Invoicing Statistics: How Small Businesses Bill and Get Paid

How US small businesses bill their customers
Payment methods small businesses accept

These figures show how small businesses bill their customers, which payment methods they accept, what makes getting paid hard, and how invoices are sent in the EU. Each comes from the organization that collected the data, with its year, geography and sample. The page includes only figures it could trace to the organization that published them.

Billed publishes this page. All sources were opened on October 29, 2026. For late payments specifically, see late payment statistics.

How US small businesses bill their customers

From the Federal Reserve Banks' 2024 Report on Payments (published December 5, 2024), which reports results of the 2023 Small Business Credit Survey. The Fed says the survey "was fielded from September through November 2023 and yielded 6,131 responses from a national sample of small employer firms with 1 to 499 full- or part-time employees", and that the report "summarizes data from the 4,920 employer firms that responded to one or more payments-related questions." It also notes: "The SBCS is not a random sample".

The arrangement that accounts for the largest share of each firm's revenue (4,853 firms):

38%: customer pays "in full at the time of service or purchase"
28%: "Customer pays after delivery of product or service (e.g., invoice, net 30)"
13%: customer makes payments on a set schedule for ongoing services, such as monthly payments
10%: customer pays in multiple installments, such as at project milestones
7%: payment is made through a third party, such as insurance or lender financing
4%: customer pays in advance

By industry, payment after delivery was the arrangement named by the largest share of firms in:

Manufacturing: 53% of firms (617 firms)
Professional services and real estate: 41% of firms (888 firms)

By contrast, 79% of leisure and hospitality firms (680 firms) and 76% of retail firms (567 firms) take full payment when the sale happens.

Payment methods small businesses accept

From the same report, the share of small employer firms accepting each form of payment (4,902 firms; firms could select several):

Checks: 80%
Credit cards: 74%
Cash: 65%
Debit cards: 58%
ACH: 56%
Digital or mobile payments (examples given: PayPal, Venmo and Apple Pay): 34%
Money orders: 17%
Prepaid gift cards: 16%
Cryptocurrency: 1%

"79% of small businesses accept at least one form of card payment." Counting each card type separately, 19% of firms accept 1 to 2 forms of payment, 41% accept 3 to 4, 33% accept 5 to 6, and 6% accept 7 or more.

The Fed adds that firms taking payment at the time of sale "are more likely than other firms to accept cash and card payments", while firms that "take payment after delivery, on a set schedule, in installments, or through a third party" are "more likely to accept checks."

What makes getting paid hard

The payments-related challenges small employer firms reported (4,858 firms; firms could select several):

52%: fees associated with payments processing
39%: customers are slow to pay
20%: time-consuming processes, such as billing customers or making deposits at the bank
18%: "delays in settlement or availability of funds"
13%: managing multiple different payment streams
11%: fraud or theft
7%: customer demand for more payment options
20%: no challenges

For the 1,455 firms whose main arrangement is payment after delivery, such as by invoice:

64%: customers are slow to pay
47%: fees associated with payments
26%: time-consuming processes
19%: "delays in settlement or availability of funds"
10%: fraud or theft
17%: no challenges

Paper and electronic invoices in the EU

From Eurostat's dataset isoc_eb_ics (last updated July 17, 2025), for EU-27 enterprises with 10 or more people employed, in all activities except agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining and quarrying, and the financial sector. The figures count enterprises, not invoices, and one enterprise can send more than one kind of invoice.

"Enterprises sending paper invoices":

2018: 81.72%
2020: 75.51%
2023: 70.24%

"Enterprises sending eInvoices, not suitable for automated processing":

2018: 59.49%
2020: 62.71%
2023: 72.84%

For the share sending e-invoices that are suitable for automated processing, by year, size and country, see e-invoicing statistics.

Invoice payment terms at EU small businesses

From the European Commission's 2023 impact assessment for its proposed late payment regulation, which reports an SME panel consultation that "took place between 26 January and 16 March 2023". In total, "939 SMEs replied". The panel was open to SMEs that chose to take part, and the largest numbers of replies came from Spain (457), Italy (182) and Poland (110), so it isn't a representative sample of EU businesses.

The Commission reports that respondents "ask for payments within 30 days of the date of the invoice (43,8% of respondents or 411 out of 939) or within 30 to 60 days (41,7% or 392)." In US notation, that's 43.8% and 41.7%.

When these statistics don't apply

Your own business. Survey shares describe a sample of firms. Your own invoices and payment records describe yours.
Other countries. The Fed survey covers US small employer firms, Eurostat covers EU enterprises with 10 or more people employed, and the Commission's SME panel is a self-selected group of EU SMEs.
Large companies. None of these figures describe large companies' invoicing.
Fraud and payment networks. This page covers invoicing. For payments fraud and the Federal Reserve's business payments study, see accounts payable statistics; for real-time payment networks, see FedNow vs RTP vs ACH.

Where Billed fits

Billed's invoice software page says: "Set a due date on each invoice so your client knows when to pay." It also describes card payments through Stripe and PayPal, and says that when "a client pays by check or cash, record it as an offline payment". The figures on this page come from the sources named above, not from Billed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What share of small businesses bill customers after delivery?

In the Federal Reserve's 2023 Small Business Credit Survey, 28% of US small employer firms said their main arrangement is that the customer pays after delivery of the product or service, for example by invoice. The largest share, 38%, take payment "in full at the time of service or purchase."

Which payment methods do small businesses accept?

In the same survey, 80% of small employer firms accepted checks, 74% credit cards, 65% cash, 58% debit cards and 56% ACH. 79% accepted card payments of at least one kind.

What is the biggest payments challenge for small businesses?

Fees associated with payments processing, named by 52% of small employer firms in the Fed's 2023 survey, followed by customers who are slow to pay, at 39%. Among firms that take payment after delivery, 64% named slow-paying customers.

Are paper invoices still common in the EU?

Yes. In Eurostat's 2023 data, 70.24% of EU-27 enterprises with 10 or more people employed (outside agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining and quarrying, and the financial sector) sent paper invoices, down from 81.72% in 2018. The figure counts enterprises, not invoices.

What payment terms do EU small businesses set on invoices?

In the European Commission's 2023 SME panel of 939 self-selected SMEs, 43.8% said they ask for payment within 30 days of the invoice date and 41.7% within 30 to 60 days.

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