Professional Services Payment Practices Improve Marginally: 70.1 to 71.0 (2020-2021)

The Comparison

• 2020: A survey of 172 professional services firms yielded an average payment practices score of 70.1 out of 100.
• 2021: A similar survey, encompassing 173 firms, showed a slight increase to an average score of 71.0 out of 100.
• Change: Overall, payment practices improved by a mere 0.8 points between 2020 and 2021.

What This Means

The data suggests a marginal, almost negligible, improvement in payment practices within the professional services sector. While any positive movement is welcome, a change of less than one point across a large sample size indicates that fundamental shifts in payment efficiency were not observed. Companies continuing to struggle with slow payments might consider the tools available to them, such as this late payment calculator to understand the true cost of outstanding invoices.

Summary: Across 172-173 professional services companies, payment practices improved from 70.1 to 71.0 out of 100 between 2020 and 2021.