Late payments currently affect, on average, around half of all invoices issued by North American businesses in B2B trade.
The 2023 Payment Practices Barometer survey for North America (USMCA) was conducted between the end of Q2 and the beginning of Q3 2024. Its findings should therefore be viewed with this in mind.
Key takeaways from the report for North America (USMCA)
B2B payment delays strain cash flow of North American business
- Late payments currently affect, on average, around half of all invoices issued by North American businesses in B2B trade. Bad debts stand at an average of 6% of all sales
transacted on credit with B2B customers, with US companies appearing to be hardest hit.
- A significant trend shows many businesses are moving away from retaining customer credit risk in-house to explore more diversified approaches. This includes tools like trade
credit insurance, which is used by around 40% of Canadian and Mexican companies, compared to 23% in the US. Factoring is also popular in Canada.
Economic woes and uncertain insolvency trends cloud North American business outlook
- There is a split among North American businesses about the outlook for insolvencies. 48% of companies, primarily in Canadia, anticipate an increase in insolvencies during the
coming months. In contrast, 49% expect the insolvency trend to remain stable, especially in Mexico.
- The main concern looking ahead for businesses in North America is the state of their domestic economies, especially in the US. Environmental and sustainability issues
are also a widespread worry, notably in Canada, while cybersecurity threats are another significant anxiety across many industries.
The Atradius Payment Practices Barometer is an annual survey of business-to-business (B2B) payment practices in markets across the world. Its findings can give valuable insights into the current dynamics of corporate payment behaviour in B2B trade. It can also help companies doing business, or planning to do so, in the markets polled to identify emerging future trends in the payment practices of B2B customers.
Interested in finding out more?
For a complete overview of the 2024 survey results for North America (USMCA), please download the reports available in the related documents section below.
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