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Overdue payments are a fact of life in business, and unfortunately the situation only looks like getting worse. High inflation is going to squeeze everyone’s cashflow, and even if your customers are trying their best to keep up payments, they might be chasing bad debts themselves. So what strategies are available to you, if you want to chase money owed to you? Using Your Customer Relations When you have a probl

Contracts come in many different types. A contract can be a document to rival War and Peace in length and complexity, or it can be little more than a handshake. However, it’s a contract if it amounts to a provable agreement of how business is going to be conducted between two parties. So do you really need something formal, when an informal agreement serves the same purpose? What Is a Contract A contract is a l

Official inflation figures have just been released for December, and it won’t be a surprise to many people that the news is bad. The figure is 5.4% — the highest inflation since March 1992. This is clearly bad news for consumers, especially those on low income, but what is it likely to mean for your business? Inflation Squeezing Household Spending Much of the recent inflation, the highest this century, is obvio

The liquidation of a company doesn’t always have to be a traumatic event. There are many reasons why a decision may be taken to close down a company and, as long as it has enough assets to pay all creditors in full, this can be done in an orderly fashion through a solvent liquidation. However, occasionally this procedure goes wrong, and the liquidator is forced to convert the process to an insolvent liquidation

If you’re offering services to clients, you have the choice of whether to request payment up front, allow them to pay after delivery or set up a payment plan. Many business owners shy away from asking for up-front payment, fearing it will make them less attractive to prospects. However, this can lead to situations of having to pursue the client through the courts for unpaid invoices — or even having to write th

Many sectors of the financial world have their own independent oversight bodies. The best known is probably the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) but similar organisations operate in various areas of finance. One notable exception, though, has been the debt enforcement sector — but that may be changing. A prominent think-tank has brought together various sides of the sector and proposed a framework for a new oversigh

The financial effects of the pandemic have been severe on many of us, whether we’re acting as companies, landlords or individuals. One lifeline has been the ability to take “payment holidays” in the repayment of mortgages, loans or debts. This has been invaluable — but is it really the straightforward benefit it seems? Recent research by Resolver suggests it may not be. Payment Holidays Early in the

Are you one of the many SME owners who have been forced to close your business, wholly or partially, during the Covid-19 lockdown? If you have Business Interruption insurance that covered closure due to disease, you may have been one of the policyholders refused payment by your insurer. However, there’s good news. A ruling by the Supreme Court on the 15th January has established that in most cases closures due

2020 has been a difficult year in so many ways. Quite apart from the struggles of living in lockdown, the disruption has had a devastating effect on many bank balances. Two recent reports show the growing level of hardship many households are facing and the debt burden being taken on to cope with this. 30% of Households Facing Hardship Research by the Resolution Foundation suggests that incomes have fallen significan

Late payment has for a long time been the scourge of small businesses, and this has only got worse during the pandemic. Many businesses are suffering severe cashflow problems as a result, including the risk of closure. However, there are signs the government is finally contemplating action to help struggling businesses facing this issue. The Scourge of Late Payments Most small businesses operate on very narrow margin