Research desk
The numbers behind getting paid.
50 research pages covering payments, invoicing, freelancing, small business, and tax. Every statistic is attributed to a named published source — Atradius, Nacha, the Federal Reserve, BLS, the European Commission, and more — with a link to the original.
Payments
Late Payment Statistics
How common are late B2B payments, and what do they cost? Figures from Atradius 2026, QuickBooks, Xero, the Federal Reserve and UK and EU official sources.
13 sourced statistics →
B2B Payments Statistics
How US businesses pay each other: B2B shares by method, average payment size and fees for ACH, checks, cards and wires, from Federal Reserve research.
10 sourced statistics →
ACH Payment Statistics
ACH volume and value from Nacha, the Federal Reserve Payments Study and FedACH: 2025 totals, Q3 2026, Same Day ACH, B2B payments and debit vs credit.
12 sourced statistics →
Payment Fraud Statistics
How common is payment fraud and what does it cost? Verified figures from the AFP 2026 survey, the FBI's 2025 IC3 report and UK Finance's 2026 fraud report.
9 sourced statistics →
Check Payment Statistics
Sourced check payment statistics from the Federal Reserve, Cleveland Fed, AFP and FinCEN: how many checks are written, their value, B2B use and fraud risk.
13 sourced statistics →
Digital Payments Statistics
How the US and the world pay: Federal Reserve payment volumes, consumer payment diaries, BIS cashless and fast payment data and World Bank Findex 2025.
12 sourced statistics →
Payment Terms Statistics
Payment terms in numbers: EU and UK legal limits, the US Prompt Payment Act, official UK 2025 payment data and net 30 versus immediate terms.
12 sourced statistics →
Cross-Border Payments Statistics
Official figures on what international payments cost and how fast they arrive, from the FSB, World Bank and BIS, and what they mean for your invoices.
13 sourced statistics →
Business Credit Card Statistics
How many US small businesses use credit cards, business vs personal cards, card payment growth and acceptance fees, from Federal Reserve data and surveys.
9 sourced statistics →
Real-Time Payments Statistics
Quarterly FedNow and RTP volumes and values, UK Faster Payments for 2025 and payment limits, from the Federal Reserve, The Clearing House and Pay.UK.
10 sourced statistics →
Fintech Statistics
Official fintech adoption data from the World Bank, FDIC, Federal Reserve and ECB, plus KPMG H1 2026 investment data, with notes on what each measures.
11 sourced statistics →
Invoicing & AR
Invoicing Statistics
Official invoicing figures from BLS, Eurostat and GOV.UK, with links to sourced statistics on late payment, payment time, fraud and factoring.
6 sourced statistics →
E-Invoicing Statistics: Mandates and Deadlines by Country
Official start dates for B2B e-invoicing in Italy, Germany, Belgium, Croatia, Poland, Greece and France, with thresholds and what each mandate requires.
11 sourced statistics →
Invoice Fraud Statistics
Sourced invoice fraud figures: FBI IC3 business email compromise losses, AFP vendor imposter data, UK invoice and mandate scams and ACFE billing schemes.
12 sourced statistics →
Accounts Receivable Statistics
Sourced accounts receivable figures: US trade receivables, median DSO, B2B sales on credit, overdue receivables and bad debt, from Fed and survey data.
10 sourced statistics →
Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) Statistics
How long businesses take to collect sales: DSO worked out from Census and NYU Stern data, plus Hackett's 2026 trend, with the formula and its limits.
11 sourced statistics →
Invoice Error and Dispute Statistics
What UK government research shows about invoice errors and disputes as causes of late payment, who was surveyed, and why no universal error rate exists.
9 sourced statistics →
Invoice Automation Statistics
Official Eurostat data on how many businesses send machine-readable e-invoices or paper, by size and country, plus the EU 2030 ViDA timeline.
10 sourced statistics →
Unpaid Invoices Statistics
How much money is tied up in unpaid invoices, what it costs and how much becomes bad debt: UK government research, QuickBooks 2026 and Atradius 2026.
12 sourced statistics →
Invoice Factoring Statistics
Sourced invoice factoring figures: FCI's €4.04 trillion 2025 world volume, regional split, UK invoice finance and how few US small firms use factoring.
9 sourced statistics →
Subscription Billing Statistics
Sourced subscription billing figures: UK estimates of unwanted subscriptions, FTC complaints and rule status, plus labelled Recurly and Zuora benchmarks.
11 sourced statistics →
Construction Payment Statistics
Construction payment figures from the Census Bureau and BLS, plus federal, California, Texas and New York prompt-payment deadlines and interest rules.
15 sourced statistics →
Invoice Payment Time Statistics
How long invoices take to get paid: Xero small-business days to payment, UK official supplier payment times by sector and region, and Atradius DSO trends.
10 sourced statistics →
Freelancing & Gig Economy
Freelance Statistics
How many Americans freelance? Census nonemployer counts plus Upwork and MBO Partners surveys, with each definition, sample and source explained.
11 sourced statistics →
Gig Economy Statistics
How many people do gig and app-based work? Federal Reserve, Pew, BLS, World Bank and EU Council figures, with definitions and survey dates explained.
12 sourced statistics →
Self-Employment Statistics
How many people are self-employed in the US and UK, what Schedule C filers earn and the self-employment tax rate, from BLS, IRS and ONS data.
11 sourced statistics →
Independent Contractor Statistics
How many US workers are independent contractors, who they are, and what the 1099-NEC threshold and DOL classification rule say now, from BLS, IRS and DOL.
12 sourced statistics →
Freelance Income Statistics
What US freelancers earn: IRS sole proprietor profits, BLS contractor pay, Federal Reserve income volatility and labelled vendor surveys, each sourced.
11 sourced statistics →
Side Hustle Statistics
How many Americans hold a second job or side hustle and what it pays, from BLS and Federal Reserve data plus Bankrate's 2025 survey, with limits explained.
10 sourced statistics →
Creator Economy Statistics
Sourced creator economy statistics: YouTube's payouts, Goldman Sachs market forecasts, Pew data on news influencers and IRS reporting rules for creators.
12 sourced statistics →
Remote Work Statistics
Official remote work figures from BLS, Census and ONS, plus SWAA survey data: who works from home, how often, and why the numbers differ.
13 sourced statistics →
Small Business
Small Business Statistics
How many small businesses the US has, how many have employees, and their share of jobs and GDP, from the SBA Office of Advocacy and Census Bureau data.
9 sourced statistics →
Small Business Failure Statistics
How many new US businesses close in year one, five and ten: BLS establishment survival tables, Census firm closures and SBA averages, with limits explained.
11 sourced statistics →
Cash Flow Statistics
Sourced small business cash flow statistics from the Federal Reserve and JPMorganChase Institute: uneven cash flow, cash buffer days and how firms cope.
11 sourced statistics →
Small Business Lending Statistics
How many small businesses apply for credit, how many get approved and where they borrow: Federal Reserve survey data, SBA FY2025 lending and bank trends.
12 sourced statistics →
Women-Owned Business Statistics
How many US businesses women own, how many have employees and what they earn: US Census Bureau figures for 2023, with growth in employer firms since 2017.
6 sourced statistics →
Startup Statistics
How many new businesses Americans start, how many hire, and how few raise venture capital, from Census, BLS, Kauffman and PitchBook-NVCA data, with limits.
13 sourced statistics →
Small Business Employment Statistics
How many Americans work for small businesses, their share of payroll and job creation, and how employment splits by firm size, from SBA, Census and BLS data.
9 sourced statistics →
Small Business Software Statistics
How many small businesses use AI, cloud and business software, from the Federal Reserve, Census Bureau, SBA Office of Advocacy and Eurostat, with limits.
10 sourced statistics →
Consulting Industry Statistics
BLS data on US consulting: 1.08 million management analyst jobs, $101,860 median pay, 10% projected growth to 2035, self-employment and industry jobs.
12 sourced statistics →
Procurement Statistics
How big is public procurement? Official OECD, European Commission, GAO and SBA figures on government purchasing and small business contract shares.
10 sourced statistics →
Tax & Accounting
VAT Statistics
Sourced VAT figures: the EU's €128bn VAT gap for 2023, EU standard rates from 17% to 27%, UK VAT receipts and registrations, and OECD VAT trends.
13 sourced statistics →
Sales Tax Statistics
US sales tax figures from the Census Bureau, the Tax Foundation and the Wayfair ruling: revenue, state rates, local taxes and what they mean for invoices.
12 sourced statistics →
Tax Compliance Statistics
Sourced tax compliance figures: the IRS tax gap for tax year 2022, misreporting rates, IRS Data Book FY2025 audits, HMRC's tax gap and OECD tax arrears.
12 sourced statistics →
Accounting Industry Statistics
BLS data on US accountant jobs, pay and 2025-35 outlook, bookkeeping clerk decline, and AICPA figures on graduates and CPA Exam candidates.
10 sourced statistics →
AP & Automation
Accounts Payable Statistics
AP benchmarks for cost per invoice, cycle time, exception rates and electronic invoicing, plus Federal Reserve data on how US businesses pay.
8 sourced statistics →
AP Automation Statistics
How many AP teams use approval workflow, eInvoicing, ePayments and data capture, their 2025 priorities and AI plans, from Ardent Partners' 2025 survey.
11 sourced statistics →
Invoice Processing Cost Statistics
What it costs to process an invoice: APQC's AP benchmark, ATO paper vs PDF vs eInvoice estimates, APEC productivity gains and ECB and EU cost ranges.
9 sourced statistics →
Expense Management Statistics
What expense reports cost to process (GBTA), 2026 IRS mileage rates, receipt and reimbursement deadlines, federal per diem rates and travel spending data.
8 sourced statistics →
AI in Finance Statistics
How many finance firms and workers use AI, from the Census Bureau, Bank of England and FCA, and St. Louis Fed, plus AFP data on AI in fraud control.
9 sourced statistics →
Citing these statistics
Every figure on these pages is attributed to its original publisher with a link. If you reference a statistic, please cite the original source named alongside it. Pages note their compilation date and each source's report year — always check the linked source for the most current edition.