If the buyer treats the agreed payment deadline as optional, the supplier must still meet its own cash‑flow obligations such as wages, rent and loan instalments, creating a mismatch between flexibility and rigidity.

Research commissioned by the UK Department for Business and Trade estimated that late payments cost the British economy almost £11 billion a year and contributed to roughly 14 000 business closures, illustrating the scale of the problem in a mature market.

Although the UK figures cannot be directly transferred to Kenya, they highlight that even sophisticated financial systems do not automatically shield suppliers from the consequences of delayed payments.

A simple illustration shows that financing a Sh1 million invoice for an extra ninety days at 18 % simple annual interest would add roughly Sh44 384 in interest alone, not counting fees or collection costs.

Suppliers often try to recoup financing costs by raising prices, but buyers may reject explicit price adjustments for longer terms, leaving the cost to be absorbed through thinner reserves or delayed investments.

Practical steps for Kenyan suppliers include securing written acceptance procedures, naming a billing contact, establishing clear escalation routes, and using deposits or milestone payments to spread funding needs across the production cycle.