Stockholm based fintech company Invoier continues to challenge the financing market with the purpose of creating better financial conditions for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs). The company is now launching a new index that identifies how well Swedish companies are at paying their invoices on time. The first report displays a break in the trend where larger companies pay on time early 2022, for the first time since 2016.
The new index, Invoier Payment Time Index™, maps out actual versus contracted payment times between Swedish companies. In total the index is based on over 1.5 million invoices from more than 45 000 companies, from 2016 until today. The index points out the problem between small and large companies’ payment behaviours, where the small often pays even ahead of maturity date and by that can be forced into acting financiers to the larger companies, which in turn often pay after the due date.
“We exist to improve the financial conditions for small and medium-sized companies and believe an index that follows up on actual payment behaviour is crucial and therefore we are happy to be the first to introduce it. Invoier Payment Time Index™ is a measurement of the payment moral and payment times from larger companies simply has to be shortened if we are to be able to release the growth potential of Swedish SMEs”, says Fredrik Mistander, CEO & Co-Founder Invoier
March 1 2022, the Swedish parliament legislated on new, obligatory reporting of payment times from companies with 250 or more employees. The reporting requirements specify that these companies will have to state contracted, as well as actual, payment times and the share of invoices which are paid after maturity date. This will all be accounted for separated by supplier company size (0-9 employees, 10-49 or 50-249). All reported data will be made publicly available.
The background is the uneven competitive situation that has developed between small and large companies, which contributes to hindering the growth of SMEs. Long payment terms from larger companies often turn to liquidity issues for the smaller suppliers, who don’t have the same protection against credit losses and are dependent on fast payments, which negatively affects growth possibilities and new job openings.
“This is a really good sign and also one verified by an analysis. The fact that large companies are starting to move towards a higher moral is very positive and will enable all the smaller companies to ‘survive’ in times of war and concerns after the Covid pandemic”. Fredrik Sidahl, CEO FKG/Fordonskomponentgruppen
Invoier Payment Time Index is continuously updated and can be found at https://invoier.com/en/betaltidsindex/.
