Payment headaches are costing Aussie small businesses big

It turns out getting paid is harder than it should be for many small and medium-sized businesses in Australia. A new report from Ezidebit, part of Global Payments, has revealed the hidden cost of complex and fragmented payments.

The 2025 Ezidebit Australian SMB Payment Pulse found payment complexity is chewing through time, strangling cash flow and even driving customers away.

Drowning in admin

One of the biggest takeaways is just how much time small and medium-sized businesses are losing to payment admin. On average, businesses spend 22.6 hours every week chasing invoices, reconciling across systems, and trying to resolve disputes.

That’s nearly three full working days spent pushing paper and clicking through dashboards instead of focusing on growth. The report found that complexity multiplies with size. Larger SMBs juggle more providers and payment methods and are hemorrhaging even more hours.

Masseh Haidary, CEO, Payments, Oceania at Global Payments, said the findings reveal the scale of the problem:

“Our research tells us that SMBs who haven’t consolidated their payment platforms with one provider are losing nearly 24 hours a week in administration.”

Cash flow: the constant battle

Late payments remain another sore spot. The survey found that one in six payments arrive late, and 54 per cent of business owners say they regularly chase overdue or missing invoices. For small businesses, it’s often the difference between being able to pay wages or suppliers on time.

“Cashflow is the lifeblood of SMBs and when you’re busy chasing late or missing payments, you’re not focused on growth,” Haidary explained.

It’s a familiar story to many business owners: you can have a great product and loyal customers, but if you’re constantly waiting on money that should already be in the bank, the stress levels climb fast.

Customers walking out the door

Another surprising finding was that one in four businesses believe they’ve lost customers simply because they can’t offer the payment options people expect.

Today’s consumers want choice. Whether it’s direct debit, BPAY, PayTo, credit card, or tap-and-go at the counter, people are less forgiving when their preferred method isn’t available. For small businesses, the ‘payment gap’, that is, not meeting customer preferences, can literally cost sales.

In fact, 75 per cent of business owners think their customers are frustrated by clunky payment experiences. That frustration can quickly turn into lost loyalty.

Too many systems, too many risks

The research also revealed just how fragmented the average small business payments setup has become. The typical small business is running 3.5 different payment methods across 2.1 providers, and for larger businesses, that blows out to 4.4 methods across multiple providers

It’s no surprise then that mistakes creep in. More systems mean more reconciliation errors, more admin and, increasingly, more security worries. The report found 27 per cent of business owners cite security concerns around payments, with 17 per cent saying their customers had also raised red flags

According to Haidary, this cocktail of multiple systems, missed payments, and admin overload is putting growth at risk.

“The combination of multiple providers and processes is causing significant lost time, lost revenue and security risks that’s holding business owners back from growing their business and customer base.”

Why consolidation could be the fix

Meanwhile, only 20 per cent of small businesses have consolidated their payments with one provider, even though a massive 93 per cent of those using multiple providers say they’d be open to it

So why the hesitation? It seems many business owners are worried about the hassle of making the switch. But Haidary says sticking with a messy patchwork of systems costs far more in the long run.

“The easiest way to alleviate these business pressures is to shift to a proven all-in-one payment provider,”he said.

Time is money

For the average small business, losing nearly three working days a week to payment admin is time that could be spent drumming up new business, improving customer service or giving yourself a break. Late payments can cripple cash flow. And losing customers because you can’t offer their preferred payment method? That’s money walking straight out the door.

The Ezidebit report puts hard figures around something many business owners already know in their gut: payments are a pain. But it also points to a solution. Consolidating providers and simplifying systems might feel like a job for ‘one day’, but the costs of delay are piling up now.

Australian small businesses are already under pressure from rising costs, labour shortages and tight margins. Add to that the reality of late payments, multiple systems, security risks and lost customers, and it’s no wonder payments are seen as a major stressor.

“Australian SMBs are at a tipping point when it comes to payments, and our 2025 Payment Pulse shines a spotlight on the hidden costs they’re incurring when managing multiple systems to balance their books and meet customer expectations,” Haidary concluded.

Is there a big business that’s always paying you late? Lodge a report on the Late Payments Register at paymenttimes.gov.au

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