Overdue invoices deepen Australian small businesses' cash squeeze
An ABC report finds falling revenue and rising costs colliding with policy changes, while construction owners describe the growing burden of administration.
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Economic pain collides with regulatory changes for small businesses | The Business | ABC NEWS
Things we can learn from the video
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- 0:27Card surcharges, wages, payday super and trust taxation feature among the changes businesses are navigating.
- 0:57Debbie Johnson questions whether she wants her son to inherit the pressures of running her construction company.
- 1:51MYOB's survey finds falling revenue for many small businesses, alongside concerns about cash flow and attracting customers.
- 2:11CreditorWatch warns that indicators suggest insolvencies could rise further from already elevated levels.
- 2:40Minister Anne Aly cites tax relief and payment reforms; Steve later describes employing full-time administrative staff.
One in ten invoices was more than 60 days overdue in September, according to credit reporting agency CreditorWatch, adding a payment squeeze to the pressures facing Australian small businesses.
The finding features in a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's ABC News in Australia. CreditorWatch says serious arrears reached their highest level since April 2018. Its chief executive, Patrick Coghlan, warns that indicators point toward further insolvencies, even with business failures already close to record levels.
An MYOB survey supplies another measure of the strain: nearly two in five small businesses reported declining revenue over the past year, and roughly two-thirds were concerned about cash flow in the year ahead. Attracting new customers was another leading worry.
For the construction owners interviewed, those financial pressures coincide with an expanding administrative workload. The report lists changes involving card-payment surcharges, wages, the timing of employer retirement contributions and trust taxation. A business advocate argues that overlapping changes accumulate, disrupting everyday operations.
Debbie Johnson says the continuing burden makes her question whether she wants her son to take over her construction company. "I really don't know that as a mother, I would like to see him coming in and taking this business over," she says.
The report also examines inflation and higher operating expenses. An analyst identifies fuel costs, and the transport costs that follow, as the biggest single squeeze on small businesses and the wider economy.
Small Business Minister Anne Aly says the government takes those challenges seriously. She cites tax relief including a permanent A$20,000 instant asset write-off, alongside payment reforms that the Reserve Bank of Australia says will reduce business costs.
At the building site, construction owner Steve describes spending more than half his time on office work rather than building houses. By the report's end, he explains that keeping up with requirements has become a staffing expense of its own: the company now employs people full-time to handle the administration.
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The numbers
The report drew about 53,000 views since yesterday. Its central business indicators concern declining revenue, cash-flow worries and overdue payments.
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