Power of One - Financial lever of accounts payable

 You can slow down the payment of creditors.

You can, but that does not sit well with me. I can still remember an independant grocery store, a large one, who practiced this to perfection and then gradually lost complete control as most of their accounts were kept at bay over 90 days. At that point, the accounts payable department were inundated with collectors looking for their money. The stress in the department created high turnover and eventually the store sold and we lost a great place to shop. 

I was surprised to read of a practice that Unilever shared in their 2019 Annual Report when it came to them offering suppliers a financial arrangement for trade payables. Some of their suppliers elected to make use of it. Basically, Unilever arranged with their financial institutions (by making their invoices visible to them) the opportunity for their suppliers to receive cash from the bank before the invoice due date, if they choose to do so. Payment dates and terms did not vary regardless. Impressive. I wonder how many took advantage of this as a financial benefit and how many needed to use it as a cash flow for their business growth.