Has your Finance department lost its bargaining power?
March 15, 2012 by Jared BilskiPosted in: Benchmarking, Cash flow, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest news & views
If you’ve noticed you’re having more trouble getting some customers and suppliers to agree to your terms recently, you’re not alone.
Bargaining power — or lack thereof — has been a major problem for finance execs at midsize organizations of late.
That’s according to a recent study by American Express and CFO Research. The study found that almost half (47%) of finance execs at midsize businesses said larger customers have forced them to accept slower payments.
Even in cases where they held a negotiating advantage, 44% of midsize firms said they had trouble getting their suppliers and vendors to accept changes in their payment terms.
So how big of a problem is this lack of bargaining power? Forty-four percent of the companies in the study said it’s their biggest obstacle in terms of boosting cash flow.
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Tags: American Express, Bargaining power, CFO Research, Finance Execs, Midsize businesses
