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.
When your customers are broke, you usually end up broke too.
Don't worry, Uncle Obama will bail them out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMKlMrwc6...
rejco100 -- otherwise known as the domino effect.
Signs of the times, people, including the glaring question of who government should have bailed out -- and what happened to Obama's campaign promise he would bail out "Main Street, not Wall Street"?
How much overhead are these delinquent business spending just to comply with over-regulation?
Small business drives america and until the knuckleheds in DC and elsewhere get that through their heads,,,,aint nothin' going to improve !
As a small business operator, the businesses in question are almost always those that operate on slim margins, or have owners who take too much out of the business when the business gets close to margins. The rest of us live on budgets in business and in personal lives, and that's why we're conservatives and would like the government to practice sound financial business. That's also why we have longevity in business, too. The lifespan for a business that operates on margin is almost fatal in their first 5 years. Business cycles run every 10-15 years. Some fail way before recessionary times. Some fail when the recessionary times appear and they've never seen that before, and don't cut back on bringing the motherinlaw in for a 6 month visit from the Philippines.
For example, when all of the worthless union unemployed workers milk the unemployment benefit fund down to a zero, the state needs to quit paying any more out by borrowing more from Sam. Just a small example of sound fiscal restraint, living on what you make, giving 10 per cent to the church, and pocketing the rest for a rainy day.
Thanks harry Reid. Your policies may be filling your campaign accounts with donations from out of state but your not taking care of the people that live here.
This shows nothing but trouble for tomorrow and next year. Businesses that can't pay their bills don't hire and don't spend. Why can't our elected leaders do anything for Nevada except more Medicaid.
What's missing is that there are TWO (2) sets of tax laws,
one for business (usually employers), -and-
one for workers (employees).
ANYONE WHO STUDIES BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND BUSINESS TAX LAW KNOWS THIS, but I have NEVER seen it acknowledged it in any "comments" section I have ever read, here or anywhere else.
What's usually proffered is the same old "unless you do it my way" conservative business blather and/or the "domineering assertion" of the old English Law Basis of the Master/Slave - (Employer/Employee) intrisic relationship that is generally acknowledged, and is generally practiced today.
(In other words, if I employ you, I "own" you. I can dictate where you work, how you work, when you work, with whom you work, how long you work, what you can and can't say at work, how much you will be legally paid for your work, how you will dress at work, etc., and you OWE me your complete and undivided loyalty for the price I "pay" for you. Plus as long as I follow certain laws, there's absolutely NOTHING you can do about it, even if you quit or I fire you. And then to perhaps add insult to injury, I will try my best to NOT contribute to you after you're gone EVEN IF I ran my business into the ground or even if I came across some ILLEGAL ALIENS to hire for $3 bucks an hour that can do what you do and pay them under the table with no taxes, no records, no safety requirements, or anything else I am legally required to give to you. So, in summary, you are on your sorry own.)
Gee, what was that Henry Ford said, "if I pay them enough they will be able to buy my cars...?"
But, here's what the "business professor-ists" won't tell you:
Generally, BUSINESS can DEDUCT FROM THEIR RECEIPTS (and thus reducing their taxes) nearly ANYTHING they do THAT PROMOTES THE PRODUCTION OF INCOME. NEARLY ANYTHING. (And if they're not, then they're probably big time business losers.)
TRY THAT TAX-WISE, AS AN EMPLOYEE, and you will have the IRS breathing down your neck faster than you can say "HOW much do I owe...?"
There are countless business books on the subjects of taxes, written business plans, margins, importing/exporting, employer/employee relationships, risks/reward, seminars with lawyers and accountants who offer qualified business advice, IRS PUBLICATIONS, and on and on and on.
On the subject of 10% DONATIONS, I personally ONLY donate to organizations that 1. serve the common good and of others less fortunate, and 2. DO NOT harbor, promote, endorse, or contribute to the ILLEGAL ALIEN population of the USA. Period.
(and the usual disclaimer: if you want to start and stay in business, COMPLY WITH ALL TAX LAWS, seek LEGAL TAX and BUSINESS advice as necessary, and utilize QUALIFIED accounting professionals.)
-And-
If the Nevada "Economy" wasn't soley predicated on gamblin' joints trying to get people in the door to blow their grossly inflated "home-equity-stripping-loan-money" that homeowners borrowed (up the yin yang) by getting phoney-baloney loans on phoney-baloney house prices given by phoney-baloney banks selling phoney-baloney collateralized debt obligations to phoney-baloney investors which led financial institutions to turn around and create more phoney-baloney loans that were given to more phoney-baloney homeowners to make more phoney-baloney equity-stripping loans........
And everbody wonders why nobody's got any money to pay their REAL AS EVER bills...?