Small businesses face bookkeeping challenges, overdue invoices during pandemic

Small business owners have been coping with unpaid invoices and inadequate accounting during the pandemic and needed to cover expenses by selling family heirlooms and other valuables.

A survey released Tuesday by Wave, an H&R Block company, found that 17% of the 1,008 microbusiness owners with nine employees or less it polled said there are invoices they’ve sent out that have never been paid. Nearly one out of 10 (8%) said they have waited more than a year for invoices to be paid, while 70% have waited between one to six months. Nearly one in 10 (8%) of the small business owners polled said they have sold off a family heirloom to cover expenses due to late customer payments, while 11% have need to take another job. In addition, 30% of the respondents indicated they have needed to borrow from their own money, and nearly one out of five (19%) have needed to borrow from family or friends. The same percentage of respondents have had to forgo or reduce…

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