Australia small business payment times & late payment statistics

Small businesses in Australia waited an average of 24.2 days to be paid in September 2026, with invoices settled 6.7 days late on average. Across the July to September 2026 quarter, the period Xero headlines in its own commentary, the average wait was 24.3 days, with invoices 6.9 days late. Explore payment times, debtor days and late payment trends by industry and state, monthly from January 2017 to September 2026. Data: Xero Small Business Insights, analysed by Paidnice.

Updated with September 2026 data
Time to be paid
24.2days
-0.2 days vs a year ago
Paid late by
6.7days
-0.3 days vs a year ago
Sales growth (y/y)
+4.3%
+9.5% a year ago
Jobs growth (y/y)
+3.6%
+2.3% a year ago
Wages growth (y/y)
+1.0%
+2.6% a year ago

Australia is the fastest payer of the five countries we track. Across the September 2026 quarter, Australian small businesses waited an average of 24.3 days to be paid and settled invoices 6.9 days past due, up from 23.5 days and 6.3 days in the June 2026 quarter (Xero Small Business Insights, published 29 October 2026). The monthly figures below sit under those quarterly averages, and single months can move sharply before Xero revises them. The Payment Times Reporting scheme, which makes big businesses publish how quickly they pay small suppliers, has kept payment behaviour under a public spotlight since 2021.

How long does it take to get paid in Australia?

Monthly averages, January 2017 to September 2026. Pick a metric, zoom the range, and overlay industries or states and territories to compare against the national line.

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Time to be paid and late payment days are seasonally adjusted. Sales, jobs, and wages are year-over-year growth. Shaded marker: COVID-19 pandemic onset (March 2020).

Context:

How long do Australian small businesses wait to be paid by industry?

Debtor days by sector, September 2026. Click a column heading to sort.

Industry Time to be paid Paid late by Change vs a year ago
Manufacturing 32.3 days 8.6 days 0.0d
Mining 32.0 days 5.8 days -8.9d
Wholesale Trade 31.2 days 8.2 days -1.9d
Education and Training 30.6 days 9.4 days +1.2d
Utilities 29.5 days 11.0 days -2.2d
Public Administration and Safety 29.5 days 5.7 days 0.0d
Transport, Postal and Warehousing 27.3 days 6.2 days -0.7d
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 27.1 days 7.6 days -0.1d
Information Media and Telecommunications 26.5 days 7.0 days -5.8d
Construction 26.4 days 9.0 days -0.5d
Administrative and Support Services 25.1 days 7.0 days +0.5d
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services 22.6 days 7.7 days +1.0d
Arts and Recreation Services 22.3 days 8.1 days +0.4d
Retail Trade 21.0 days 8.0 days +0.8d
Other Services 21.0 days 6.2 days -0.4d
Financial and Insurance Services 18.7 days 3.3 days +1.4d
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing 18.6 days 3.7 days -0.4d
Health Care and Social Assistance 14.7 days 3.6 days -0.7d
Accommodation and Food Services 10.9 days 2.8 days -1.0d
Slowest paid: Manufacturing Manufacturing businesses waited 32.3 days on average in September 2026, 8.1 days longer than the national average.
Fastest paid: Accommodation and Food Services At 10.9 days, Accommodation and Food Services collects 21.4 days faster than Manufacturing.
Most overdue: Utilities Invoices in Utilities run 11.0 days past their due date on average, the worst of any sector.

Which Australian states and territories wait longest to be paid?

Small businesses in Victoria waited longest to be paid in September 2026, at 26.0 days on average, and those in the Australian Capital Territory were paid fastest, at 19.4 days.

How long businesses wait to be paid across Australia's states and territories, September 2026. Click a column heading to sort.

State Time to be paid Paid late by Change vs a year ago
Victoria 26.0 days 7.6 days +0.3d
Western Australia 24.9 days 6.0 days -0.9d
New South Wales 24.4 days 6.8 days -0.1d
Northern Territory 23.7 days 7.3 days +0.3d
South Australia 22.8 days 6.5 days -1.6d
Queensland 22.5 days 5.8 days +0.1d
Tasmania 21.8 days 4.2 days -0.6d
Australian Capital Territory 19.4 days 3.7 days -5.3d
Slowest: Victoria Businesses in Victoria waited 26.0 days on average to be paid in September 2026.
Fastest: Australian Capital Territory Australian Capital Territory leads at 19.4 days, 6.6 days ahead of Victoria.

Which large Australian businesses pay their suppliers slowest?

Average days large businesses take to pay their suppliers, self-reported under the Payment Times Reporting scheme (Jul–Dec 2025). Click a column heading to sort.

See the full table of slow-paying large businesses.

2,613 large businesses reporting The median large business takes 25.0 days on average to pay its suppliers, against the 24.2-day average wait reported by small businesses in the Xero data.
1.6% average over 60 days 1.6% of reporting businesses average more than 60 days to pay a supplier invoice. 65.6% average 30 days or less.

Slowest 15

Business Avg days to pay % paid within terms
MN Builders Group Pty Ltd 130.0 41%
TT Club Mutual Insurance Limited 95.0 0%
National Group Corporation Pty Ltd 92.6 11%
Ifm Real Estate Fiduciary Pty Ltd 89.0 0%
Shanghai Electric Power Design Institute Co Ltd 87.7 9%
Endeavour Group Limited 86.5 97%
Danisco Australia Pty Ltd 85.0 33%
Barrick Resources (Australia) Pty Limited 83.3 24%
Mobil PNG Gas Holdings Pty Ltd 81.0 63%
Parker Hannifin Australia Holding Pty Limited 78.0 15%
Reading Entertainment Australia Pty Limited 76.0 6%
Fitzroy (CQ) Pty Ltd 75.9 41%
Boyer Corporation Limited 75.0 11%
Weatherford Australia Pty Limited 73.1 30%
Henkel Finance Australia 69.6 64%

Fastest 15

Business Avg days to pay % paid within terms
Oncore Group Holdings Pty Ltd 0.1 100%
Nippon Life Insurance Australia and New Zealand Limited 0.5 97%
The Trustee for EQUIPSUPER 1.0 100%
Hudson Rpo (Aust) Pty Ltd 1.2 98%
Loan Market Group Pty Ltd 1.3 90%
Emposo Pty Ltd 1.7 100%
Angle Group Holdings Pty Ltd 1.9 97%
Doordash Technologies Australia Pty Ltd 2.0 100%
Whizdom Pty Ltd 2.0 100%
Securitas Remote Services Pty Ltd 2.0 97%
M.p Blake & W.h Breidahl & S.j Davis & M.j Fallon & C Frazer & R Greenberger & M Mccloskey 2.0 100%
Latran Capital Pty Ltd 2.0 100%
Allegis Group Apac Holdings Pty Ltd 2.0 97%
Berkley Insurance Company 2.1 99%
Citigroup Global Markets Australia Holdings Pty Limited 2.1 0%

Source: Payment Times Reports Register, register.paymenttimes.gov.au (Australian Government). Figures are self-reported by each business for its own reporting period and measure how long these large businesses take to pay their suppliers; the Xero figures elsewhere on this page measure how long small businesses wait to be paid. Retrieved 2026-07-31.

For every large company, sector by sector, see how long large Australian businesses take to pay small business suppliers and the list of large Australian businesses that pay small business suppliers late.

Is late payment getting worse in Australia?

Average days from invoice to payment, every month since January 2017, with the record months marked.

2017201820192020202120222023202420252026 22d29d avg 26.0d COVID-19 Slowest: 29.3 days Dec 2017 Fastest: 22.2 days Jun 2026
Right now
24.2 days
September 2026
Five-year average
24.9 days
now 0.7d faster
Fastest month
22.2 days
June 2026
Slowest month
29.3 days
December 2017
Overdue range
5.5–11.1 days late
now 6.7 days

The cost of money. The RBA cash rate target (monthly avg) stood at 4.36% in September 2026. The cost of credit shapes how aggressively customers stretch their payables; use the context panel under the explorer chart above to overlay the full rate history.

Business distress. Australia recorded 1,222 business insolvencies in September 2026. Late payments are frequently an early symptom of the cash flow stress that ends in insolvency.

Frequently asked questions: Australia payment times

How long do small businesses in Australia wait to be paid?
As of September 2026, small businesses in Australia waited an average of 24.2 days from issuing an invoice to receiving full payment (-0.2 days vs a year ago). This is the actual observed payment time across anonymised Xero invoices, not the stated payment terms.
How late are invoices paid in Australia?
Invoices in Australia were paid an average of 6.7 days after their due date in September 2026 (-0.3 days vs a year ago). The historical range runs from 5.5 days (June 2026) to 11.1 days (December 2017).
Which industry waits longest to be paid in Australia?
Manufacturing has the longest wait, at 32.3 days on average in September 2026. Accommodation and Food Services is the fastest paid, at 10.9 days. Measured by days past the due date, Utilities fares worst at 11.0 days late on average.
Which state has the slowest payment times in Australia?
Victoria is currently the slowest, with businesses waiting 26.0 days on average to be paid. Australian Capital Territory is the fastest at 19.4 days, a gap of 6.6 days.
Are payment times in Australia getting better or worse?
Payment times are improving. The average wait of 24.2 days in September 2026 compares with 24.4 days a year earlier and a five-year average of 24.9 days.
Where does this data come from?
All figures come from Xero Small Business Insights (September 2026 release), which aggregates anonymised data from hundreds of thousands of small businesses using Xero. Payment metrics are calculated from invoices marked fully paid in the month, weighted by invoice value, and seasonally adjusted. Paidnice presents the data with independent analysis; the underlying dataset is published by Xero.
What is the Payment Times Reporting scheme in Australia?
Since 2021, large businesses operating in Australia (generally those with over AU$100 million in annual income) must report how quickly they pay their small business suppliers. The reports are published on the public Payment Times Reports Register, so small businesses can check a large customer’s payment record before extending credit.
Can I charge late payment interest in Australia?
There is no statutory late payment interest rate for business-to-business invoices in Australia. You can charge late fees or interest if your terms of trade provide for them and the amounts are reasonable rather than punitive. Tools like Paidnice apply these charges automatically once they are set out in your terms.

Methodology, definitions & sources

Time to be paid Average days from invoice issue to full payment, calculated from invoices marked fully paid in the month, weighted by invoice value and firm-level sample weights, and seasonally adjusted. Invoices without payment terms are excluded.
Late payments Average days an invoice is paid beyond its due date, seasonally adjusted. An average of 6.7 days late means the typical invoice dollar arrives 6.7 days after the agreed terms.
Sales, jobs & wages growth Year-over-year growth rates from anonymised, aggregated small business accounting data. These show the demand backdrop against which payment behaviour moves.
Large-payer figures Self-reported by each large business under a mandatory government reporting scheme. They measure how long big businesses take to pay suppliers; the payment-time figures above measure how long small businesses wait to be paid.

This page reports how long small businesses wait to be paid, from Xero Small Business Insights. How long large companies take to pay their suppliers is a different measure from government payment filings, and it is on the payment times pages.

Citing this page? You're welcome to use these statistics with attribution: Australia small business payment statistics, analysed by Paidnice. https://www.paidnice.com/accounts-receivable-statistics/australia

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