The companies that became banks without choosing to
How late payments can make a strong buyer look healthier while making its supply chain more expensive to finance
A supplier delivers on time. The invoice is correct. The customer accepts the work.
Then the supplier waits.
Payroll falls due. Materials must be purchased. The next order needs funding. The customer’s unpaid invoice remains an asset in the accounts, but it cannot be spent.
The supplier is now performing two jobs: producing what it sells and financing the company that bought it.
Trade credit is an established part of commerce. What deserves closer attention is how easily a financing burden can move towards the company with the least ability to absorb it.
My argument is that payment behaviour belongs at the centre of capital-allocation analysis.
On 7 October, Qonto launched its Insights platform. Its September figures show 31.6% of settled invoices paid late and an average delay of 58.6 days. [1]
The methodology matters. This is a platform-specific sample across France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The index counts matched, paid invoices received more than seven days after their due date. Still-unpaid invoices are excluded. We cannot extrapolate these figures to all European firms, treat them as default rates or infer that all delays reflect deliberate behaviour. [2]
Yet the broader financing problem is visible elsewhere. The French Payment Observatory’s September release estimates that eliminating payment delays would have left SMEs and microbusinesses with €13bn in additional cash. It also reports that, in the underlying 2024 data, average payment periods improved while the longest-paying 10% of businesses deteriorated. Averages can conceal growing pressure in the worst relationships. [3]
That combination deserves attention: persistent financing needs can coexist with apparently improving aggregate indicators.