Among Romanian companies, 41% report that late payments act as a negative strain on the hiring of new employees. This is close to the levels of the United Kingdom where 42% report the same and only the highly troubled economy of Greece comes out as having a higher level of companies reporting this sentiment. Among businesses in Greece, 60% report the same kind of impact from late payments on hiring and this can be compared with the European average of 20%.
The survey says the average payment terms in Romania are 36 days, while in Finland, the average payment terms are 20 days. However, the average payment terms in the B2B (business-to-business) sector in Portugal are 53 days.
When businesses are asked to rate the impact of late payments on their business in terms of liquidity squeezes, Portugal comes out among those at the top of the list. Among businesses in Portugal, 33% report that the impact from late payments is high in terms of causing liquidity squeezes, which is second only to the highly troubled economy of Greece, where 77% of businesses report the same, and can be compared with the European average of 21%.
The majority of European companies report financial difficulties among their debtors as being the main cause of late payments by their own customers. Of the European companies surveyed in 2018, 62% report this as being one of the main causes for late payment. 48% report intentional late payments as one of the main causes, and 45% report administrative inefficiencies on the part of customers as yet another of the main causes. 19% cite disputes regarding goods and services delivered as one of the main causes of late payments. Accordingly, it is evident that late payments are caused both by inefficiencies and negative external circumstances, as well as by malevolent and intentional business practices. An average of 13% of European outstanding bills are said to be paid late, when companies are asked to estimate their own rate of late payments.