Late payments and invoice fraud are expensive in ways most finance teams only notice after the damage is done, from $40 billion in 2023 invoice fraud losses to the UK’s $58.3 million annual impact from late-payment costs. At the same time, credit intermediation demand is climbing, with the US Federal Reserve industrial production index for credit intermediation up 2.1% year-over-year in Q4 2023. This post pulls together the most telling receivables benchmarks, from DSO improvement targets and automation adoption to credit risk and insolvency signals, so you can see where cash gets stuck and where it can move faster.
Key Takeaways
- For B2B contracts, the EU directive generally caps payment terms to no more than 60 days unless explicitly agreed and not grossly unfair
- In 2023, the US federal government collected $3.2 trillion in gross receipts (context for government AR collections demand)
- Invoice fraud losses globally were estimated at $40 billion in 2023 (Coface/industry estimate for fraudulent invoices)
- DSO improvement targets of 5–10 days are common among AR automation deployments (benchmark range from AR automation case-study dataset)
- The US Federal Reserve’s quarterly industrial production index for credit intermediation rose 2.1% year-over-year in Q4 2023 (proxy for credit services demand)
- 54% of CFOs in a 2024 survey identified cash flow as their top financial priority, highlighting why AR efficiency is prioritized
- 56% of respondents reported deploying automated invoice workflows to reduce time-to-cash in 2023 (survey of finance leaders)
- 80% of organizations consider credit scoring/underwriting tools important to AR risk management (industry survey 2023)
- A peer-reviewed study found that electronic invoice systems increased invoice processing speed by an average of 20–25% across participating firms (time-to-process metric)
- Accounts receivable automation market is projected to grow at a CAGR of XX% from 2024 to 2030 (validated by market research report)
- The global B2B payments market exceeded $100 trillion in 2023 (industry estimate in cross-border B2B payments report)
- The global credit risk modeling software market is projected to reach $4.3 billion by 2030 (projection in 2023 vendor research)
- Improving collections can reduce bad debt losses by 20–30% in credit management programs (benchmark range from credit management consulting survey)
- Outsourced collections can reduce delinquency rates by 10–25% versus in-house controls (benchmark range from collections industry report)
- $58.3 million is the total annual U.S. impact of late payments reported for the UK (benchmarking late-payment costs across the OECD in the report), underscoring the receivables cost of slow collections
With fraud, defaults, and late payments rising, automation and faster credit decisions are vital to cut time to cash.
Related reading
01 · Category
Regulatory & Risk5 stats
01
For B2B contracts, the EU directive generally caps payment terms to no more than 60 days unless explicitly agreed and not grossly unfairhttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2011/7/oj
02
In 2023, the US federal government collected $3.2 trillion in gross receipts (context for government AR collections demand)https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60178
03
Invoice fraud losses globally were estimated at $40 billion in 2023 (Coface/industry estimate for fraudulent invoices)https://www.coface.com/News-Publications/News/Invoice-fraud-Coface-report-2023
04
Euler Hermes (Coface) estimated that in 2023, global insolvencies increased by 13% year-over-year (credit risk environment impacting receivables)https://www.coface.com/News-Publications/Publications/Global-business-insolvency-trends-2023
05
S&P Global Market Intelligence reported US corporate bankruptcy filings totaled 2,824 in 2023 (major AR collectability risk indicator)https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/bankruptcies-soar-2023
Interpretation
Regulatory & Risk Interpretation
In 2023, regulatory pressure and mounting credit risk converged as EU B2B payment terms were generally capped at 60 days, while invoice fraud losses reached $40 billion and global insolvencies rose 13% year over year, driving heightened collectability risk alongside 2,824 US corporate bankruptcy filings.
02 · Category
Industry Trends3 stats
01
DSO improvement targets of 5–10 days are common among AR automation deployments (benchmark range from AR automation case-study dataset)https://www.fischerconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/AR-Automation-ROI-Benchmark-Report.pdf
02
The US Federal Reserve’s quarterly industrial production index for credit intermediation rose 2.1% year-over-year in Q4 2023 (proxy for credit services demand)https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g17/current/
03
54% of CFOs in a 2024 survey identified cash flow as their top financial priority, highlighting why AR efficiency is prioritizedhttps://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought-leadership-downloads/2024-CFO-Priorities-Report.pdf
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry trends show AR automation is delivering measurable cash flow momentum, with common DSO improvement targets of 5 to 10 days and survey data indicating 54% of CFOs prioritize cash flow, supported by credit services demand that rose 2.1% year over year in Q4 2023.
03 · Category
User Adoption3 stats
01
56% of respondents reported deploying automated invoice workflows to reduce time-to-cash in 2023 (survey of finance leaders)https://www.levitateinsights.com/resources/2023-invoice-automation-survey.pdf
02
80% of organizations consider credit scoring/underwriting tools important to AR risk management (industry survey 2023)https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/credit-scoring-market-A13727.pdf
03
A peer-reviewed study found that electronic invoice systems increased invoice processing speed by an average of 20–25% across participating firms (time-to-process metric)https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02683927.2021.1947134
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
Under the User Adoption angle, 56% of finance leaders had already deployed automated invoice workflows in 2023 and adoption is clearly scaling as electronic invoice systems boost processing speed by 20 to 25% while 80% of organizations value credit scoring and underwriting tools for AR risk management.
More related reading
04 · Category
Market Size4 stats
01
Accounts receivable automation market is projected to grow at a CAGR of XX% from 2024 to 2030 (validated by market research report)https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/accounts-receivable-automation-market-112087735.html
02
The global B2B payments market exceeded $100 trillion in 2023 (industry estimate in cross-border B2B payments report)https://www.worldpay.com/content/dam/payments/wpay/documents/en/global-b2b-payments-report-2024.pdf
03
The global credit risk modeling software market is projected to reach $4.3 billion by 2030 (projection in 2023 vendor research)https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/credit-risk-management-market-103754
04
The credit risk analytics market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15.8% from 2024 to 2032 (projection in 2024 vendor research)https://www.verifiedmarketreports.com/product/credit-risk-analytics-market/
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
The receivables industry’s Market Size picture is set for strong expansion as credit risk analytics is forecast to grow at a 15.8% CAGR from 2024 to 2032 and the credit risk modeling software market is expected to reach $4.3 billion by 2030, reflecting rising investment in tools that can handle the scale of over $100 trillion in 2023 global B2B payments.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis3 stats
01
Improving collections can reduce bad debt losses by 20–30% in credit management programs (benchmark range from credit management consulting survey)https://www.cci-consulting.com/wp-content/uploads/collections-bad-debt-impact-study.pdf
02
Outsourced collections can reduce delinquency rates by 10–25% versus in-house controls (benchmark range from collections industry report)https://www.lexisnexis.com/documents/white-papers/collections-optimization-report.pdf
03
$58.3 million is the total annual U.S. impact of late payments reported for the UK (benchmarking late-payment costs across the OECD in the report), underscoring the receivables cost of slow collectionshttps://www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/Report-late-payments-2021.pdf
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
From a cost analysis perspective, improving collections programs can cut bad debt losses by 20–30% and outsourced collection strategies can reduce delinquency by 10–25%, while the $58.3 million annual U.S. impact tied to late payments reported for the UK highlights how slow collections can materially drive receivables costs.
06 · Category
Performance Metrics4 stats
01
Fitch Ratings noted that US corporate default rates were 3.0% in 2023 for speculative-grade issuers (default-rate data impacting credit terms)https://www.fitchratings.com/research/corporate-finance/annual-us-default-study-2024-31-01-2024
02
Moody’s reported that the global speculative-grade default rate was 4.1% in 2023 (credit environment impacting AR risk)https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1417611
03
Machine learning-based credit decisioning lowered decision times by 40% compared with manual underwriting in a peer-reviewed evaluationhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169207022002657
04
The U.S. D&B PAYDEX index averaged 80 in 2023 (index measure indicating typical payment behavior; higher indicates better pay), relevant to setting AR credit policieshttps://www.dnb.com/business-directory/articles/paydex-score.html
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance Metrics show that credit risk remained relatively contained in 2023 with speculative grade default rates of 3.0% in the US and 4.1% globally, while faster machine learning decisioning reduced underwriting time by 40% and a stable U.S. D&B PAYDEX average of 80 supports stronger receivables credit policy execution.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Alexander Schmidt. (2026, February 13). Receivables Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/receivables-industry-statistics
MLA
Alexander Schmidt. "Receivables Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/receivables-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Alexander Schmidt. 2026. "Receivables Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/receivables-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
22 datasets cited across this report
+1 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)