Accounts receivable are taking longer to collect, especially at small companies, reports Coopers & Lybrand. Twenty-eight percent of 362 CEOs of companies with a median of $7 million in sales and 58 employees surveyed found that the average payment period was a troubling 47 days, forcing businesses to take defensive measures to protect cash flow.
Companies by number of employees
| Fewer than 100 | 100 or more | ||
| Have you recently experienced a collection slowdown? | |||
| Yes | 31% | 21% | |
| No | |||
| 69 | 79 | ||
| How have you responded? | |||
| Increased bank savings | 33 | 42 | |
| Stretched out payments to suppliers | 21 | 19 | |
| Increased credit availability | 22 | 33 |
Source: Coopers and Lybrand, "Trendsetter Barometer," New York City, March 1992.