Payment terms from large companies to SMEs should be increased from sixty to thirty days

State Secretary Mona Keijzer (Economic Affairs and Climate) and Minister Sander Dekker (Legal Protection) are working on a change in the law to halve the payment term from large companies to SMEs. Instead of a period of sixty days, this should be thirty days. MKB-Nederland is pleased with the plans.

An evaluation by the central government shows that payments are taking place less and less quickly. In Q1 2019, the payment term was an average of 41 days, in Q2 2019 this had increased to 41.4 days. Keijzer says about this: “This evaluation shows that bills are being paid increasingly later instead of earlier and that is undesirable. Many self-employed people and SMEs get into trouble if they have to wait a long time for their money. This can already cause problems when the economy is doing well, let alone in the difficult economic period that has now arisen due to the coronavirus.”

In addition to the increased payment term, the evaluation also showed that there is also a need among SME entrepreneurs to establish independent supervision of compliance with the payment term. The State Secretary has proposed that the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) register reports about non-compliance with the payment term for a year. Based on these figures, the government wants to determine whether independent supervision is necessary.

MKB-Nederland is happy with the change in the law. Chairman Jacco Vonhof says: “This is good for the liquidity position of smaller entrepreneurs and meets their generally weaker negotiating position.”

The employers' organization has been calling for a shorter payment term for some time, because large companies abuse their position, especially in times of crisis. Vonhof: “We have to get rid of that once and for all. It is not fair to do that to your smaller suppliers, especially not in a crisis such as the current one, in which SMEs desperately need liquidity to stay afloat.”