Considerable ambiguity surrounds what the “new normal” may look like as organisations begin to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis and come to terms with the business landscape post Brexit, especially in terms of capital. Scenario thinking can equip organisations better predict and adapt to dramatic changes, however, one scenario that may been eliminated for UK SMEs is the thought of chasing late payments, according to Know-it, the cloud-based credit management platform.

Accelerated Payments, an SME funding provider headquartered in Dublin has announced it plans to fund €100m by 2021-end. The invoice financing provider foresees a difficult period for companies in the coming months but expects organisations with access to capital to conquer the challenges ahead and capitalise on new business openings.

Lynne Darcey Quigley, Founder & CEO of Know-it, commented: “This will provide businesses to gain access to funds when they are most needed, without worrying about incurring charges on all invoices or having to suffer the operational costs of financing ongoing credit lines. This announcement will enable SMEs to improve their cash-flow as the funds are immediately accessible.”

According to the funding provider, extraordinary levels of capital have been injected into SMEs during the Covid-19 pandemic and predicts problems are going to arise in the next 6-12 months as the government has already began to withdraw funding.

“Unfortunately, the data highlights an increasing challenge when it comes to late payments. Despite the government outlining a route out of lockdown, many organisations on the receiving end of late payments will struggle to survive after the crisis. As we have seen from the data, businesses are left with little choice but to carry on and work with businesses deemed bad payers, often to their own detriment.”

Lynne concluded: “This funding will generate openings for businesses that may have struggled in the past to obtain more traditional forms of finance. The risk assessment will be focussed on the buyer, instead of the SME. These businesses are facing extraordinary challenges in managing their cashflow and key to that is late payments, they are particularly vulnerable and have been significantly impacted by the crisis, subject to extended payment terms by big corporations. The plans to fund €100m will be a great support as organisations plan to navigate through 2021”.

This article was originally published by London Loves Business.