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Professional Services Payment Trends: 2020 vs 2021

12 August 2022•By Alastair Campbell, Founder•Reports

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.

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Categories

Loading categories...

Recent Posts

Loading recent posts...

Resources

  • Late Invoice Calculator
  • Company Search
  • Browse by Sector
  • Browse by Region

Share Your Story

Have you experienced late payments? Share your story to help other businesses.

Submit Your Story

PaymentCheck

Our mission is to change the culture of late payments in the UK and help save over 55,000 companies every year which close due to cashflow issues.

Services

  • Payment Check
  • Business Solutions
  • API Access
  • Invoice Calculator
  • Late Payment Help
  • Get Your Score
  • Get Certified
  • For Accountants

Company

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Search Archive
  • Compare
  • EULA
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Awards

  • Methodology
  • 2025 Awards
  • 2024 Awards
  • 2023 Awards
  • 2022 Awards
  • 2021 Awards
  • 2020 Awards

Contact

  • office@paymentcheck.co.uk
  • +44 (0) 7915 608 057
  • Send Your Story

© 2026 Payment Check Ltd

Registered Address: 3rd Floor Suite 207 Regent Street London W1B 3HH

Made by Alastair Campbell