UK SMEs lack processes required to tackle late payments - report

According to a recent research from supplier of mailing solutions Neopost UK, even though invoices make up nearly a third (31%) of all SMEs outgoing communications, the majority of the UKs smaller firms are struggling to manage their invoicing processes in an efficient and automated way.

The survey of 280 UK SMEs, conducted by OpinionWay, found that more than half (54%) of companies still produce and dispatch their invoices one by one - a time-consuming and costly approach. In addition, more than three quarters (77%) stated that they need to manually add information to their invoices, while nearly a quarter (22%) admitted they did not know whether or definitely did not tracked their invoices, hampering their ability to identify and chase late payers.

While electronic invoicing is increasingly praised for the efficiency savings it brings, the research also revealed that many businesses are still unsure of the compliance regulations associated with e-invoicing. For example, half of respondents did not know whether their invoices needed electronic certification, while nearly two thirds (63%) were unaware of the compliance issues related to sending these documents electronically.