Large companies allow themselves to increasingly delay payment, endangering the viability of their suppliers. The government sanctioned bad payers by publishing the names of the 224 guilty brands in the first half of 2023.
McDonald’s, Veolia, L’Oréal, these companies took a little too long to pay their suppliers, or their subcontractors. However, not paying your invoices on time is prohibited, but above all, these delays put businesses in difficulty, especially the smallest ones, which need these payments to operate.
To avoid difficulties or bankruptcies, the Fraud Repression Department, which depends on the Ministry of Finance, is increasing its controls. It identified 224 companies in the first half of the year and these bad performers were punished with fines, the total amount of which reached 30 million euros.
Playing on the image of companies
Bercy, which distributes fines, no longer hesitates to reveal the names of fraudsters. Indeed, this “name and shame”, the fact of publishing the name to shame, is also a way of putting pressure on companies. This is how we know that Veolia, a multinational specializing in water management services, is, according to Bercy, the group which will have to pay the highest penalty: more than 1.5 million euros.
There is also Showroomprivé, an online sales company, Brico Dépôt, each with a fine of more than a million euros. Nexans, the industrial cable specialist, is hit with 850,000 euros. We also find the Atlantic shipyards, with a fine of 570,000 euros, or McDonald’s with 200,000 euros, to name only the better-known companies. We see that these are companies from very diverse sectors.
A fragile economy with a majority of small businesses in France
These delays can weaken our economy, because if these behaviors multiply and become widespread, they risk quickly jeopardizing our businesses, particularly the smallest ones which do not have much cash flow. However, in France, we have a majority of small structures.
According to a Coface study, which has just been published, 82% of companies in France have complained, in recent months, of late payments from their customers. They also complain that these delays are becoming more and more frequent but also increasingly longer. According to this study, the average payment delay reaches 42 days for VSEs. Half of them believe that these delays could threaten their very existence.