Scottish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were owed £1.7million each on average in their last full trading year, with Aberdeen firms worse off, new figures show.
Commercial debt recovery law firm Debt Guard Solicitors studied account details submitted to Companies House by SMEs throughout Scotland.
Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow were the top hotspots for trade debt, accounting for 63% of the national total of £273billion for 2013/14.
Manchester-based Debt Guard said late payment was a major contributory factor.
Its figures show Aberdeen SMEs were each burdened with £1.8million of trade debt on average during the last financial year.
Andy Willox, Granite City-based Scottish policy convener for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said: “There’s no doubt that late payment and bad debt continues to put real pressure on Aberdonian businesses and other Scottish small firms.
“The smaller the enterprise, the bigger the impact that large unpaid debts can have.”
FSB Highlands and islands chairwoman and Newtonmore bed and breakfast owner Amanda Frazer added: “While small businesses can put into place various credit control systems and keep their own paperwork in order, the real problem lies with big businesses using other enterprises as a free source of credit.
“This sort of behaviour is absolutely unacceptable and we look forward to the UK Government’s forthcoming Small Business Bill tackling this ongoing issue.”
According to Debt Guard, 12% of Aberdeen SMEs had debt levels reaching one-third of annual turnover.
However, this was lower than the Scottish average of 16% of similar-sized businesses entering this “danger zone”.
Debt Guard chief operating officer Mark Burgess said: “This research highlights the financial headache caused by outstanding and unpaid bills.
“Our message to all SMEs struggling with late payment is don’t write off your debt.
“Look at legal ways to professionally recover it as, by improving credit flow, this will help put your business on a more stable financial footing.”
Debt Guard said the average time it took for SMEs to receive payment from customers was 43 days, compared with the standard 30-day invoice payment deadline.