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The UK’s Cash Flow Challenge: Why Automation and Risk Management are Now Non-Negotiable

Cash Flow; The Uncomfortable Truth About B2B Payments in the UK

The latest UK payment data shows a much deeper problem than late invoices.
According to the Atradius B2B Payment Practices Trends 2025, 51 percent of B2B invoices are overdue and 7 percent are written off as bad debt. That is permanent cash loss.

This is not a collections issue.
It is a working capital issue.

Manual chasing, fragmented tools, and inconsistent follow ups are no longer enough. Finance teams need a scalable way to reduce overdue invoices, accelerate cash, and minimize write offs.

Source: Atradius B2B Payment Practices Trends UK 2025.

Automation Removes the Chaos

If half of your invoices are late, you cannot fix it by sending more emails manually.

Predictable cash flow requires consistent execution.

MaxCredible automates every follow up step. Customers receive the right reminder on the right channel at the right moment. No manual effort. No missed deadlines. No inconsistent tone. Your team stops spending time on admin and focuses on cases that require real engagement.

Automation turns collections from repetitive work into strategic work.

Visibility Turns Stability Into Progress

Atradius highlights a surprising trend.
Sixty percent of UK companies have stabilized their DSO.

But overdue volume and bad debt remain high.

This means most companies are tightening credit terms, not improving process execution. They stabilise the metric without solving the problem.

MaxCredible solves this with Debtor View, a consolidated customer record that shows:

  • invoice status

  • payment behaviour

  • communication history

  • dispute ownership and progress

When you have the full picture, collections becomes predictable.

AI Makes Risk Predictable Instead of Reactive

Most businesses assess risk when it is already too late.
The invoice is overdue, the customer is not reacting, and the dispute has already started.

AI changes the order of events.

MaxCredible assigns a risk score the moment an invoice is issued. The system automatically selects the right follow up strategy based on predictive behaviour patterns.

High risk → tighter cadence, faster escalation
Low risk → relationship focused, soft approach

Risk becomes proactive instead of reactive.

The Outcome: Faster Cash, Lower Bad Debt, Real Control

With automation, visibility, and AI risk scoring in one platform, finance teams can:

  • reduce overdue invoices

  • eliminate repetitive manual follow up

  • avoid sending unnecessary reminders

  • prevent issues before they become disputes

  • accelerate payments and improve DSO

You stop reporting what happened.
You start influencing what will happen.

Want to transform your credit management model?

Download:
The Seven Pillars of Modern Credit Management
A practical, actionable framework for predictable cash flow.

Another good read is : Use AI to make credit management sustainable

Source

Atradius. B2B Payment Practices Trends United Kingdom 2025.
https://group.atradius.com/publications/results