Big fall in trade payment days

The average time Australian businesses are taking to pay their invoices has fallen to its lowest level since 2007, according to the latest Dun & Bradstreet trade payment analysis.

D&B said this was a sign that operating conditions had strengthened and that business cash flows were improving.

Businesses settled their accounts in 51.7 days, on average, during the September quarter, compared with 53 days in the June quarter and more than 55 days in the March quarter.

Fifty-four per cent of businesses paid their invoices within 30 days - up from around 47 per cent in the June quarter.

D&B said that all of the 13 industry sectors in its survey reported reductions in their average payment days.

Among the more tardy payers were companies in the finance, insurance and real estate sector, where the average was 54 days.

Big businesses are slow payers; companies with more than 500 employees took an average of 52.8 days to settle their accounts.