$4.1b of arrears owed to small businesses in 2018

Almost a fifth remain unpaid in 2019.

A total of $4.1b worth of invoices were paid late to small businesses in Singapore in 2018, according to small business platform Xero. Moreover, almost one fifth (18.8%) of invoices remain unpaid and have bled into 2019.

Xero’s data also found that last year, only 39% of payments to Singapore small businesses were made on time. About 11.3% of Singapore small businesses experience payments being made more than 31 days late.

“Regardless of how late they are, late payments are stacking up to be a major issue for small businesses,” the company said. Xero previously found that as a result of late payments, small businesses faced a backlog of work (59%), suffered from reduced productivity (46%) and experienced cash flow issues (39%), in addition to reduced morale of employees and struggles to pay staff.

Kevin Fitzgerald, regional director for- Asia, at Xero, commented, “If small businesses are being held back from growing and flourishing, it is likely to have a knock-on effect for the wider economy in the long run.”

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.

The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia