Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Report: Nevada businesses lead country in bills past due

Report finds 25.55 percent of Nevada-based business accounts are late

Sun Coverage

Individuals in Nevada aren't alone in struggling to pay their bills.

With their customers facing high unemployment, bankruptcy and foreclosure rates, many Nevada businesses aren't paying their bills on time and the state leads the nation in the Past Due by States report compiled by Cortera, a data analysis company.

The report issued Tuesday by Cortera, based in Quincy, Mass., and Boca Raton, Fla., is an index of business accounts receivable activities by state.

The report found that 25.55 percent of Nevada-based business accounts are past due, the highest percentage in the nation and the ninth straight month that Nevada has held that distinction.

Nevada’s past due rate is 50 percent higher than the national average of 16.99 percent past due.

Also high on the list are Utah (24.38 percent), Minnesota (24.02), Colorado (21.92), Arizona (21.64), Wisconsin (21.37), Hawaii (20.71), New Mexico (19.73), Oregon (19.63), and Texas (19.52).

The Nevada rate is up from 23.5 percent in June, Cortera said.

"Past due accounts receivable activity provides a window into the cash flow between businesses and offers a leading indicator of overall economic confidence. It’s no coincidence that states hit particularly hard by the economy, like Nevada, show the most stress when it comes to paying bills in a timely manner," Jim Swift, chief executive of Cortera, said in a statement. "It is positive to note that the latest data shows a plateau in such delinquencies, suggesting that while some states may not yet be benefiting from a slow recovery, conditions don’t appear to be worsening."

The report follows news in recent days that:

--Unemployment in September hit 13.3 percent in Nevada and 13.9 percent in Clark County.

--Nevada led the nation in personal bankruptcies in the year ended June 30, with a filing rate per 1,000 people of 9.33 vs. the national rate of 4.22. Business bankruptcy filings in Nevada totaled 159 in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 241 in the quarter ended March 31 and 221 in the quarter ended June 30, according to the Bankruptcy Court.

--RealtyTrac reported Nevada led the nation in foreclosure filings in both the third quarter and in September. The firm said 18,766 foreclosure filings were reported in Nevada in September. These include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. The number of Nevada filings increased 4.8 percent from August and was up 44 percent from September 2008.

Alex Coté, vice president of marketing at Cortera, wrote in an Oct. 14 blog that many small businesses nationwide face difficulties as big companies demand payment faster and the customers of small businesses -- including other small businesses -- fall behind on payments.

``Conditions do indeed seem to be improving for many of the nation’s large businesses. Unfortunately, a dual credit crunch conspires to thwart similar growth by the small businesses that make up the majority of the nation’s jobs engine and 50 percent of the GDP (gross domestic product),'' he wrote.

Because of tighter bank lending standards, small businesses can’t get the loans and credit lines they need to expand operations, grow payrolls and pay their bills, he wrote.

``To understand this dual credit crunch and its implications, one need look no further than cash flow. Many small businesses live under a tight cash conversion cycle so if they are pushing cash out the door quickly for one class of suppliers (big companies), but not being paid quickly enough by their own customers (other small businesses) then they can’t pay their own bills. Given that small companies have less access to other forms of lending ... once they get behind it’s hard to catch up and harder to reinvest in business growth,'' he wrote.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy