Updated with June 2026 data

Australia small business payment times & late payment statistics

Small businesses in Australia waited an average of 20.3 days to be paid in June 2026, with invoices settled 4.3 days late on average. Explore payment times, debtor days and late payment trends by industry and state, monthly from 2017 to today. Data: Xero Small Business Insights, analysed by Paidnice.

Time to be paid

20.3days

-4.3 days vs a year ago

Paid late by

4.3days

-2.7 days vs a year ago

Sales growth (y/y)

+4.8%

+8.7% a year ago

Jobs growth (y/y)

+2.0%

+3.9% a year ago

Wages growth (y/y)

+2.8%

+2.6% a year ago

Australia is currently the standout of the five countries we track: June 2026 set a new record for the fastest average payment time in the dataset, and average lateness has more than halved since the worst months of 2017. 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 June 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:

Average payment times by industry in Australia

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

Industry	Time to be paid	Paid late by	Change vs a year ago
Mining	31.3 days	5.9 days	-2.8d
Public Administration and Safety	29.3 days	7.1 days	-0.6d
Manufacturing	29.2 days	6.3 days	-4.6d
Education and Training	28.1 days	7.0 days	-5.7d
Wholesale Trade	27.6 days	5.1 days	-8.7d
Utilities	26.8 days	7.9 days	-3.8d
Transport, Postal and Warehousing	25.7 days	4.4 days	-2.3d
Information Media and Telecommunications	25.5 days	6.3 days	-4.5d
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services	25.5 days	6.5 days	-2.3d
Administrative and Support Services	23.0 days	4.8 days	-2.8d
Construction	21.3 days	5.8 days	-6.2d
Arts and Recreation Services	20.0 days	6.1 days	-1.7d
Other Services	18.9 days	4.6 days	-2.2d
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing	18.1 days	2.3 days	-2.2d
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services	15.9 days	1.8 days	-6.2d
Retail Trade	15.6 days	3.2 days	-3.5d
Financial and Insurance Services	13.3 days	1.1 days	-3.6d
Health Care and Social Assistance	12.0 days	2.7 days	-3.8d
Accommodation and Food Services	8.3 days	-1.4 days	-3.4d

Slowest paid: Mining Mining businesses waited 31.3 days on average in June 2026, 11.0 days longer than the national average.

Fastest paid: Accommodation and Food Services At 8.3 days, Accommodation and Food Services collects 23.0 days faster than Mining.

Most overdue: Utilities Invoices in Utilities run 7.9 days past their due date on average, the worst of any sector.

Average payment times by state in Australia

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

State	Time to be paid	Paid late by	Change vs a year ago
Western Australia	24.0 days	5.1 days	-4.0d
Tasmania	21.9 days	4.2 days	-1.1d
Victoria	21.9 days	5.0 days	-4.8d
South Australia	21.7 days	4.8 days	-4.2d
Northern Territory	21.5 days	4.2 days	-2.1d
New South Wales	20.5 days	4.5 days	-3.6d
Queensland	18.7 days	3.4 days	-3.6d
Australian Capital Territory	10.8 days	2.7 days	-21.1d

Slowest: Western Australia Businesses in Western Australia waited 24.0 days on average to be paid in June 2026.

Fastest: Australian Capital Territory Australian Capital Territory leads at 10.8 days, 13.2 days ahead of Western Australia.

Australia's slowest paying large businesses

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.

2,613 large businesses reporting The median large business takes 25.0 days on average to pay its suppliers, against the 20.3-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.

Australia payment trends since 2017

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

Right now

20.3 days

June 2026, record low

Five-year average

24.9 days

now 4.6d faster

Fastest month

20.3 days

June 2026

Slowest month

29.4 days

December 2017

Overdue range

4.3–11.2 days late

now 4.3 days

The cost of money. The RBA cash rate target (monthly avg) stood at 4.35% in June 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 1,334 business insolvencies in June 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 June 2026, small businesses in Australia waited an average of 20.3 days from issuing an invoice to receiving full payment (-4.3 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 4.3 days after their due date in June 2026 (-2.7 days vs a year ago). The historical range runs from 4.3 days (June 2026) to 11.2 days (December 2017).

Which industry waits longest to be paid in Australia?

Mining has the longest wait, at 31.3 days on average in June 2026. Accommodation and Food Services is the fastest paid, at 8.3 days. Measured by days past the due date, Utilities fares worst at 7.9 days late on average.

Which state has the slowest payment times in Australia?

Western Australia is currently the slowest, with businesses waiting 24.0 days on average to be paid. Australian Capital Territory is the fastest at 10.8 days, a gap of 13.2 days.

Are payment times in Australia getting better or worse?

Payment times are improving. The average wait of 20.3 days in June 2026 compares with 24.6 days a year earlier and a five-year average of 24.9 days. June 2026 is the fastest month on record in this dataset (which starts in January 2017).

Where does this data come from?

All figures come from Xero Small Business Insights (June 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 4.3 days late means the typical invoice dollar arrives 4.3 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.

Payment dataXero Small Business Insights, June 2026 detailed results for Australia. Paidnice's analysis (rankings, comparisons, and commentary) is independent of Xero.
Interest ratesRBA cash rate target (monthly avg): RBA statistical table F1.1 (FIRMMCRT). Retrieved 2026-07-31.
InsolvenciesCompanies entering external administration for the first time, Australia: ASIC insolvency statistics, series 1 (asic.gov.au). Retrieved 2026-07-31.
Large payersPayment Times Reports Register, register.paymenttimes.gov.au (Australian Government). Retrieved 2026-07-31.

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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