for businesses and payments vary considerably across the four regions of Europe; North (the
Scandinavian countries plus the Baltic states), South (Spain,
Portugal, Italy, and Greece), Central (the UK, Switzerland,
the Netherlands, Ireland, Hungary, Germany, France,
Belgium and Austria ) and East (Slovenia, Slovakia, Serbia,
Romania, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Bulgaria and
Bosnia). Whereas the overall forecast for risk development
in the coming 12 months in all regions have moved toward
stable since last year, there is still reason for concern when
we look at other factors.
Southern Europe: between
a rock and a hard place
The countries of southern Europe have suffered from
financial turmoil for a long time. The result; business
owners are suffering as private consumption is low,
industrial output decreasing and unemployment rates are
inconceivably high – especially among the youth.
More than 7 out 10 (71 percent) of businesses in
How do you see risks from your company’s debtors
developing during the next 12 months?
%
100
80
60
63
55
66
76
75
64
79
73
Remaining
stable
40
20
0
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
East
South
Central
North
Southern Europe in our survey have been asked to accept
longer payments than they are comfortable with, which is
by far the most of all regions. This is in spite of the fact that
it is also the region that offers the longest average payment
terms in all client categories.
Have you been asked to accept longer payment
terms than you feel comfortable with?
Do not know, 3%
No, 46%
Do not know, 3%
Yes, 51%
No, 57%
Central
North
Do not know, 11%
Do not know, 3%
No, 26%
Yes, 71%
South
Yes, 40%
No, 45%
Yes, 44%
East
11
European Payment Report 2016
What are the main causes of late payment of your own customers?
%
100
80
87
71
71
60
59
39
34
40
17
20
0
68
62
21
58
47
[ East
18
[ South
[ Central
[ North
Debtors in financial
difficulties
Disputes regarding goods
and services delivered
Beyond just requests for longer payments, almost 2 out
of 3 (64 percent) Southern European businesses have also
accepted longer payment terms than they are comfortable
with. Southern Europe is the only region in which a
majority of businesses in our survey has done so.
It is troublesome to note that it is also in Southern Europe that late payments have the most significant consequences. In the Southern European countries, close
to half (49 percent) of the respondents say that late payments have mid to high consequences in prohibiting
growth, a majority (52 percent) that it has consequences
for interest costs, almost 2 out of 3 (60 percent) that it has
consequences for loss of income and nearly three quarters
(74 percent) that it has mid to high consequences for liquidity squeeze. These are all the highest shares recorded
in any of the four regions.
Almost 9 out of 10 (87 percent) of Southern European
businesses in our survey say that in a main cause of
late payments is that their customers are in financial
difficulties. The second most common cause is intentional
late payment, which is experienced by more than 2 out of
3 businesses that responded to our survey in this region
(68 percent).
It is not unreasonable to think that when a clear
majority of businesses experience late payment requests,
liquidity squeezes and financial difficulties contribute to
sustaining late payment practices in Southern Europe.
Once one business requests longer payment term (for
any reason), liquidity is squeezed with a debt-holder to
12
40
46
66
Administrative inefficiency
of your customers
Intentional late payment
the point that they have to request longer payment terms
from their suppliers to avoid financial difficulties. Longer
payment terms are requested and accepted by the next
debt-holder in line and the chain reaction propagates
throughout the economy causing loss of income and
prohibiting growth.
Pressure in Northern Europe by large/
multinational corporations
In general the countries of the North tend to have shorter
payment times, less delays and lower risk than in other
parts of Europe. But when it comes to the imbalance
between SMEs and large multinationals, the North
actually sticks out on the negative side.
In three out of the four regions, requests for longer
payment terms are most likely to come from SMEs,
but Northern Europe breaks this pattern. A majority
of respondents (51 percent) in Northern Europe tell us
they have received requests for longer terms than they
are comfortable with. Out of these, more than half (54
percent) have had requests from large/multinational
corporations for longer terms. In addition 53 percent of
the respondents in Northern Europe that had accepted
longer terms than they are comfortable with, had done so
with large corporations.
One out of four businesses (25 percent) in Northern
Europe accepts longer payment terms unconditionally
when requested. This contrasts with other regions that are
more likely to negotiate for payment plans or discounts.
European Payment Report 2016
Generally speaking, what measure do you primarily take when a customer asks
for longer payment terms?
%
60
50
39
40
33
30
20
10
0
29
25
22
15
13
11
6
6
3
Offer a discount
as an alternative
14
15 15 15 15
11
16 14
14 13
12
4
Accept longer
terms but add
a surcharge
Offer payment
plans
We do not
negotiate
payment terms
Accept longer
payment terms
unconditionally
[ East
14
8
Other measure
3
5
8
[ North
Do not know
100
80
Share of
respondents
that rate the
consequence
medium to
high (3–5).
74
60
52
60
47
47
31
40
34
42
45
32
31 28
21
20
0
[ Central
Consequences of late payments
%
40
[ South
39
39
49
42
23
17
31
29
21 20
8
35 38
[ East
15
[ South
[ Central
[ North
Additional
interest
costs for your
company
Loss of
income
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
Late payments jeopardizing
survival in Central Europe
Almost two out of five (38 percent) Central European businesses in our survey rate late payments as having mid to
high consequence for their ability to hire new employees,
which is highest percent of all regions.
Late payments also risk putting people out of work
in Central Europe. Close to 1 in 3 Central European
businesses (31 percent) in the survey report that late
payments have mid to high consequences when it comes
to dismissing employees – a share that is almost four
times larger than it is in Northern Europe (8 percent),
which has the smallest share.
Although Central Europe has the lowest share of
respondents that have experienced requests for longer
payments (40 percent), it is in Central Europe that late
payments could have the most serious consequences for
Prohibiting
growth
of the
company
Dismissing
employees
Not hiring new
employees
businesses. Close to 2 out of 5 (39 percent) of Central
European businesses in our survey say that late payments
are threatening their survival.
less than half report
sufficient access to credit
In three out of four regions, less than half of businesses
report that their access to credit supports growth. Only
one out of three businesses (33 percent) in Eastern
Europe say they have sufficient access to credit. It is only
in Central Europe that a slim majority (53 percent) says
access to credit is sufficient and supports growth. One out
of five businesses (21 percent) in Southern Europe in our
survey say that their access to credit is so constrained that
it limits growth.
13
European Payment Report 2016
PAYMENT BEHAVIOR
Average payment terms and the time customers actually take to pay in days.
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
UK
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
UK
Missing data
Missing data
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Missing data
Missing data
20
40
60
80
100
120
[ Average Contractual Payment Terms in days. Public Sector
140
[ Average time in days that customers actually take to pay. Public Sector
14
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
[ Average time in days that customers actually take to pay. B2B
[ Average time in days that customers actually take to pay. B2C
0
Missing data
[ Average Contractual Payment Terms in days. B2B
[ Average Contractual Payment Terms in days. B2C
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
UK
Missing data
140
European Payment Report 2016
YEARLY REVENUES
WRITTEN Off*
Percentage of yearly revenues that have to be written off.
* In the 2016 European Payment Report the question regarding the share of a
company´s revenues that is written off due to late or non-payment has been
reformulated. Therefore the results are not possible to compare to previous years.
0.9%
0.8%
1.6%
1.4%
2.6%
0.9%
1.8%
2.2%
0.4%
2.6%
2.0%
1.9%
1.5%
2.7%
1.7%
3.7%
1.4%
2.7%
1.7%
4.2%
0.8%
1.3 %
2.3%
4.2 %
3.8 %
3.0%
2.4 %
5.8 %
2.9 %
15
European Payment Report 2016
European Payment
Risk Index
Intrum Justitia´s European Payment Risk Index (EPRI) provides a holistic
view on risks and markets, and actors vulnerability towards them.
EPRI is based on three different components, that together create the main index. The lowest possible value for the three
components as well as the main index is –2 and the highest possible is +2. The three components are the following:
Payment morale
Comparing the allowed payment
terms for a company’s customers
with the actual payment time,
describing which markets that
exhibit better or worse payment
morale than the market at large.
Late payment risk
Late payment impact
Measuring the risk for overdue
invoices; describing the risk for
late payments.
Weighing together the negative
consequences of late payments,
describing the effect of late payments on a company.
Lithuania
0.74
Denmark
Top 25%
High payment
stability, very low risk
0.69
Austria
0.57
Latvia
0.52
Slovakia
0.50
Czech Republic
0.42
Hungary
0.42
Estonia
0.42
Finland
0.41
UK
Above average
Below average
Good payment
stability, low risk
0.29
Sweden
0.28
Germany
0.25
Bulgaria
0.21
Switzerland
0.18
Limited payment
stability, some risk
Poland
0.05
Norway
0.04
-0.02
Croatia
-0.06
Netherlands
-0.09
Ireland
Serbia
-0.18
France
-0.24
-0.29
Belgium
-0.32
Romania
Slovenia
-0.50
Bottom 25%
Poor payment
stability, high risk
-0.82
Greece
-0.85
Spain
-0.86
Portugal
Italy
-1.15
Bosnia
-1.46
-1.6
16
-1.2
-0.8
-0.4
0.0
0.4
0.8
1.2
1.6
European Payment Report 2016
Risk forecast per country
How do you see risks from your company’s
debtors developing during the next 12 months?
Austria
32%
11%
28%
63%
Czech Rep.
10%
4%
9%
Latvia
12%
7%
11%
12%
77%
32%
62%
Spain
13%
7%
10%
21%
8%
70%
16%
16%
67%
65%
10%
Slovenia
18%
17%
13%
72%
70%
UK
8%
9%
17%
Poland
Norway
76%
22%
13%
69%
Slovakia
Switzerland
5%
10%
27%
16%
36%
Sweden
21%
12%
Serbia
14%
50%
Italy
78%
Romania
6%
60%
71%
Ireland
Netherlands
80%
14%
26%
79%
10%
France
21%
18%
50%
Lithuania
Portugal
3%
76%
8%
78%
21%
89%
58%
Hungary
Greece
11%
13%
Finland
13%
91%
28%
31%
Estonia
6% 3%
Germany
11%
55%
Denmark
79%
8%
16%
28%
61%
11%
Croatia
Bulgaria
Bosnia
Belgium
4%
11%
[ Declining
66%
85%
69%
81%
[ Remaining stable
[ Increasing
17
Austria
KEY FINDINGS
Forecasted payment risk
is on the rise
Almost one out of three
respondents (32 percent) in
Austria believe that risks from the
company’s debtors will increase
of over the coming 12 months,
which is more than twice the
average for Europe as a whole.
GDP per capita in euro
39,100
28,700
GDP percentage growth
0.9
1.9
Inflation
0.8
0.0
Unemployment rate
5.7
9.4
18
5
-1
22
+4
27
25
+2
+6
38
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
No, definitely
not, 5%
Yes,
definitely,
3%
Low Risk
0.57
Remaining
stable, 63% (77)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
80
60
Yes,
53% (46)
No,
46% (51)
54
56
51
40
30
14
20
39
27
5
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
probably,
7%
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
%
100
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Payment Index
(Risk index)
Declining,
4% (7)
Increasing,
32% (17)
+2
32
0
Almost a quarter (23 percent)
of Austrian businesses who have
been asked to accept longer
payment terms than they are
comfortable with, have been
asked to do so by a public sector
customer. Furthermore, one out
of every five (20 percent) of those
who accepted longer payment
terms than comfortable, did so to
a public sector customer.
+1
23
21
24
25
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
Knowledge of the European Late
Payment Directive has not spread
since 2015. Still, less than one in
ten (9 percent) of the Austrian
businesses in our survey report
that they are familiar with the
European Late Payment Directive.
For Europe as a whole, the same
figure is 28 percent.
Change
vs 2015
18
17
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
Public sector customers
pressure businesses for
later payments
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Average EU
Economic development, Austria
Low knowledge of the
European Late Payment
Directive
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
72
88
84
90
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
90
95
89
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 85%
(Do not know, 0% (4))
18
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
Belgium
KEY FINDINGS
Intentional late payment Many accept longer
plagues Belgian businesses payment terms than they
are comfortable with
Three quarters (75 percent) of
Belgian businesses in our survey
report that intentional late
payment is a main cause for late
payment from their debtors,
a much larger share than the
European average of 63 percent.
GDP per capita in euro
36,500
28,700
GDP percentage growth
1.4
1.9
Inflation
0.6
0.0
Unemployment rate
8.5
9.4
21
21
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
26
23
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
0
Close to two thirds (65 percent)
of Belgian respondents tell us
that they have accepted longer
payment terms than they are
comfortable with, which is higher
than the European average of
46 percent. A third (33 percent)
has accepted these types of
requests from large/multinational
customers.
Increasing,
28% (30)
No, definitely
not, 30%
Yes,
definitely,
7%
41
44
%
100
-5
80
-3
64
69
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Yes,
59% (59)
74
81
61
60
40
22
20
75
78
54
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
24
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Do not know,
3% (4)
No,
38% (37)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
+3
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
days
Yes,
probably,
15%
- 0.29
0
+2
44
42
0
Do not
know, 8%
Low Risk
Remaining
stable, 61% (60)
0
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Payment Index
(Risk index)
Declining,
11% (10)
Change
vs 2015
31
31
Over a quarter (28 percent) of
businesses surveyed in Belgium
forecast that risks from debtors
will increase over the course of the
coming 12 months.
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Average EU
Economic development, Belgium
Debtor risk is looming
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
69
55
44
75
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
63
89
75
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 41%
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
19
Bosnia
KEY FINDINGS
Late payments keep
Bosnian businesses
from hiring
Debtors in financial
difficulties lead to
payment delay
Over two out every five
(44 percent) Bosnian companies
in our survey report that late
payment has medium to high
consequences for their ability
to hire new employees. The
European average is 33 percent.
The leading cause of late
payments according to Bosnian
businesses in our survey, is
debtors in financial difficulties.
Nine out of ten respondents
report this as a main cause.
Average EU
Economic development, Bosnia
GDP per capita in euro
3,683* e
28,700
0.7**
1.9
2.8
0.0
27.5***
9.4
GDP percentage growth
Inflation
Unemployment rate
Debt collection
is still underused
As was the case in our last report
in 2015, Bosnian businesses are
among the least likely to use debt
collection agencies of the markets
surveyed. Almost three in four
companies (73 percent) never
hand over outstanding invoices
to a collection agency. The
average share for Europe as
a whole is 39 percent.
Payment Index
(Risk index)
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
28% (36)
Low Risk
Declining,
16% (16)
* IMF estimate, converted from USD at 2015 avg exchange rate (OECD)
** IMF www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2016
*** Bosnia and Herzegovina Agency for Statistics 2014
e) Estimated
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
11
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
10
-5
-7
25
18
20
29
31
30
-7
38
40
-2
-4
42
50 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
Do not
know, 6%
No, definitely
not, 29%
Yes,
definitely,
4%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Yes,
probably,
22%
Do not know,
19% (16)
No,
44% (49)
20
62
62
65
57
45
40
60
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
20
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
78
70
63
63
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
54
59
56
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 39%
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
86
60
%
100
Yes,
37% (34)
90
80
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
-1.46
High Risk
-9
15
14
19
18
0
Remaining
stable, 55% (48)
Change
vs 2015
6
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
Bulgaria
KEY FINDINGS
Debtor risks are
considered high
Low usage of debt
collection agencies
Low degree of precautions
against bad payment
In Bulgaria, 31 percent of our
survey respondents say they see
the risks from their company’s
debtors increasing the coming
12 months. In Europe, the
corresponding figure is
15 percent showing that
forecasts are not very positive
in Bulgaria.
In Bulgaria, 17 percent of
company respondents claim
the hand over their outstanding
invoices to a collection agency.
As a comparison, the
corresponding figure for Europe
is 49 percent leaving debt
collection agencies a scarce
phenomenon in Bulgaria.
Among the Bulgarian companies
responding to our survey, 38
percent say they do not undertake
any of the listed precautions
against bad payment (Bank
guarantees, Credit Insurance,
Credit checks, Pre-payment,
Debt collection, Factoring). The
corresponding European figure is
25 percent, leaving the Bulgarian
companies less protected than
their European counterparts.
GDP per capita in euro
6,100
28,700
3
1.9
–1.1
0.0
9.2
9.4
GDP percentage growth
Inflation
Unemployment rate
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
17
20
32
30
33
33
0
+6
36
39
40
-3
-18
52
50
60 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Do not
know, 5%
No, definitely
not, 30%
Yes,
definitely,
10%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Yes,
probably,
24%
Do not know,
16% (3)
No,
44% (81)
Declining,
11% (17)
Remaining
stable, 58% (52)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
80
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
84
64
53
41
40
20
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
30
17
7
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
40% (16)
85
60
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Low Risk
0.21
+2
23
30
Payment Index
(Risk index)
+3
34
10
Increasing,
31% (27)
Change
vs 2015
19
16
0
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Average EU
Economic development, Bulgaria
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
84
31
79
89
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
70
91
83
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 32%
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
21
Croatia
KEY FINDINGS
Few benefit from low
interest rates
While 12 percent of businesses in
Europe as a whole have increased
investment due to low interest
rates, only 7 percent of Croatian
businesses report that they have
done so.
Average EU
Economic development, Croatia
GDP per capita in euro
10,400
28,700
1.6
1.9
Inflation
–0.3
0.0
Unemployment rate
16.3
9.4
GDP percentage growth
Lack of protection from
bad payment leave
Croatians vulnerable
Croatian companies in our
survey are less likely to make
use of a number of widely used
mechanisms to protect against
bad payment. Almost half (46
percent) of Croatian respondents
tell us they use none of the most
common protections such as
pre-payment or credit checks.
European Late Payment
Directive is ineffective
in improving payment
behavior
Although Croatia is only slightly
below the European average in
knowledge of the European Late
Payment Directive (23 percent),
the positive impact is substantially
lower. Only three percent of
Croatian respondents that are
aware of the European Late
Payment Directive say they have
noted a positive impact and fewer
delays.
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
13% (21)
Payment Index
(Risk index)
Low Risk
Declining,
11% (9)
-0.02
28
29
32
33
31
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
-1
-6
37
47
51
48
48
10
20
30
40
50
+9
+3
+9
57
60 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
Do not
know, 9%
No, definitely
not, 1%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Yes,
definitely,
16%
Do not know,
5% (2)
No,
56% (43)
80
60
54
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
60
40
14
20
22
12
24
16
33
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
38% (56)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
%
100
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
High Risk
-1
38
0
Remaining
stable, 76% (70)
Change
vs 2015
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
75
72
69
77
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
75
88
81
60
40
Yes,
probably,
11%
No, probably
not, 63%
22
20
0
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
Czech Republic
KEY FINDINGS
Financial difficulties
for customers lead to
late payments
Czech businesses
Little leverage and
pressured to accept longer protection against
payment terms
late payment
Czech businesses place financial
problems on the part of debtors
are the main cause of late
payments. Over three quarters
(76 percent) of Czech businesses
in our survey say this is a
main cause.
Almost three quarters
(72 percent) of Czech companies
that responded to the survey have
accepted longer payment terms
than they are comfortable with.
This is much higher than the
average European share of less
than half (46 percent).
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Average EU
Economic development, Czech Republic
GDP per capita in euro
29,440*
28,700
GDP percentage growth
4,2** e
1.9
Inflation
0.3
0.0
Unemployment rate
5.1
9.4
Once asked for longer terms,
more than a fifth (21 percent) of
Czech businesses in the survey
would usually accept the request
unconditionally. When asked
about a number of common
protections against bad payment,
such as credit checks and
pre-payment, more than a third
(34 percent) said they used none
of them.
Increasing,
10% (14)
Payment Index
(Risk index)
Low Risk
Declining,
11% (17)
0.42
* OECD, converted from USD to EUR at 2015 avg exchange rate 0,901
** OECD https://data.oecd.org/gdp/gross-domestic-product-gdp.htm
e) Estimated
18
17
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
21
19
17
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
0
5
10
15
20
Remaining
stable, 79% (69)
Change
vs 2015
0
24
25
23
24
26
25
25
+2
+2
-2
29
-4
30 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
80
Do not
know, 7%
No, definitely
not, 61%
Yes,
definitely,
2%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
No,
35% (40)
Yes,
60% (46)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
83
40
10
20
21
33
55
44
71
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Do not know,
5% (13)
Yes,
probably,
14%
76
60
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
High Risk
+1
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
76
66
67
89
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
73
96
87
60
40
20
No, probably
not, 16%
0
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
23
Denmark
KEY FINDINGS
Danish risk outlook is
stable for the near future
More than nine out of ten (91
percent) of Danish companies
that took part in our survey see
the risk from debtors remaining
stable in the next 12 months,
which can be compared with
74 percent for Europe as a whole.
Danish businesses are also
comparatively upbeat about their
access to credit, three out of five
(61 percent) say their access to
credit is sufficient and supports
growth, compared to 48 percent
in Europe as a whole.
Average EU
Economic development, Denmark
GDP per capita in euro
46,900
28,700
1.2
1.9
GDP percentage growth
Inflation
0.2
0.0
Unemployment rate
6.2
9.4
21
16
25
+4
+2
19
29
25
27
0
5
10
15
20
25
29
-3
+4
+2
30 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Do not
know, 2%
No, definitely
not, 77%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Yes, probably,
3%
No, probably
not, 18%
No,
55% (70)
Do not know,
1% (2)
Payment Index
(Risk index)
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
6% (10)
0.69
Low Risk
Declining,
3% (12)
Remaining
stable, 91% (78)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
80
63
60
40
36
46
16
20
49
48
41
8
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
44% (28)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
%
100
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Only slightly more than a third
(35 percent) of the Danish
companies surveyed hand over
outstanding debt to collection
agencies after the invoice due
date, which is less than the
European average of about half
(49 percent).
-1
24
22
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
Few make use of debt
collection agencies
The administrative inefficiency
of customers is the main cause
of Danish businesses making
late payments, according to
respondents to our survey. More
than three out of five (63 percent)
give this as a main cause.
Change
vs 2015
15
16
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
Inefficiency in
administration is
driving late payment
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
86
90
82
96
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
97
99
98
60
40
20
0
24
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
Estonia
KEY FINDINGS
Late payments are a
hard hit on revenue
Estonian companies in our survey
stand out as experiencing higher
consequences for loss of income
from late payments. Close to
three out of five (59 percent) say
that late payments have medium
to high consequences for loss of
income. The European average is
43 percent.
Average EU
Economic development, Estonia
15,600
28,700
GDP percentage growth
GDP per capita in euro
1.1
1.9
Inflation
0.1
0.0
Unemployment rate
6.2
9.4
9
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
10
16
15
12
5
10
+1
-3
20
20
-2
23
+2
25 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Do not
know, 10%
No, definitely
not, 29%
Yes,
definitely,
5%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Do not know,
5% (4)
Yes,
probably,
13%
No,
28% (18)
Low Risk
Declining,
13% (17)
0.42
Remaining
stable, 78% (73)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
80
77
74
55
60
40
20
20
66
53
66
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
18
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
67% (78)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
%
100
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Payment Index
(Risk index)
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
9% (10)
+1
19
18
18
15
A slightly higher share of
Estonian companies in our survey,
17 percent, felt that constrained
access to credit limited their
growth compared to the European
average of 13 percent. Moreover,
only 14 percent of Estonian
companies say that their access
to credit is sufficient and
supports growth – significantly
less than the average for Europe
of 48 percent.
-1
21
0
Few feel that credit helps
them grow their business
Among the Estonian businesses
that responded to the survey,
less than one in ten (9 percent),
was familiar with the European
Late Payment Directive. This
is substantially less than the
European average of 28 percent.
Change
vs 2015
9
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
Familiarity with the
European Late Payment
Directive very low
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
80
41
51
76
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
63
93
83
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 43%
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
25
Finland
KEY FINDINGS
Finnish companies
Debtors in financial
pressured by larger
difficulties to blame for
businesses to accept longer late payments
payment terms
The most common main cause
Close to two thirds (65 percent)
of Finnish businesses that took
part in our survey have accepted
longer payment terms than they
feel comfortable with. 64 percent
of these have done so when
dealing with large/multinational
corporations. This share is much
higher than the European average
of 38 percent.
GDP per capita in euro
GDP percentage growth
Inflation
Unemployment rate
37,800
28,700
0.5
1.9
–0.2
0.0
9.4
9.4
12
13
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
0
5
10
15
Increasing,
21% (31)
0
+1
-1
0
23
23
23
22
+1
25 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Do not
know, 4%
No, definitely
not, 38%
Yes,
definitely,
1%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Do not know,
3% (1)
Yes,
probably,
13%
No,
36% (38)
0.41
Remaining
stable, 71% (64)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
80
70
78
55
60
64
54
68
12
20
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
40
12
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
61% (62)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
%
100
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Low Risk
-1
18
18
19
18
20
Payment Index
(Risk index)
Declining,
8% (5)
Change
vs 2015
14
15
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
Finnish businesses in the survey
are slightly less inclined to hand
over outstanding invoices to
debt collection after the invoice
due date than their European
counterparts (45 percent vs 49
percent). Still, the survey results
show that debt collection is the
second most commonly used
protection against bad payment
generally, with more than a third
(37 percent) saying that they use
this protection.
of late payment to Finnish
companies in our survey was
debtors in financial difficulties.
7 out of 10 cite this as one of the
main causes.
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Average EU
Economic development, Finland
Debt collection the second
most used precaution
against bad payment
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
80
76
69
84
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
77
95
86
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 44%
26
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
France
KEY FINDINGS
Many are pushed to
accept longer payment
terms
Financial difficulties for Debtor risk increase
customers the main cause above average
of late payment
A quarter (26 percent) of French
Almost three quarters (72 percent)
of French companies surveyed say
that they have accepted payment
terms that are longer than they
are comfortable with.
Three quarters (75 percent) of
French businesses in our survey
report that customers suffering
from financial difficulties is a
main cause of late payment.
Average EU
Economic development, France
GDP per capita in euro
36,200*
28,700
GDP percentage growth
1.2
1.9
Inflation
0.1
0.0
10.4
9.4
Unemployment rate
businesses in the survey report
that they anticipate debtors’
risks increasing during the next
12 months.
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
26% (34)
Payment Index
(Risk index)
Low Risk
Declining,
14% (11)
* OECD, converted from USD to EUR at 2015 avg exchange rate 0,901
https://data.oecd.org/gdp/gross-domestic-product-gdp.htm
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
23
36
41
38
34
33
0
+3
48
51
+3
+1
-3
58
62
-4
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 days
80
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
80
Do not
know, 4%
No, definitely
not, 41%
Yes,
definitely,
3%
Yes,
probably,
14%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
No,
25% (19)
Yes,
68% (78)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
82
49
40
28
33
62
64
47
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
20
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Do not know,
7% (2)
75
60
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
High Risk
+13
46
43
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
-0.24
Remaining
stable, 60% (55)
Change
vs 2015
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
68
54
59
75
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
68
89
83
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 38%
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
27
Germany
KEY FINDINGS
Almost everyone
suffers from intentional
late payment
When asked about causes, fully
eight out of ten (81 percent)
German businesses report
intentional late payment from
customers as a main cause.
Average EU
Economic development, Germany
GDP per capita in euro
37,100
28,700
GDP percentage growth
1.7
1.9
Inflation
0.1
0.0
Unemployment rate
4.6
9.4
12
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
14
14
12
13
15
15
0
5
10
15
No, probably
not, 9%
Yes,
definitely,
1%
Low Risk
Declining,
4% (3)
0.25
High Risk
-2
18
19
-4
-5
-2
-2
17
19
-4
20 days
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Yes,
probably,
81%
Payment Index
(Risk index)
Remaining
stable, 89% (88)
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
Yes,
11% (16)
No,
89% (83)
92
91
81
80
87
60
20
9
15
6
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
32
40
0
No, definitely
not, 8%
If the German companies would
enjoy faster payments, eight out
of every ten (82 percent), say
that it would enable them to
hire more employees. This share
is substantially higher than for
Europe as a whole (33 percent).
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
8% (9)
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Faster payments would
give more jobs
Over two thirds (68 percent)
of German companies that
responded to our survey report
that late payment has medium
to high consequences as threat to
survival. This is more than twice
as big as the share for Europe as a
whole (33 percent).
Change
vs 2015
14
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
Late payment is
an existential risk for
two thirds of German
businesses
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
18
64
48
32
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
37
33
29
60
40
20
0
(Do not know, 0% (1))
28
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
Greece
KEY FINDINGS
Greek debtor risk
outlook fragmented
Late payments
hinder growth
Faster payments
would mean more jobs
Although the share reporting
declining risk (21 percent) is
10 percentage points above the
European average, a larger share
of Greek companies in our study
is saying they see risks increasing
in the coming 12 months
(28 percent).
Two thirds (67 percent) of
Greek businesses that responded
to our survey tell us that late
payments have medium to high
consequences for their ability
to grow the business.
More than half (51 percent) of the
Greek businesses in our study say
they would be able to hire more
employees if they received faster
payment.
Average EU
Economic development, Greece
GDP per capita in euro
16,200
28,700
GDP percentage growth
–0,2 p
1.9
Inflation
–1.1
0.0
Unemployment rate
24.9
9.4
Payment Index
(Risk index)
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
28% (9)
Low Risk
Declining,
21% (29)
p) Preliminary
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
16
+20
63
31
115
49
20
+56
41
21
0
+26
91
35
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
40
60
80
100
+32
+66
120 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
Do not
know, 6%
No, definitely
not, 21%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Yes,
definitely,
18%
Do not know,
6% (12)
No,
32% (22)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
93
54
55
60
40
26
20
68
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
27
6
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
62% (66)
86
80
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
High Risk
+13
52
26
-0.82
Remaining
stable, 50% (62)
Change
vs 2015
29
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
54
30
17
37
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
33
55
43
60
40
20
No, probably
not, 22%
Yes,
probably,
33%
0
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
29
Hungary
KEY FINDINGS
Risks from debtors
stable or declining
Debt collection is
underused in Hungary
Close to one in five (18 percent)
of Hungarian businesses in our
survey say that they see risks from
debtors declining during the next
12 months, compared to
11 percent for Europe as a whole.
Only 3 percent of Hungarian
companies see risks increasing.
Hungarian businesses in our
survey are less likely to hand over
outstanding invoices to debt
collection agencies than others
in Europe. Only 12 percent use
debt collectors after the due
date, compared to almost half in
Europe as a whole (49 percent).
GDP per capita in euro
11,100
28,700
GDP percentage growth
2.9
1.9
Inflation
0.1
0.0
Unemployment rate
6.8
9.4
16
18
20
22
22
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
20
20
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
0
10
20
24
Increasing,
3% (4)
No, definitely
not, 59%
Yes,
definitely,
11%
No,
38% (33)
-2
-6
28
30
High Risk
0
-4
28
29
30
-13
42
40
50 days
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
80
60
Yes,
61% (65)
65
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
51
40
13
20
22
33
28
28
5
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Do not know,
1% (3)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
%
100
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
72
67
72
78
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
73
87
83
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 17%
0.42
-2
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Yes,
probably,
9%
Low Risk
Remaining
stable, 79% (78)
0
Do not
know, 3%
Payment Index
(Risk index)
Declining,
18% (17)
Change
vs 2015
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Three out of every five
(63 percent) of the surveyed
Hungarian companies say
that they have accepted longer
payment terms than they are
comfortable with, a higher share
than for Europe as a whole
(46 percent).
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Average EU
Economic development, Hungary
Most companies have
been forced to accept
longer terms
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
Ireland
KEY FINDINGS
Tight credit limits growth Late payments are an
for many Irish businesses obstacle for job creation
Many are asked for longer
terms and some refuse
The share of companies in
our survey that reports credit
constraint as a limiter of growth
is twice as high among Irish
respondents (26 percent) as for
European respondents as a whole
(13 percent).
Although Irish companies in
our study are about as likely
to have been asked for longer
payment terms (45 percent) as
European businesses on average
(46 percent), the share of Irish
companies (31 percent) that say
they do not negotiate payment
terms is twice as high as in Europe
as a whole (15 percent).
Average EU
Economic development, Ireland
GDP per capita in euro
46,200
28,700
GDP percentage growth
7.8
1.9
Inflation
0.0
0.0
Unemployment rate
9.4
9.4
Close to two out of every five (38
percent) Irish businesses in our
study rate late payments as having
medium to high consequences for
the ability to hire more employees,
slightly more than the European
average of 33 percent.
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
10% (10)
Payment Index
(Risk index)
Low Risk
Declining,
21% (21)
-0.09
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
18
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
18
28
10
20
+22
+12
30
27
0
+17
46
24
30
36
+9
+12
40
40
50 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
Do not
know, 7%
No, definitely
not, 22%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Do not know,
6% (14)
Yes,
definitely,
12%
No,
49% (49)
80
60
40
69
60
47
39
51
50
62
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
23
20
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
45% (38)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
%
100
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
High Risk
+17
40
23
Remaining
stable, 69% (69)
Change
vs 2015
35
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
60
46
54
57
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
52
73
62
60
40
20
Yes,
probably,
22%
No, probably
not, 38%
0
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
31
Italy
KEY FINDINGS
Cautious optimism for
debtors’ risks
Italian businesses that
responded to our survey are
somewhat more optimistic on
the outlook for risks originating
form debtors in the coming
12 months. Close to one in five
(17 percent) see risks declining,
while 13 percent see them
increasing. This is more upbeat
compared to the European
average of 11 percent declining
and 15 percent increasing.
GDP per capita in euro
26,900
28,700
GDP percentage growth
0.8
1.9
Inflation
0.1
0.0
11.9
9.4
Unemployment rate
31
33
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
37
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
0
30
Intent and financial
difficulty main causes of
late payment
More than half of Italian
businesses (51 percent) surveyed
rate late payment as having mid to
high consequences in prohibiting
growth of the company, which
is higher than the average for
Europe at 40 percent. Other
significant consequences of late
payment are liquidity squeeze
(78 percent) and loss of income
(61 percent).
Three quarters (75 percent) of
Italian companies in our survey
report intentional late payment as
a main cause of late payment from
their customers, compared to
63 percent on average in Europe.
Debtors in financial difficulties
is the single most common cause
of late payment, experienced by
more than eight out of every ten
(84 percent) Italian respondents.
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Average EU
Economic development, Italy
Late payment squeezes
liquidity and hampers
growth
Increasing,
13% (27)
48
60
Remaining
stable, 70% (61)
+5
83
79
+4
-9
80
80
90
131
120
0
144
-14
150 days
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
80
No, definitely
not, 22%
Yes,
definitely,
7%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Do not know,
2% (3)
Yes,
probably,
21%
No,
28% (25)
82
75
42
40
21
20
78
42
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
17
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
70% (72)
84
60
0
Do not
know, 12%
-1.15
High Risk
-2
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Low Risk
Declining,
17% (12)
Change
vs 2015
60
55
Payment Index
(Risk index)
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
52
39
22
90
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
49
83
66
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 38%
32
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
Latvia
KEY FINDINGS
Credit checks and
pre-payment used to
protect against bad
payment
Latvian businesses in our survey
are more likely to require prepayment and credit checks to
protect against bad payment
than other European businesses.
Prepayment is used by three out
of five Latvian respondents
(60 percent), compared to half of
businesses in Europe as a whole
(50 percent).
GDP per capita in euro
12,300
28,700
GDP percentage growth
2.7
1.9
Inflation
0.2
0.0
Unemployment rate
9.9
9.4
20
16
17
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
18
18
18
0
5
10
15
Increasing,
12% (20)
20
22
22
0
-2
22
-1
22
+4
0
25 days
No, definitely
not, 64%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Yes,
definitely, Yes,
5%
probably,
6%
Do not know,
9% (20)
No,
41% (29)
Low Risk
0.52
Remaining
stable, 77% (53)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
80
66
61
57
40
13
20
22
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
31
23
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
50% (51)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
95
60
0
Do not
know, 1%
Payment Index
(Risk index)
-9
24
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Only 7 percent of Latvian
businesses in our survey tell
us they are familiar with the
European Late Payment
Directive. This share is markedly
lower than that of Europe as a
whole, at 28 percent.
Declining,
11% (27)
Change
vs 2015
15
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
of surveyed businesses in Europe
as whole hand over overdue
invoices to debt collectors, only
28 percent of Latvian companies
do so.
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Average EU
Economic development, Latvia
Few hand over overdue
Very low knowledge
invoices to debt collection of European Late
Payment Directive
While almost half (49 percent)
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
72
69
74
81
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
72
81
82
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 25%
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
33
Lithuania
KEY FINDINGS
Risk outlook stable in
Lithuania
Access to credit less likely
to be driver of growth
The share of Lithuanian
businesses in our survey
(7 percent) that report seeing
increasing risk from debtors in
the next 12 months is less
than half of the average for all
European businesses surveyed
(15 percent).
Among the Lithuanian
companies that responded to
our survey, the share that reports
their current access to credit as a
supporter of growth (23 percent)
was less than half of the average
for all European respondents
(48 percent).
Average EU
Economic development, Lithuania
GDP per capita in euro
12,800
28,700
1.6
1.9
–0.7
0.0
9.1
9.4
GDP percentage growth
Inflation
Unemployment rate
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
13
9
10
15
+6
27
+12
29
15
5
+11
15
15
0
+10
28
17
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
20
Increasing,
7% (30)
25
+14
30 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Do not
know, 14%
No, definitely
not, 45%
Yes,
definitely,
6%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Do not know,
9% (4)
Yes,
probably,
8%
No,
32% (37)
0.74
Low Risk
Declining,
12% (10)
Remaining
stable, 80% (60)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
80
60
63
50
39
20
4
16
35
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
18
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
60% (59)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
92
40
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Payment Index
(Risk index)
+7
27
17
Three out of every five
(60 percent) of the Lithuanian
businesses in our survey tell us
that they have been asked to
accept longer payment terms than
they feel comfortable with, which
is higher than the average share
among all European businesses
(46 percent).
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Change
vs 2015
20
Most have felt the
pressure to accept longer
payment terms
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
86
74
83
94
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
84
97
91
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 27%
34
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
Netherlands
KEY FINDINGS
Administrative
inefficiency a significant
cause of late payment
Credit situation not
likely to support growth
of Dutch businesses
Three out of five Dutch
companies (61 percent) in our
survey state that administrative
inefficiency of customers is a
main cause of late payment, much
higher than the European average
of 46 percent.
Less than a third (32 percent)
of the Dutch companies that
took our survey reported that
their current access to credit
supported growth of the
company. More than one in five
(22 percent) said that their credit
situation is constrained and
limits their growth.
Average EU
Economic development, Netherlands
GDP per capita in euro
40,100
28,700
GDP percentage growth
2p
1.9
Inflation
0.2
0.0
Unemployment rate
6.9
9.4
Dutch businesses less
likely to agree
unconditionally to
longer terms
Almost half of Dutch companies
(46 percent) in our survey
reported having accepted longer
payment terms than they are
comfortable with. A quarter
(25 percent) said they do not
negotiate payment terms if asked
by a customer, a share that is
higher than the European average
of 15 percent.
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
10% (10)
Payment Index
(Risk index)
Low Risk
Declining,
12% (13)
p) Preliminary
-0.06
21
19
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
23
23
+4
29
29
+6
5
+2
32
32
0
39
+3
+7
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
Do not
know, 4%
No, definitely
not, 34%
Yes,
definitely, Yes,
6%
probably,
15%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Do not know,
6% (5)
No,
54% (52)
80
60
63
61
60
40
24
20
70
62
58
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
22
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
40% (43)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
%
100
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
High Risk
+2
27
21
19
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
Remaining
stable, 78% (77)
Change
vs 2015
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
67
60
52
73
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
68
82
74
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 40%
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
35
Norway
KEY FINDINGS
Risk outlook
comparatively bleak
Intent is a leading cause
of late payment
More than a quarter (27 percent)
of the Norwegian businesses
surveyed reported seeing risks
from debtors increasing during
the next 12 months, compared to
only 15 percent of all the
surveyed businesses.
Although most (76 percent)
Norwegian companies cite
debtors’ financial difficulties as a
main cause of late payment, fully
68 percent state that intentional
late payment is also a main cause.
Average EU
Economic development, Norway
67,600
28,700
GDP percentage growth
GDP per capita in euro
1.6
1.9
Inflation
2.0
0.0
Unemployment rate
4.4
9.4
14
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
0
5
10
15
20
Increasing,
27% (17)
21
22
-3
24
25
-4
26
-2
27
27
30
-3
-5
32
35 days
No, definitely
not, 32%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
No,
54% (59)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
80
Yes,
44% (40)
76
67
66
60
76
68
74
42
40
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
27
20
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Do not know,
2% (1)
Yes,
probably,
9%
Declining,
8% (6)
Remaining
stable, 65% (76)
0
Yes,
definitely,
2%
Low Risk
0.04
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Payment Index
(Risk index)
-4
19
21
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
More than half of Norwegian
businesses survey respondents
experience medium to high
consequences from late payments
with regard to liquidity squeeze
(55 percent) and loss of income
(51 percent).
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Change
vs 2015
18
18
Late payments lead to
squeezed liquidity and
loss of income
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
76
49
45
73
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
68
89
78
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 57%
36
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
Poland
KEY FINDINGS
Late payments
threaten the survival of
Polish businesses
Close to two out of every five
(36 percent) Polish companies
in our survey say that late
payments have medium to high
consequences to the survival of
the business, higher than the
European average of
33 percent.
Average EU
Economic development, Poland
GDP per capita in euro
11,100
28,700
3.6
1.9
–0.7
0.0
7.5
9.4
GDP percentage growth
Inflation
Unemployment rate
10
15
20
25
33
-8
33
-4
30
-2
35 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Do not
know, 6%
No, definitely
not, 27%
Yes,
definitely,
10%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Do not know,
11% (0)
Yes,
probably,
18%
No,
40% (38)
Declining,
16% (17)
Remaining
stable, 67% (60)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
80
60
64
48
48
17
20
28
15
2
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
62
40
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
49% (61)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
%
100
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Low Risk
0.05
+1
30
32
5
Payment Index
(Risk index)
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
16% (24)
+2
29
0
Out of all the Polish businesses
that took our survey, only
2 percent were familiar with the
European Late Payment Directive,
compared to the European
average of 28 percent.
-2
25
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
Very low familiarity
with the European Late
Payment Directive
More than a quarter (28 percent)
of Polish respondents agreed that
faster payments from customers
would enable them to hire more
employees.
Change
vs 2015
21
22
24
22
23
22
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
Faster payments
mean more jobs
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
66
56
50
64
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
58
81
70
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 35%
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
37
Portugal
KEY FINDINGS
Late payments hinder
growth and causes loss
of income
More than half (52 percent) of
Portuguese respondents say that
late payments have medium to
high consequences for the ability
to grow the business. 58 percent
say that late payments lead to a
loss of income.
Average EU
Economic development, Portugal
GDP per capita in euro
GDP percentage growth
Inflation
Unemployment rate
17,300
28,700
1.5 e
1.9
0.5
0.0
12.6
9.4
Pessimistic view of
debtors’ risk development
Debt collection is
rarely used
Almost a third (32 percent) of
Portuguese businesses in our
survey say that they see risks
increasing from their companies
debtors during the next 12
months, which is more than twice
the share among all surveyed
businesses (15 percent). Only
6 percent of Portuguese businesses
see risks decreasing.
Out of the Portuguese companies
in our survey, seven in every ten
(71 percent) say they never hand
over outstanding invoices to debt
collection.
Payment Index
(Risk index)
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
32% (25)
Low Risk
Declining,
6% (5)
e) Estimated
28
34
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
45
40
0
20
40
High Risk
-6
52
49
+3
59
55
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
+4
68
70
76
60
80
+4
-2
-18
94
100 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
Do not
know, 14%
No, definitely
not, 19%
Yes,
definitely,
5%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Do not know,
5% (2)
Yes,
probably,
28%
No,
19% (26)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
94
60
46
40
13
20
51
40
44
9
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
76% (72)
91
80
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
-0.86
Remaining
stable, 62% (70)
Change
vs 2015
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
51
42
35
52
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
48
78
64
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 34%
38
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
Romania
KEY FINDINGS
Faster payments
would lead to higher
employment
Low interest rates are
a boom to Romanian
business
More than half (52 percent)
of the Romanian businesses in
our survey say that they would
definitely or probably be able to
hire more employees if only they
could get faster payments.
More than two out of five
(41 percent) Romanian
respondents say that they have
increased investments as a result
of the low interest rates globally.
This share is more than three
times as high as it is among all
European business surveyed
(12 percent).
Average EU
Economic development, Romania
GDP per capita in euro
GDP percentage growth
Inflation
Unemployment rate
8,100
28,700
3.8
1.9
–0.4
0.0
6.8
9.4
Very negative outlook
on risk development
Half of Romanian businesses
surveyed (50 percent) see risks
from debtors increasing during
the next 12 months. This is 35
percentage points higher than the
share for European respondents as
whole (15 percent).
Payment Index
(Risk index)
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
50% (39)
Low Risk
Declining,
14% (28)
-0.32
Remaining
stable, 36% (33)
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?*
25
25
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?*
25
0
5
10
15
20
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
24
25
25 days
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
* Missing data 2016
80
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Yes,
definitely,
20%
Do not know,
6% (1)
No,
70% (56)
81
60
68
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
57
41
36
40
53
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
20
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
24% (43)
68
60
0
No, definitely
not, 9%
High Risk
24
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
55
44
40
46
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
38
52
55
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 39%
Yes,
probably,
32%
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
39
Serbia
KEY FINDINGS
Positive outlook on
debtors risks
Low access to credit
for growth
In Serbia, 16 percent of the
respondents say they see the
risks of their company’s debtors
declining during the coming
twelve months, while 7 percent
see them as increasing. The
corresponding figures for the
European average are 11 percent
and 15 percent respectively,
giving the Serbian economy a
brighter outlook in this sense.
Among Serbian respondents,
14 percent claim their access to
credit is sufficient and supports
growth. This is 34 percentage
points lower than the European
average (48 percent), showing that
Serbian companies are worse off
than their European counterparts
when it comes to credit access.
Average EU
Economic development, Serbia
GDP per capita in euro
GDP percentage growth
Inflation
Unemployment rate
4,613*e
28,700
2.8**
1.9
0.7
0.0
18.5***
9.4
Low share have been
asked to accept too long
payment terms
In Europe, almost half
(46 percent) of the respondents
say they have been asked to
accept longer payment terms
than they feel comfortable with.
In Serbia, only 19 percent of
the respondents say the same,
which either shows that they
are comfortable with very long
payment terms, or that these types
of demands truly are less frequent
than the European average.
Payment Index
(Risk index)
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
7% (41)
Low Risk
Declining,
16% (23)
* IMF estimate, converted from USD at 2015 avg exchange rate (OECD)
** IMF
*** Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia
e) Estimated
-0.18
Remaining
stable, 76% (36)
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?*
29
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
31
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?*
%
100
25
30
0
5
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 days
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Do not
know,
24%
Yes,
definitely,
1%
Yes,
probably,
18%
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
90
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
40
Yes,
19% (47)
16
20
24
54
23
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
10
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Do not know,
37% (21)
56
60
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
87
80
36
* Missing data 2016
High Risk
27
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
68
74
73
81
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
70
83
72
60
40
20
0
No, definitely
not, 25%
40
No, probably
not, 32%
No,
43% (32)
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
Slovakia
KEY FINDINGS
Low usage of debt
collection agencies
In Slovakia only 12 percent of
company respondents claim
that they hand over outstanding
invoices to debt collection
agencies after a certain number
of days past the due invoice date.
The corresponding European
figure is 49 percent leaving debt
collection a rarely used method in
Slovakia.
Average EU
Economic development, Slovakia
GDP per capita in euro
14,400
28,700
3,6
1.9
Inflation
–0,3
0.0
Unemployment rate
11,5
9.4
GDP percentage growth
17
15
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
19
18
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
12
5
22
+3
25
+7
16
24
23
+4
+1
38
+15
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 days
No, definitely
not, 66%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Yes,
definitely, Yes,
5%
probably,
8%
Do not know,
3% (24)
No,
52% (40)
Payment Index
(Risk index)
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
10% (11)
Low Risk
0.50
Declining,
18% (30)
Remaining
stable, 72% (58)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
75
80
60
64
54
39
40
13
20
20
39
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
23
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
45% (36)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
%
100
0
Do not
know, 4%
Among the Slovakian companies
responding to our survey, 44
percent say they do not undertake
any of the listed precautions
against bad payment(Bank
guarantees, Credit Insurance,
Credit checks, Pre-payment,
Debt collection, Factoring). The
corresponding European figure is
25 percent, leaving the Slovakian
companies less protected than
their European counterparts.
+2
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Low degree of precautions
against bad payment
13 percent of Slovakian
respondents say that faster
payments from their debtors
would or would probably
enable them to hire more
employees, while 33 percent of
their European counterparts
say the same. This means that
faster payments probably would
have relatively low effects on
employment in Slovakia.
Change
vs 2015
23
0
Fast payments
would have low effect
on employment
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
73
53
65
73
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
64
83
80
60
40
20
No,
probably
not,
17%
0
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
41
Slovenia
KEY FINDINGS
Slovenian companies
More than half have
need more access to credit been asked to accept
longer payments
Among our European
respondents, almost half
(48 percent) say their access to
credit is sufficient and supports
growth. In Slovenia, the
corresponding figure is only
20 percent.
GDP per capita in euro
GDP percentage growth
Inflation
18,700
28,700
2.9
1.9
–0.8
0.0
9
9.4
Unemployment rate
15
17
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
0
10
20
Increasing,
17% (17)
+2
-2
0
+6
42
36
38
35
40
+3
50 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Do not
know, 5%
No, definitely
not, 31%
Yes,
definitely,
8%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
No,
43% (28)
-0.50
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
80
Yes,
55% (65)
75
81
40
14
20
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
69
60
28
35
66
47
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Do not know,
2% (7)
Yes,
probably,
19%
Low Risk
Remaining
stable, 70% (61)
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Payment Index
(Risk index)
-2
29
27
28
30
30
Among survey respondents,
Slovenians seem particularly
keen on using factoring as a
precaution to protect against bad
payment. 15 percent of Slovenian
respondents claim to use it,
while the European average is
only 6 percent.
Declining,
13% (21)
Change
vs 2015
20
20
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
55 percent of the Slovenian
respondents claim to have been
asked to accept longer payment
terms than they feel comfortable
with. Among all the surveyed
companies in Europe, the figure is
9 percentage points lower
(46 percent).
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Average EU
Economic development, Slovenia
Factoring a popular
precaution
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
63
39
51
70
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
52
80
55
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 36%
42
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
Spain
KEY FINDINGS
Many aware of the
European Late Payment
Directive
Low interest rates
have had a big effect on
investments
In Spain, as many as 46 percent of
our survey respondents are aware
of the European Late Payment
Directive. This is 18 percentage
points higher than the European
average.
15 percent of Spanish respondents
say they have increased their
investments due to the global low
interest rates. This is 3 percentage
points above the European
average.
GDP per capita in euro
23,300
28,700
3.2
1.9
Inflation
–0.6
0.0
Unemployment rate
22.1
9.4
GDP percentage growth
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
57
56
47
45
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
0
20
40
Increasing,
13% (11)
60
+1
65
70
69
70
80
+5
+2
-1
98
103
100
-5
120 days
No, definitely
not, 32%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Yes,
definitely,
10%
Do not know,
3% (2)
No,
33% (15)
-0.85
Remaining
stable, 66% (62)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
88
65
60
33
40
20
10
64
39
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
17
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
64% (83)
89
80
0
Do not
know, 8%
Low Risk
0
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Payment Index
(Risk index)
Declining,
21% (27)
Change
vs 2015
44
44
Last year, 27 percent of the
Spanish companies said they
believed the risks posed by their
debtors would decrease this year.
The corresponding figure to date
is 21 percent, which still is
10 percentage points higher than
the European average.
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Average EU
Economic development, Spain
Positive view of risks, but
not as good as last year
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
34
35
22
56
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
49
81
66
60
40
Yes,
probably,
22%
No, probably
not, 29%
20
0
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
43
SWEDEN
KEY FINDINGS
Almost half have been
asked to accept longer
payment terms
Low degree of
precautions against
bad payment
Administrative
inefficiency causing
late payments
In Sweden, many companies
are asked to accept longer
payment terms than they
feel comfortable with.
Among Swedish respondents,
47 percent said they had,
actually 1 percentage point
higher than the European
average of 46 percent.
Among the Swedish companies
responding to our survey, 43
percent say they do not undertake
any of the listed precautions
against bad payment (Bank
guarantees, Credit Insurance,
Credit checks, Pre-payment,
Debt collection, Factoring). The
corresponding European figure is
25 percent, leaving the Swedish
companies less protected than
their European counterparts.
Among our Swedish respondents,
administrative inefficiency of your
customers top the list as a cause of
late payment for customers with a
staggering 69 percent.
GDP per capita in euro
45,300
28,700
GDP percentage growth
4.1
1.9
Inflation
0.7
0.0
Unemployment rate
7.4
9.4
20
22
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
5
10
15
20
25
Increasing,
10% (9)
+1
0
-1
31
31
33
32
0
+1
35 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Do not
know, 6%
No, definitely
not, 38%
Yes,
definitely,
2%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Do not know,
1% (3)
Yes,
probably,
8%
No,
52% (47)
0.28
Remaining
stable, 85% (80)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
80
60
60
69
65
69
64
69
17
20
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
40
18
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
47% (50)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
%
100
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Low Risk
-2
28
27
29
29
30
Payment Index
(Risk index)
Declining,
5% (11)
Change
vs 2015
23
24
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
0
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Average EU
Economic development, Sweden
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
73
52
66
77
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
70
86
79
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 46%
44
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
SWITZERLAND
KEY FINDINGS
Faster payments not
important for hiring
more employees
Among the European
respondents, 33 percent say
faster payments would or would
probably enable their company
to hire more employees. The
corresponding Swiss figure is
only 8 percent.
Average EU
Economic development, Switzerland
GDP per capita in euro
53,800*
28,700
0.9** e
1.9
GDP percentage growth
Inflation
Unemployment rate
–0.8
0.0
3.3***
9.4
Many believe risks
will increase
Financial difficulties and
intentions biggest reasons
for late payment
Swiss respondents in our survey
are fairly pessimistic about the
future compared to many other
countries surveyed, at least
when it comes to the question
whether they see risks from their
companies debtors increasing
or decreasing the coming twelve
months. 22 percent of the
Swiss respondents see the risks
increasing, whereas the European
average is 15 percent.
The top causes of late payments
are, according to our Swiss
respondents, intentional late
payments (64 percent) and
debtors in financial difficulties
(77 percent).
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
22% (24)
Payment Index
(Risk index)
Low Risk
Declining,
9% (8)
0.18
* OECD, converted from USD to EUR at 2015 avg exchange rate 0,901
** OECD, CPI
*** Federal Statistical Office, Switzerland
e) Estimated
27
26
30
28
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
30
+2
34
+4
37
37
40
0
10
20
30
40
-2
0
45
+5
50 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
%
100
80
Do not
know, 1%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Yes,
probably,
8%
No, definitely
not, 54%
Do not know,
3% (6)
No,
40% (33)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
82
55
40
20
9
64
70
42
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
9
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
57% (61)
77
60
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
High Risk
+1
31
33
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
Remaining
stable, 69% (68)
Change
vs 2015
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
83
72
55
79
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
78
86
82
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 37%
(Yes, definitely, 0%)
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
45
UK
KEY FINDINGS
UK – where risks
remain stable
A staggering 81 percent of the
UK respondents say they see risks
from their companies’ debtors
remain stable during the coming
year, and only 8 percent believe
the risks will increase. That’s
half the share compared to the
European average (15 percent).
Average EU
Economic development, UK
GDP per capita in euro
39,500
28,700
GDP percentage growth
2.3
1.9
Inflation
0.0
0.0
Unemployment rate
5.3
9.4
What payment terms
do you allow your
customers,
on average?
29
18
27
18
17
15
What is the average
time actually taken by
customers to pay?
24
0
5
10
15
20
25
How do you see risks from your
company’s debtors developing
during the next 12 months?
Increasing,
8% (24)
+11
+9
+2
+8
30
+6
30 days
2016: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
2015: [ B2C [ B2B [ Public Sector
Do not
know, 5%
No, definitely
not, 29%
Yes,
definitely,
7%
Have you been asked to
accept longer payment
terms than you feel
comfortable with?
Do not know,
3% (6)
Yes,
probably,
21%
No,
60% (66)
Low Risk
Declining,
11% (8)
0.29
Remaining
stable, 81% (68)
High Risk
What are the main causes of
late payment of your own customers?
80
60
40
56
41
39
20
20
60
43
46
13
2016
20152016
20152016
20152016
2015
[ Disputes
regarding goods
and services
delivered
[ Administrative
inefficiency of
your customers
[ Intentional late
payment
On a scale of 0 to 5 how do you rate the
consequences of late payments for your company
with regard to:
%
100
Yes,
37% (20)
[ Debtors in
financial
difficulties
%
100
0
Would faster payments
from your debtors enable
your company to hire
more employees?
Payment Index
(Risk index)
+10
29
21
responding to our survey,
44 percent say they do not
undertake any of the listed
precautions against bad
payment(Bank guarantees,
Credit Insurance, Credit checks,
Pre-payment, Debt collection,
Factoring). The corresponding
European figure is 25 percent,
leaving the UK companies less
protected than their European
counterparts.
37 percent of the British
companies have been asked to
accept longer payments than
they´re comfortable with. This is
almost 10 percentage points
lower than the European average
of 46 percent
Change
vs 2015
25
15
A third have been asked Low degree of precautions
to accept longer payments against bad payment
than comfortable
Among the British companies
80
[ Low impact [ Medium to high impact
64
48
59
65
Liquidity
squeeze
Threat to
survival
59
79
68
60
40
20
0
No, probably
not, 39%
46
Additional Loss of
interest
income
cost for
your
company
Prohibiting Disgrowth
missing
of the
employees
company
Not
hiring
new
employees
European Payment Report 2016
How can you
boost your company?
Intrum Justitia believes that there are many measures at all
business levels (local, national and international) that business
owners and managers can include in their arsenal to battle late
payment. The recommended tools are listed below.
1. Create, continuously develop and implement a balanced and solid credit
policy to manage your risks and growth.
2. Measure and follow up on the capital employed in your credit
management process to reduce cost of capital.
3. Make sure you know the customer you are doing business with.
4. Write a clear contract with your customer stating your terms of business.
5. Integrate sales, marketing and financial departments, and create an
efficient invoicing process to avoid defaults.
6. Monitor economic and industry information, including solvency of key
customers, and regularly check customer addresses.
7. Reduce customer losses and strengthen customer relationships by tailoring
your credit process based on payment behavior and ability to pay.
8. Implement swift reminders and charge default interest when possible.
9. Balance your customer structure based on risk and growth potential.
10. Act immediately to get paid, don’t delay.
47
European Payment Report 2016
Information
ABOUT the survey
The survey was conducted simultaneously in 29 European
countries between February and April 2016.
The survey was conducted using an online survey tool,
printouts, and telephone interviews. The questionnaire
was translated into the respective national languages.
Dispatch and return of the questionnaires was carried on
a decentralized basis by the countries concerned, whereas
the analysis was carried out centrally in accordance
with predetermined guidelines. All information has
been verified and uncertainties were not included in the
evaluation. Furthermore, on the markets where Intrum
Justitia performed the data collection, the anonymously
sent questionnaires were not taken into account for the
final evaluation.
Companies in the UK were questioned by Cint and
SSI. Companies in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia,
Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Serbia were questioned
by ProKolekt. Companies in Latvia, Lithuania, Greece,
and also to some extent in Slovakia and Bulgaria were
questioned by DataDiggers. Companies in Austria were
questioned by Gallup. Companies in Denmark were
questioned by Cuneo. Companies in Holland were questioned by SSI. Companies in Czech Republic were questioned by Weber Shandwick. Companies in France were
questioned by CAP-TEL.
Clarification of results
In one question respondents have been asked, on a scale
from 0 to 5, how they rate the consequences of late
payments with regard to seven different aspects. In the
report an answer of 0 to 2 is presented as low impact and
an answer of 3 to 5 as medium to high impact.
Small and medium
sized enterprise (SME)
In accordance with the EU recommendations, an (SME)
is defined as an enterprise with up to 249 employees and a
yearly turnover of less than 50 million Euro.
48
The structure of the sample:
Company size:
Up to 19 employees 20 to 49 employees
50 to 249 employees
250 to 499 employees
500 to 2,499 employees
More than 2,500 employees
Business sector:
73%
11%
9%
3%
3%
2%
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
3%
Mining and quarrying 0.2%
Electricity, gas, steam and
air conditioning supply
1%
Manufacturing11%
Construction10%
Wholesale and retail trade
23%
Transportation and storage
5%
Accommodation and food service activities 2%
Information and communication
6%
Financial and insurance activities
2%
Real estate activities
4%
Professional, scientific, technical,
administration and support
service activities
11%
Public administration, defense, education,
human health and social work activities
4%
Other services
18%
European Payment Report 2016
Explanation of
economic indicators
The Eurostat data presented in the report refer to 2015. The unemployment rate is
presented as the annual average rate of 2015.
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP)
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure for economic
activity. It is defined as the value of all goods and services
produced less the value of any goods or services used in
their creation.
GDP GROWTH RATE
GDP growth rate is presented as change in percentage
on previous year. The calculation of the annual growth
rate of GDP volume allows comparisons of economic
development both over time and between economies of
different sizes, irrespective of changes in price. Growth of
GDP volume is calculated using data at previous year’s
prices.
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Unemployment rate represents unemployed persons as a
percentage of the labor force. The labor force is the total
number of people employed and unemployed.
INFLATION RATE
All information given represents the annual average rate
of change in Harmonized Indices of Consumer Prices
(HCIP). The inflation rate is the rate of increase of the
average price level.
Source: Eurostat
Legal Disclaimer
The material contained in this document has been
prepared with the aim of providing key information and
is for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to be
legally binding. Intrum Justitia has used its reasonable
endeavours to ensure that the information is complete and
­accurate where possible. However, you acknowledge and
agree that Intrum Justitia accepts no liability whatsoever
in contract, tort or otherwise for any loss or damage
caused by or arising directly or indirectly in connection
with any use or reliance on the contents of this document.
The country background information in this report was
compiled using a variety of open source material and
should not be viewed as definitive.
Rights and Permissions
The material in this work is copyrighted. With the exception of fair use for journalistic or scientific purposes,
no part of this report may be reprinted or reproduced in
any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Intrum Justitia. In all journalistic or scientific
purposes Intrum Justitia must be indicated as reference.
Intrum Justitia encourages dissemination of its work
and will normally grant permission promptly. Additional
copies may be requested via www.intrum.com.
Contact
Annika Billberg
Communications Director
Phone: +46 8 546 102 03
e-mail: [email protected]
This report is avaliable in print and can be ordered via
[email protected] or be downloaded as a pdf-document
at intrum.com.
49
European Payment Report 2016
ABOUT INTRUM JUSTITIA
Intrum Justitia offers services to companies to help them manage payments
and accounts receivable, and to improve cash flows. We are one of a small
number of companies in Europe that successfully combine the management
of our clients’ on-going credit matters with the purchasing of receivables
that have matured without payment.
Credit management services
Intrum Justitia offers a complete range of services covering our clients’ entire credit management chain
– from credit optimization and payment services to collection services. Through credit optimization, we
help our clients assess their potential customers’ payment capacity. Following the transaction, our payment services come into use, with billing and accounts receivable. Where invoices are past due, we offer
our debt-collection services to ensure that full payment is received for the product or service.
Financial Services
Through factoring, payment solutions for e-trade companies and purchased debt, our clients are
reimbursed regardless if the end-customer paid or not. Through factoring, our clients can sell their invoices
to us and secure most of the payment up front. With our service for e-trade companies, our clients are paid
directly, while we offer consumers monthly invoices or accounts for payment by installments. We can also
acquire our client’s overdue receivables for a portion of the value and pursue collection activities ourselves.
Customer
process
OUR credit
management
services
Our
financial
services
Sales &
Marketing
Payment
administration
Collection
Credit optimization services
Payment
services
Collection
services
Financing
services
Purchased
debt
”Boosting your business”
To summarize how we help companies and their customers conduct better business, Intrum Justitia
employs the concept “Boosting your business”. When credit assessments and payment flows function
as they should, companies are paid. This allows companies to be more profitable, to develop, grow and
recruit more employees. At the same time, we are helping people become debt-free and to achieve sound
private finances. Intrum Justitia’s mission is to act as a catalyst for a sound economy. Helping companies
and private individuals in this way is how we contribute to vitality among businesses and in society.
50
European Payment Report 2016
Intrum Justitia’s world. The objective is to be
market leader in all countries in which we have
business operations.
Clients of all sizes
Intrum Justitia’s clients operate primarily within fields
including telecom, energy, banking and retail – helping clients
with large volumes of consumer receivables is our specialty. But
we also work with tens of thousands of small and mediumsized companies that need to focus on their operations rather
than on payment management. We have nearly 75,000 clients
in 19 countries. The 30 largest clients account for about 15
percent of Intrum Justitia’s revenues, although no individual
client accounts for more than 2 percent.
Founded in 1923
Intrum Justitia is one of Europe’s leading credit management companies with operations in credit management and
financial services that build on strong collection operations.
Intrum Justitia was founded in 1923 and today has some
3,850 employees and business operations in 19 countries. In
addition, we partner with representatives in approximately
160 countries to serve clients with operations both within
Europe and beyond.
51
Intrum Justitia AB
Denmark
Germany
Netherlands
Slovakia
Hesselmans Torg 14
Nacka
105 24 Stockholm
Sweden
Ph +46 8 546 10 200
Fax +46 8 546 10 211
www.intrum.com
[email protected]
Intrum Justitia A/S
Valby Torvegade 17, 2 sal
2500 Vallby
Denmark
Ph +45 33 69 70 00
www.intrum.dk
Intrum Justitia GmbH
Pallaswiesenstr. 180–182
DE-64293 Darmstadt
Germany
Ph +49 6151 816 0
Fax +49 6151 816 155
www.intrum.de
Intrum Justitia Nederland
B.V.
Box 84041
NL-2508 AA The Hague
Netherlands
Ph +31 70 452 70 00
Fax +31 70 452 89 80
www.intrum.nl
Intrum Justitia Slovakia
s.r.o.
P.O. Box 50
Karadzicova 8
SK-810 08 Bratislava
Slovakia
Ph +421 2 32 16 32 16
Fax +421 2 32 16 32 80
www.intrum.sk
Financial Services
Intrum Justitia Debt
Finance AG
Industriestrasse 13 c
CH-6300 Zug
Switzerland
Ph + 41 41 727 86 86
Fax +41 41 727 86 87
Austria
Intrum Justitia GmbH
Donau-City-Strasse 6,
AT-1220, Vienna
Austria
Ph +43 1 260 88 80 0
Fax +43 260 88 99 0
www.intrum.at
Belgium
Intrum NV
Martelaarslaan 53
B-9000 Gent
Belgium
Ph +32 9 218 90 94
Fax +32 9 218 90 51
www.intrum.be
Czech Republic
Intrum Justitia s.r.o.
Ža Pasáži 1609
53002 Pardubice
Czech Republic
Ph +420 277 003 734
Fax +420 283 880 902
www.intrum.cz
Estonia
Intrum Justitia AS
Rotermanni 8
EE-Tallinn 10111
Estonia
Ph +372 6060 990
Fax +372 6060 991
www.intrum.ee
Finland
Intrum Justitia Oy
PL 47
FI-00811 Helsinki
Finland
Ph +358 9 229 111
Fax +358 9 2291 1911
www.intrum.fi
France
Intrum Justitia SAS
97 Allée Alexandre Borodine
CS-80008
FR-69795 Saint Priest
Cedex France
Ph +33 4 7280 1414
Fax +33 4 7280 1415
www.intrum.fr
Hungary
Intrum Justitia Kft
Váci út 144-150
HU-1138 Budapest
Hungary
Ph +36 1 459 9400
Fax +36 1 459 9574
www.intrum.hu
Ireland
Intrum Justitia Ireland Ltd
1st Floor, Block C
Ashtown Gate
IE- Dublin 15
Ireland
Ph +353 1 869 22 22
Fax +353 1 869 22 44
www.intrum.ie
Norway
Intrum Justitia AS
Box 6354 Etterstad
NO-0604 Oslo 6
Norway
Ph +47 23 17 10 00
Fax +47 23 17 10 20
www.intrum.no
Poland
Intrum Justitia Sp. z o.o.
Ul. Domaniewska 41
PL-02-672 Warszaw
Poland
Ph +48 22 576 66 66
Fax +48 22 576 66 68
www.intrum.pl
Italy
Portugal
Intrum Justitia S.p.A.
Viale E. Jenner 53
IT-20159 Milan
Italy
Ph +39 02 288 701
Fax +39 02 288 70 411
www.intrum.it
Intrum Justitia Portugal Lda
Alameda dos Oceanos 59
Edifício Espace
Piso 1, Bloco 2, A/B
Parque das Nações
1990-207 Lisboa
Portugal
Ph: +351 21 317 22 00
Fax:+351 21 317 22 09
www.intrum.pt
Spain
Intrum Justitia Ibérica
S.A.U.
Juan Esplandiú 11–13
PL 11
ES-28007 Madrid
Spain
Ph +34 91 423 4600
Fax +34 902 876 692
www.intrum.es
Sweden
Intrum Justitia Sverige AB
105 24 Stockholm
Sweden
Ph +46 8 616 77 00
Fax +46 8 640 94 02
www.intrum.se
Switzerland
Intrum Justitia AG
Eschenstrasse 12
CH-8603 Schwerzenbach
Switzerland
Ph +41 44 806 5656
Fax +41 44 806 5660
www.intrum.ch