Suppliers participating in working capital management programmes are focused on growth, remaining unphased by the fraught geopolitical situation around them and the high incidence of late payment, according to a survey carried out by Taulia.
The working capital solutions provider polled over 9,000 businesses from 129 countries to assess their sentiments and priorities for the coming year. Of these respondents, polled in November 2024, 85% said they were feeling optimistic about the year ahead, with 56% describing themselves as “very optimistic”.
Though this data was gathered before the market disruption caused by the Trump administration’s ongoing tariff upheaval, Taulia’s chief growth officer Bob Glotfelty tells GTR he has not heard major concerns from suppliers since then.
“We talk with a lot of our suppliers regularly, and we haven’t heard a huge shift on the ground yet in terms of people adjusting,” he says.
“Maybe it’s temporary, maybe it’s not and we just haven’t adjusted to it yet, but we haven’t seen a significant shift to the point where it’s on peoples’ minds and they want to talk about it in our interactions with our supplier base.”
This optimism remains unchanged from the previous year’s survey, but is a significant jump from polling three years ago. In 2022, only 18% of polled suppliers reported themselves as “very optimistic” about the year ahead.
Glotfelty suggests the optimism is based on solid fundamentals, including lowering inflation and interest rates.
There has been notable fluctuation in certain markets, however. Argentinian and Spanish businesses’ optimism has increased markedly, supported by strong growth in Spain’s case and slowly lowering inflation rates in Argentina.
But businesses in France and Germany, the two largest economies in the European Union, have seen a dip in confidence, which the report suggests might be due to “the continued economic challenges and political upheaval in these two countries.”
Despite rebounding business confidence, suppliers continue to grapple with overdue payments from their buyers. 51% of suppliers report that their customers typically pay invoices late, with 7% facing an average delay of over 45 days.
This figure is unchanged from last year, but represents a longer-term move towards slower payments. In 2019, only 38% of suppliers reported consistent late payment. Following some fluctuations during the pandemic, it appears to have settled at a higher rate, says Glotfelty.
“We’re on this steady trend [that’s] slightly higher,” he says. “It’s hard to know how statistically significant it is this year versus last year, but it is picking up a little bit each time. Businesses are just pushing the envelope a little bit.”
Suppliers are also increasingly interested in taking early payment through working capital programmes. 63% of respondents say they are interested in taking early payment, up 2% from last year and 8% since 2021.
The two most commonly cited reasons for seeking early payment are greater control over cashflow and increased liquidity, at 24% each, followed closely by improving collections and payment predictability.
Conversely, the 37% of suppliers that said they are not considering early payment cite strong cash positions and high costs.
