Monthly Archives: January 2020

Hot Business News Today

Small businesses spend hour and a half each day chasing late payments

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Small business are currently chasing more than £50bn of late payments, according to research.
Digital banking platform Tide revealed that the average UK SME is chasing five outstanding invoices at any one time, using up an astonishing 1.5 hours a day, with an average of £8,500 being owed.
If you are self-employed and working alone, you have an average of four outstanding invoices at any one time, amounting to almost £1,000.
And businesses with anything between 10 and 50 employees have an average of eight invoices outstanding, racking up £13,000 being owed on average.
Businesses in London have the toughest time in terms of late payments, with SMEs in the capital having an average of seven invoices outstanding, spending over two hours a day chasing.
London is closely followed by Scotland, with businesses there having an average of six unpaid invoices, eating up an hour and a quarter each day chasing.
The South West has the easiest time of it, with businesses there waiting on just three invoices to be paid.
Getting worse
The late payments crisis appears to be getting worse with a quarter of SMEs reporting things are worse than a year ago. Although the government pledged to clamp

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

More than four in 10 businesses could phase out contractors due to IR35

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
New research reveals that as many as four in ten businesses (41pc) will review their strategy around contractors come April 2020 when IR35 is introduced.
The survey from bedigitaluk.com is part of ongoing study into the way that British businesses are preparing for the IR35 legislation. Off-payroll rules are being brought in to combat tax avoidance caused by workers supplying services to clients through an ‘intermediary’.
Out of the 1,500 British business owners surveyed, just under two thirds (65pc) were aware of the IR35 legislation and have a plan set to deal with the law changes. After being informed on what IR35 is, 41pc said they will look to review their strategy for procuring contractors into their businesses. Just over one in ten (11pc) said that they would take more drastic action by decreasing contractor numbers, having a potentially damaging effect on critical projects.
When asked if they’d switched to outcome-based ‘statement of work’ (SoW) contracts, only one in five businesses had done so. Though it’s not that simple – 45pc of businesses admitted to being confused around what action to take next.
Which sectors are struggling the most with IR35?
Those operating within the construction sector were

Read more...