Slow payment is a loan you never agreed to

64%

of firms that bill after the work is done say customers are slow to pay

Federal Reserve Banks, 2024 (2023 survey; firms paid after delivery)

Businesses that bill after the job feel slow payers the most. The Federal Reserve's survey of small employers shows how widespread it is.

50% of small employer firms reported uneven cash flow in the past year. When the gap shows up, owners often cover it themselves: 54% of firms with financial challenges covered them with personal funds.

$17.7K

average owed to businesses with unpaid invoices

Intuit QuickBooks, 2026 (vendor survey, self-reported)

How long the money takes

Here's what invoice data from one accounting platform shows. 29.7 days is the average wait for a small business to be paid. 8.6 days is how late the average payment arrives. That's one platform's users, and many trades get paid on the spot, so your number may look very different.

The chasing has a cost too

20% of firms report time-consuming payment work such as billing and deposits. Every reminder somebody has to remember to send is time off the work that makes money.

What to check this week

• Add up everything more than 30 days overdue.
• Find out how many days pass between finishing a job and sending the invoice.
• Ask who sends reminders, and how often they forget.