Late payment isn’t just a nuisance anymore, it’s a defining pressure on UK businesses. Recent figures show that 90% of UK companies experienced late payments in the past year, with average delays of 32 days beyond agreed terms. SMEs alone are carrying £23.4bn in overdue invoices at any given time, with 54% of B2B invoices paid late. For many clients, cash flow is tight, unpredictable, and often out of sync with when your invoices land.
Against that backdrop, practices offering diverse payment options upfront position themselves as modern, client‑centric partners—while removing a significant operational burden internally.
When clients are shown flexible options at the start of an engagement, they see a practice that’s:
- Professional – Clear, transparent payment choices demonstrate a well‑run, process‑driven firm.
- Client‑centric – Flexibility acknowledges that every business has its own cash‑flow rhythm.
- Forward‑thinking – In a market where only a quarter of invoices are paid on time, offering modern payment solutions helps you stand out.
And the benefits for practices are significant:
- More predictable cash flow – Critical in a landscape where average UK Days Soles Outstanding (DSO) sits at 52 days, well beyond typical 30‑day terms.
- Fewer overdue invoices – Reducing the risk that your fees become part of the £112 billion currently locked up in late payments across UK businesses.
- Less strain on credit control – A national study shows UK businesses spend an average of 86 hours per year chasing overdue invoices, totalling 133 million hours of lost productivity across the economy.
- Stronger relationships – Payment conversations stop feeling corrective and instead become collaborative.
Offering finance options isn’t the issue. The real problem is waiting until invoices are 30, 60, or 90+ days overdue before mentioning them.
By that stage:
- The client feels under pressure.
- Your team has invested hours chasing payment.
- The conversation becomes awkward.
- Admin spirals as each overdue case becomes a one‑off intervention.
This reactive approach wastes time and erodes goodwill. It also clashes with the reality that more than 87% of UK businesses are paid late at least once a year. Late payment is common—but preventable with the right systems.
Introducing options like Fee Finance by Keys Finance upfront changes the dynamic entirely. Clients see financing as a standard, sensible choice—not a rescue plan when they’ve fallen behind. Uptake increases, tension evaporates, and invoices stop ageing unnecessarily.
It’s one of the simplest operational shifts a practice can make—and one of the most impactful.
Review your payment offering now
Take an honest look at your current payment options:
- Do they reflect how your clients actually want to pay?
- Are you supporting clients proactively, or only reacting once payment becomes a problem?
- Could your credit control team reclaim hours every month with a more flexible, automated approach?
Expanding your payment offering—and crucially, presenting it at the start of every engagement—can transform cash flow, reduce overhead, and strengthen your client experience.
Put simply: the earlier the options, the fewer the problems.
Now is the time for every UK accountancy practice to rethink how clients pay—and to make flexibility a standard, strategic part of your service. If you would like to find out how Keys can help get in touch today – https://www.keysfinance.co.uk/next-day-professional-fee-finance/
