Payment terms settle, finds D&B

One regular measure of the credit worthiness of business shows that the recent improvement in businesses' payment patterns slowed during the December 2010 quarter.

Quarterly data on payment practices from credit bureau Dun & Bradstreet showed that the number of firms with delinquent accounts of 90 days or more past due increased by more than seven per cent during the quarter.

On average, businesses monitored by D&B took 52.1 days to settle their trade accounts during the December quarter.

On the other hand, the average number of payment days in the D&B survey is down from the 57 days reported in the wake of the GFC. So, using this indicator, business cash flows have maintained this improvement even in light of rising interest rates in Australia.