Read by Denym Bird8 min
Summary
The typical credit invoice is paid 13 days after the invoice date in Australia, 23 in New Zealand, 24 in the US, 27 in the UK and 28 in Canada, in Paidnice's analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 customers. The order probably reflects the payment terms each country uses, which this page does not measure.
- Paid on time: 55% of credit invoices are paid on time in Australia and New Zealand, 49% in the UK, 47% in the US and 43% in Canada.
- Still unpaid: 75 days after the due date, about 6 in 100 invoices with credit terms are unpaid in New Zealand, 7 in Australia, 9 in the UK, 13 in the US and 14 in Canada.
- The spread: The top 10% of businesses get 68% of credit invoices paid on time and the bottom 10% get 21%, so on-time payment varies widely between businesses.
- See your own: Paidnice shows your average days to pay and on-time rate on its dashboard, so you can compare your business with these figures.
You have just sent a batch of invoices to customers in two or three countries, and the UK ones always seem to take longer than the Australian ones. You want to know whether that is your customers or just how each country pays, and what a normal wait looks like before you start chasing.
In the video: How long do customers take to pay in each country? (0:36), how many invoices are paid on time? (1:32), how big is the gap between businesses? (2:19), which country leaves the most unpaid? (3:22), what to do (4:19).
Here is what our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers shows for each country: days to pay, on-time rates, the share still unpaid 75 days after the due date, and how widely businesses vary on the same measures.
On this page, Paidnice customers are the businesses that use Paidnice. The people who owe them money are payers. These figures describe invoices sent by Paidnice customers, which are businesses on Xero and QuickBooks Online. They are not a sample of every business in each country, so read the country order as a pattern in this data. Credit invoices are invoices with payment terms of 1 day or more that were not paid on or before the issue date. Typical means the median, the middle value.
Free: Payment reminder email templatesCopy the reminder emails for before, on and after the due date.How long do customers take to pay an invoice in each country?
From invoice date to payment, the typical credit invoice is paid in 13 days in Australia, 23 in New Zealand, 24 in the US, 27 in the UK and 28 in Canada, in our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers.
The number probably reflects the payment terms each country uses: short terms are common in Australia, and New Zealand runs on the 20th-of-the-month convention. This page does not measure terms by country, so that is our reading of the data. A country with longer terms would show a longer wait even when payers pay on the due date just as often.
Australian payers pay a typical credit invoice in 13 days, Canadian payers in 28
Median days (the middle value) from invoice date to payment, credit invoices. Lower is faster.
- Australia13 days
- New Zealand23 days
- United States24 days
- United Kingdom27 days
- Canada28 days
Source: our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers, credit invoices due January 2025 to July 2026.
Xero’s Small Business Insights for the June 2026 quarter show the same split, with Australia and New Zealand ahead of the UK and the US: 22.9 days to be paid in Australia and 24.1 in New Zealand, against 29.1 in the UK and 29.3 in the US.
Xero’s figure is the average wait across its small business customers, and ours is the median credit invoice, so the two measure different things and the Australian gap is large.
How many invoices are paid on time in each country?
On invoices with credit terms, 55% are paid on time in Australia and New Zealand, 49% in the UK, 47% in the US and 43% in Canada, in our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers.
Counting invoices due on receipt lifts every country (New Zealand to 64%, Australia to 62%), because card and direct debit receipts count as paid on time.
Australia and New Zealand pay 55% of credit invoices on time, Canada 43%
Invoices with terms of 1 day or more, paid on or before the due date. Higher is better.
- Australia55%
- New Zealand55%
- United Kingdom49%
- United States47%
- Canada43%
Source: our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers.
The UK on-time figure is sensitive to the largest invoicing businesses: without them, the UK pays about 4 fewer invoices in every 100 on time. The full set of on-time, reminder and late-payer figures is in our credit control statistics.
How many invoices are still unpaid 75 days after the due date?
75 days after the due date, about 6 in 100 invoices with credit terms are unpaid in New Zealand, 7 in Australia, 9 in the UK, 13 in the US and 14 in Canada, in our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers.
A slow payer delays your cash by a few weeks. An invoice still open at 75 days needs a decision about chasing or escalation.
US and Canadian invoices are unpaid at 75 days more than twice as often as New Zealand invoices
Share of invoices with credit terms still unpaid 75 days after the due date. Lower is better.
- New Zealand5.6%
- Australia7.3%
- United Kingdom9.4%
- United States13.3%
- Canada13.9%
Source: our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers.
Once an invoice is overdue, recovery follows the same curve in the UK, Australia and the US: 3 in 4 invoices that are 90 days overdue are still unpaid 180 days after the due date.
The recovery curve holds within about 2 invoices in every 100 across the UK, Australia and the US. The country changes how many invoices go overdue, and the age of the invoice decides what happens next. Our post on when an overdue invoice becomes bad debt follows the curve month by month.
When do customers pay: early, on the due date or in the week after?
Only 1 credit invoice in 8 is paid on the exact due date (13 in 100), against 19 in 100 in the week after it and 41 in 100 early, in our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers.
The week after the due date holds seven days and the due date is one, so the two shares are not like-for-like. The largest share, 41 in 100, is paid early. New Zealand differs, with 1 in 5 paid on the exact due date.
Many owners plan cash around the due date. In the data, only 1 invoice in 8 arrives on it.
The day of the week follows a pattern too. In the UK, 1 payment in 4 lands on a Friday. In New Zealand, 15 in 100 payments land on the 20th of the month.
The payment-timing figures show when money lands, not why invoices are late. Month-end due dates show no effect on lateness inside the same business.
Reminder timing is covered in the best day to send a payment reminder: inside the same business, 6 more overdue invoices in every 100 are paid within 3 days of a Monday or Tuesday reminder than of a Wednesday to Friday one, in 4 in 5 businesses. Part of the gap is that a three-day window from a Thursday send crosses the weekend.
Does a weekend due date matter more in New Zealand?
Yes: a weekend due date is followed by about 8 fewer invoices in every 100 paid on time in New Zealand and about 3 fewer overall, inside the same business, in our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers.
The overall drop shows in 2 in 3 businesses and the New Zealand drop in 4 in 5.
One way to avoid it is to move the due date off the weekend. Our payment terms statistics show what terms length does to payment speed.
How big is the gap between businesses?
The typical business gets 46% of credit invoices paid on time, the top 10% of businesses get 68% and the bottom 10% get 21%, in our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers.
The bottom 10% also leave 28% of invoices unpaid at 75 days.
The top 10% of businesses get 68% of invoices paid on time, the bottom 10% get 21%
Credit invoices, larger businesses only, top and bottom 10% by on-time rate.
- Top 10% of businesses68%
- Typical business46%
- Bottom 10% of businesses21%
Source: our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers.
Businesses vary widely. Australia and Canada are 12 invoices in every 100 apart on the on-time rate, and the bottom 10% and the top 10% of businesses run from 21 to 68 invoices in every 100. One is a country average and the other is the two ends of the business range, so read them as scale and not as a like-for-like gap.
Your terms, invoicing habits and follow-up are the levers that move your own rate. Our credit control statistics show which levers move it.
Is December slower than other months?
Inside the same business, invoices due in December are paid on time as often as invoices due in other months, but late invoices run longer, in our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers.
The holiday effect shows up in days late, not in missed payments. The typical late invoice runs 8 days late most of the year and 11 days late over the holidays. Plan cash for a slightly longer wait in January, and keep the same reminder sequence running.
How do the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada compare on each measure?
Australia and New Zealand lead on every measure, the UK is third on on-time payment and on unpaid invoices, and the US and Canada leave the most invoices unpaid at 75 days, about 13 and 14 in every 100, in Paidnice data.
| Country | Typical days to pay | Paid on time | Unpaid at 75 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 13 | 55% | 7.3% |
| New Zealand | 23 | 55% | 5.6% |
| United States | 24 | 47% | 13.3% |
| United Kingdom | 27 | 49% | 9.4% |
| Canada | 28 | 43% | 13.9% |
In Paidnice invoice data, Australia pays a typical credit invoice in 13 days and 55% on time, while Canada takes 28 days and leaves 13.9% unpaid at 75 days.
Source: our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers. All three columns use invoices with credit terms. Days to pay is the median from invoice date to payment.
Days to pay probably follows the terms a country uses. On-time rate and unpaid at 75 days show how customers behave against the terms they were given, which makes them the fairer benchmark for your own business.
How can you see your own payment times in Paidnice?
Paidnice shows your average days to pay and on-time payment rate on its dashboard, so you can set them against the 13 to 28 day country figures above for your own Xero or QuickBooks Online organization.
- Your days to pay: the Paidnice dashboard shows DSO (days sales outstanding), average days to pay, on-time payment % and average overdue age, with trend views.
- Who is slow: the slowest payers widget and each contact’s average days to pay show which customers sit behind your figure.
- What is at risk: the Aged Receivables by Contact report groups overdue invoices into groups of 1 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and over 90 days.
Our accounts receivable reporting page covers the full set of reports. If you want to walk through your own numbers, book a demo.
How we measured payment times by country
Every figure on this page comes from our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers, on credit invoices, with an invoice counted as unpaid if it is still open 75 days after the due date.
- Base: credit invoices, meaning invoices with terms of 1 day or more that were not paid on or before the issue date, from our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers on Xero and QuickBooks Online. The data covers businesses that use Paidnice, so the country figures describe them and not every business in each country. Counting due-on-receipt invoices lifts every country's on-time rate (New Zealand to 64%, Australia to 62%).
- Days to pay: the median number of days from invoice date to payment on credit invoices due January 2025 to July 2026. It probably reflects the payment terms each country uses. Canada has less data than the other four countries, so its figure moves more.
- Outcome: an invoice counts as unpaid if it is still open 75 days after the due date, unless the stat says 180 days. The unpaid-at-75-days country figures use invoices with credit terms.
- Largest senders: country figures are stable without each country's largest invoicing businesses except the UK, which pays about 4 fewer invoices in every 100 on time without them.
- Same-business comparisons: the weekend due date and December results compare invoices inside each business, so business mix is held constant. The spread between businesses covers businesses with 100 or more invoices only and is not an industry benchmark.
- When money lands: the Friday and 20th-of-the-month figures describe when payments arrive, not what causes late payment.
- Recovery curve: the 180-day figures follow invoices that were overdue at 7, 30 and 90 days and hold within about 2 invoices in every 100 across the UK, Australia and the US.
FAQ
How long should an invoice take to be paid?
An invoice should be paid close to its payment terms. In our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers, the typical credit invoice is paid 13 days after the invoice date in Australia, 23 in New Zealand, 24 in the US, 27 in the UK and 28 in Canada, and the differences probably follow the terms each country uses.
What is a good DSO?
A good DSO sits close to your payment terms. Our DSO formula guide shows how to calculate it and compare it with your terms.
What is considered a high DSO?
A DSO well above your payment terms is high, because cash arrives later than your terms say. Compare against your own terms rather than a country average, because averages mix businesses on very different terms.
Which country pays invoices fastest?
Australia, where the typical credit invoice is paid 13 days after the invoice date, in our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers. Short payment terms are the likely reason, though this page does not measure terms by country, and Australia also pays 55% of credit invoices on time.
Which country has the most unpaid invoices?
Canada, where 13.9% of invoices with credit terms are still unpaid 75 days after the due date, in our analysis of invoice data from over 1,000 Paidnice customers. The US is close behind at 13.3%. New Zealand is lowest at 5.6%. Canada has less data than the other four countries, so its figure moves more.
How do I reduce my days to pay?
Shorten your terms, send invoices immediately, run automated reminders and add a late fee to overdue invoices. Our guide to reducing DSO has the measured result for each lever.
About the editorial team
Denym started Paidnice in 2022 after customers paying late left his own business short on payroll. He has led it to $1 billion collected on time across more than 1 million invoices, and writes about credit control, late fees and getting paid on Xero and QuickBooks.
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