债权人的噩梦：逾期付款激增，欧洲企业的新冠病毒之痛
新冠肺炎疫情引起的封城政策让世界经济戛然而止。面对这一局势，客户用扣留款项的方式节约现金，导致未付款账单数量激增至前所未有的水平，希望回收欠款的欧洲各大企业则因此而苦不堪言。
自3月11日世界卫生组织宣布新冠疫情爆发以来，各国逾期10天以上未支付账单数量增幅为：法国56%, 西班牙52%，意大利则达到了惊人的82%，英国和荷兰约为25%，比利时44%。
若从目前逾期10天或以上的账单总数来看，情况甚至更为严峻。整个欧洲大陆飙升了70%，其中英国增幅最大，未付账单数量几乎增加了一倍，法国紧随其后，增幅达到了87%。
上述数据由Sidetrade于4月22日发布，这是一家总部在法国的软件公司，致力于帮助企业接洽客户、管理资金以及收集账单。该公司查看了约2,850万份企业对企业的账单数据，总计超过500亿欧元（540亿美元），涉及约400万家公司。公司开发了一套追踪系统，用于跟踪六个欧洲国家的账单支付情况数据。
Sidetrade的首席技术官马克·谢尔登表示，未付款账单突增可谓是“前所未有”，不能简单与以往的经济衰退相提并论。
企业出于自身利益考虑，为了节省现金而延迟或扣留付款。对收到的货物或提供的服务延期付款，只是将痛苦转嫁给了供货商和服务商。加上封锁期间几乎没有获得新业务，收款问题对许多企业来说无疑是双重打击。
现金流不稳定会对整个经济带来多米诺骨牌效应，小公司往往最先倒闭。企业财务网络的一份报告指出：截至5月，英国高达五分之一的小型企业濒临倒闭，这些企业亟需政府救助金来规避这个厄运。企业财务网络是一家为中小企业提供会计服务和咨询服务的公司。
即便在平时，小公司也很难从大公司那里收回款项，大公司经常利用自身市场影响力来索取优惠。谢尔登说：“企业对企业（B2B）付款一直是中小企业的痛点，而疫情危机更是让这一形势急转直下。”
他说，许多公司不得不尝试在收取款项的方法上进行“创新”，比如提供更多折扣来促进按时付款。
谢尔登说，旨在成功收回款项的其他策略包括改变公司追查未付款账单的方法，以及采用公司能够接受的其他支付渠道。例如，当大多数职员在家办公时，用邮件和其他数字方式沟通会比打电话更有成效，将服务转换为订阅模式也有望提升支付的可靠性。（财富中文网）
译者：Feb
新冠肺炎疫情引起的封城政策让世界经济戛然而止。面对这一局势，客户用扣留款项的方式节约现金，导致未付款账单数量激增至前所未有的水平，希望回收欠款的欧洲各大企业则因此而苦不堪言。
自3月11日世界卫生组织宣布新冠疫情爆发以来，各国逾期10天以上未支付账单数量增幅为：法国56%, 西班牙52%，意大利则达到了惊人的82%，英国和荷兰约为25%，比利时44%。
若从目前逾期10天或以上的账单总数来看，情况甚至更为严峻。整个欧洲大陆飙升了70%，其中英国增幅最大，未付账单数量几乎增加了一倍，法国紧随其后，增幅达到了87%。
上述数据由Sidetrade于4月22日发布，这是一家总部在法国的软件公司，致力于帮助企业接洽客户、管理资金以及收集账单。该公司查看了约2,850万份企业对企业的账单数据，总计超过500亿欧元（540亿美元），涉及约400万家公司。公司开发了一套追踪系统，用于跟踪六个欧洲国家的账单支付情况数据。
Sidetrade的首席技术官马克·谢尔登表示，未付款账单突增可谓是“前所未有”，不能简单与以往的经济衰退相提并论。
企业出于自身利益考虑，为了节省现金而延迟或扣留付款。对收到的货物或提供的服务延期付款，只是将痛苦转嫁给了供货商和服务商。加上封锁期间几乎没有获得新业务，收款问题对许多企业来说无疑是双重打击。
现金流不稳定会对整个经济带来多米诺骨牌效应，小公司往往最先倒闭。企业财务网络的一份报告指出：截至5月，英国高达五分之一的小型企业濒临倒闭，这些企业亟需政府救助金来规避这个厄运。企业财务网络是一家为中小企业提供会计服务和咨询服务的公司。
即便在平时，小公司也很难从大公司那里收回款项，大公司经常利用自身市场影响力来索取优惠。谢尔登说：“企业对企业（B2B）付款一直是中小企业的痛点，而疫情危机更是让这一形势急转直下。”
他说，许多公司不得不尝试在收取款项的方法上进行“创新”，比如提供更多折扣来促进按时付款。
谢尔登说，旨在成功收回款项的其他策略包括改变公司追查未付款账单的方法，以及采用公司能够接受的其他支付渠道。例如，当大多数职员在家办公时，用邮件和其他数字方式沟通会比打电话更有成效，将服务转换为订阅模式也有望提升支付的可靠性。（财富中文网）
译者：Feb
Businesses throughout Europe are struggling to collect an unprecedented mountain of unpaid invoices as customers withhold payments in order to conserve cash in the face of coronavirus-related lockdowns that have sent the world economy into a sudden deep freeze.
The amount of money that is more than 10 days overdue has grown 56% in France, 52% in Spain, and a whopping 82% in Italy since the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11. The U.K. and the Netherlands have each seen about a 25% increase, while Belgium has seen a 44% spike.
The picture is even more grim when looking at the total number of invoices that are now 10 days or more past due. That figure has soared 70% across the continent, with the largest increase—a near doubling of the number of unpaid bills—happening in the U.K., followed closely by France, which has seen an 87% increase in late payments.
That's according to data released on April 22 by Sidetrade, a Paris-based software company that helps businesses with customer engagement, cash management, and invoice collection. The firm looked at data for some 28.5 million business-to-business invoices, adding up to more than 50 billion euros ($54 billion) and involving about 4 million companies. It has created a tracker to follow invoice payment data for the six European countries.
Mark Sheldon, Sidetrade's chief technology officer, said the sudden leap in unpaid invoices is "unprecedented" and can't be easily compared to other previous recessions.
Businesses are acting in their own interests to conserve cash by delaying or withholding payments. But by not making payments in a timely manner for products already received or services rendered, these companies are simply passing pain on to their suppliers and other vendors. Combined with the fact that little new business is being generated during the lockdown, the invoice collection problems present a double whammy for many businesses.
Spluttering cash flow can have a domino effect throughout the economy, with smaller companies often the first to collapse. In the U.K., as many as one out of every five small businesses were in danger of failing by May and were struggling to access emergency cash from the government in time to stave off that fate, according to a report from the Corporate Finance Network, a trade body for accounting firms and consultants who service small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs).
Even in normal times, smaller businesses often have trouble collecting invoices from larger corporations, as the bigger company often uses its market power to extract concessions from the smaller firm. "B2B payment has always been a pain point from SMEs, and it is being made significantly worse by this crisis," Sheldon said.
He said that many companies are having to be "innovative" about the way they try to collect payments. More have begun offering discounts to encourage on-time payment, for instance.
Other tactics to successfully collect payment can include changing the methods a company uses to pursue unpaid invoices, Sheldon said, as well as altering the payment channels it will accept. For instance, email and other digital forms of communication are likely to be more effective than phone calls when most employees are working from home, and switching to a subscription model for services may result in more reliable payment.
