Late Payments, Payday Super And The Cashflow Pressure Facing Employers

Late payments are getting worse and the numbers back it up.

CreditorWatch's April Business Risk Index found that payment arrears have hit their highest level since January 2020. More than 6% of business invoices are sitting unpaid past 60 days. Nearly 5% past 90. In food and beverage, it's even worse, over 11% of invoices are more than two months overdue.

If you're in hospitality, construction, transport, manufacturing or retail, you already know the feeling. It's not just an admin problem. When customers pay late, everything downstream gets harder - paying suppliers, ordering stock, managing contractors, covering wages.

Cashflow is all about timing, not just the numbers

You can be busy. You can have a full order book. And you can still feel completely cash-strapped.

That's the thing about cashflow. It doesn't matter how much money you're owed, if it's not sitting in your account when the rent, wages, insurance and loan repayments come out. For small businesses, even one or two late-paying customers can put pressure on the whole operation.

Payday super is coming, and it changes your timing

From 1 July 2026, employers are expected to pay super at the same time as wages, instead of quarterly.

For employees, great news. For employers, it means less breathing room. Right now, many businesses have a gap between paying wages and making super contributions. That gap is about to close. Every single pay run will need to cover both wages and super, in full.

Why this matters right now

Here's where these two things collide.

If your customers are paying late and your super obligations are becoming more frequent, the margin for error gets very small very quickly. A business already feeling the pinch from overdue invoices and rising costs needs to be thinking about this before July, not after.

EOFY is the perfect time to ask yourself:

Are invoices actually being followed up, or just sitting there? Are your payment terms still working? Are you too reliant on a handful of big customers? Will your payroll system handle weekly or fortnightly super payments? Could a few late invoices make it impossible to meet your obligations in the same pay cycle?

These aren't just accounting questions. They're questions about whether your business is exposed.

The right advice can help you understand where you're vulnerable, and what options are available to protect the business before the pressure builds.

EOFY is the moment to get ahead of this. Tidy up your processes, review your exposure and go into the next financial year with a clearer picture.

Insurance won't chase your invoices or fix your cashflow. But the right cover can make a real difference when things do go wrong.

If you extend credit to customers, trade credit insurance is worth a conversation. If payroll and employment obligations are getting more complex, management liability cover may be relevant too. And if you've ever faced the prospect of chasing a debtor through the courts, you'll know how quickly legal costs can stack up. Legal expenses cover can help protect you there, covering the cost of pursuing unpaid debts so a bad customer doesn't cost you twice.

Because when cashflow is tight, timing matters. And the businesses that prepare early are the ones with more options when pressure hits.