Systems that do not work properly are a major source of frustration
Amsterdam, 24 May 2022 – To ensure that customers make payments, 42% of finance professionals deployed a range of payment options in 2019. Over the years, this has proven not to be the solution for non-paying customers. In 2020, only 33% were using this tactic, in 2021 it was 27% and now only one in five (20%) companies are doing so. This is evident from the FinTech Barometer, a study of the financial status of Dutch companies conducted over the past five years by Fintech company Visma | Onguard.
Use of collection agencies
Over the years, the use of a collection agency is roughly the same when there is still no payment after a reminder. In 2019, sixteen percent of finance professionals said they use these agencies; in 2022, the percentage remained the same. The remedy that tops the list year after year is to deal with each case personally. So what are the reasons clients do not pay? In recent years, the main reason has been problems by COVID-19. In both 2020 and 2021, 31% of finance professionals said this caused customers not to pay. The reason that stands out annually is customer cash flow problems.
Adriaan Kom, CCO of Visma | Onguard states: “A problem that fortunately has become a lot less prevalent in recent years is incorrectly sent invoices. This used to be a major reason for customers not to pay. We see that technology has solved this problem in many cases and that far fewer finance professionals report that this is a reason for customers not to pay. Cash flow problems will of course remain a major issue, even after the pandemic. It is important here that companies, as they say they will do, look at each situation to see where there are problems and what is needed to get the bills paid.”
Frustrations of finance professionals
But what else frustrates finance professionals besides non-paying customers? This has changed very little in recent years. Systems that don’t work properly head the list in 2021 and 2022. Time-consuming manual and repetitive tasks and chasing invoices also earn honourable mentions in both years.
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About the research
Every year, Visma | Onguard investigates how financial professionals view the current trends and developments: Fintech, big data, digital transformation and data-driven. This research is called the FinTech Barometer and is conducted both in the Netherlands – through research agency Markteffect – and in the United Kingdom – through research agency Censuswide. At least one hundred of the respondents work as chief financial officer (CFO) and another two hundred as financial employees in an organisation with at least one hundred employees.
