Friday Reflection: Do You Practice What You Preach on Late Payments?
James Salmon, Operations Director
Most people in business hate being paid late.
It’s frustrating, disruptive, and sometimes downright damaging.
But here’s a question worth reflecting on: what are we doing about it ourselves?
At CPA, we’ve worked with thousands of businesses over the years who’ve struggled with cash flow because of late payers. Yet, a few years back, we had our own moment of reflection — and realised that we weren’t doing everything we could either.
We weren’t bad payers, not by a long shot. We didn’t make our suppliers chase us endlessly. We didn’t make up excuses or dodge calls. But when we looked closer, we saw a pattern:
we tended to pay on the due date rather than before it.
And because payments don’t happen instantly, that often meant our payments were technically late.
We also had infrequent payment runs, preferred to “stay in control” of our payments rather than use direct debits, and generally operated on a schedule that suited us — not necessarily our suppliers.
So, at a directors’ meeting, we decided to change, we introduced a new approach:
- Pay invoices as soon as they’re approved
- Set up direct debit mandates with any supplier who offered them
- Treat supplier payments as a daily, proactive activity rather than a weekly or monthly routine
- And if there was a query or dispute, we still paid what we thought was due.
That didn’t eliminate every late payment — invoices still sometimes went astray, and occasional disputes arose. But we knew we were doing everything we reasonably could to eliminate delays.
And that felt good — not just ethically, but operationally. It strengthened relationships, built trust, and showed we were serious about tackling the late payment culture from the inside out.
The truth is if you care for your suppliers then they will care for you. And you should want your suppliers to be financially healthy if you want to maintain that supply.
So what about you?
Do you moan about being paid late — but still hold off paying others?
Could you do more?
It might mean finding some extra working capital in the short term.
But if every business took that step, the domino effect of late payments — one company delaying another — could finally be broken.
If we want others to pay on time, we have to lead by example.
Let’s start by practicing what we preach.
Want to join the pay on time revolution?
Come join CPA!. Just call Peter Uwins, CPA’s National Sales Manager, on 020 8846 0000 (business hours) or email nsm@cpa.co.uk today.