Businesses in Galway are the fifth slowest in Ireland to pay their bills, averaging 28.44 days beyond terms in the first quarter of the year.
The findings were revealed as it was announced that Irish businesses have improved their payment performance for the third quarter in a row.
According to the latest insights from Experian®, the global information services company, businesses in the Republic of Ireland paid creditor invoices on average of 25 days beyond invoice terms, an improvement of one day compared to Q4 2011.
Businesses in Northern Ireland paid their bills almost seven days quicker than their counterparts in the Republic, paying on average 17.64 days beyond terms in the first three months of 2012.
By analysing the payment records of tens of thousands of businesses in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, including those owned by overseas companies, Experian is able to identify if and when they are going to pay their debts. The latest Experian payment performance analysis reveals that:
· Irish businesses paid their bills on average 25.01 days beyond terms in the first quarter of 2012.
· The payment performance of Northern Irish companies has slowed in Q1 2012 by 0.5 compared to Q4 2011.
· Businesses in Clare are the fastest in Ireland to pay their bills, averaging 19.53 days beyond terms in the first quarter of the year.
• Businesses in Waterford are the slowest to settle bills, paying on average 32.53 days beyond terms.
Ray Breen, Propositions Manager at Experian Ireland explains, “After reaching a three year low in Q2 2011 the payment performance of Irish companies has steadily improved for the past three quarters.”
“However, despite the positive trend emerging, late payments are still a huge area of concern for Irish businesses, particularly for SME’s who are struggling with their cash flow. By using Experian’s payment performance data, companies can make informed decisions before conducting business with a customer. The data can quickly identify whether a potential customer is a consistent late payer, or one whose payment performance is deteriorating, which could indicate the company is in financial difficulty.”
Experian has the largest database of up-to-date commercial payment data in Ireland, which is extracted from more than a quarter of a million payment instances processed annually.
