There are approximately 26 million small businesses in the U.S. of which 22 million are very small with few if any employees. This survey reflects these 22 million smallest of small businesses, which make up the backbone of the US economy.

• $33 billion in overdue payments: Small businesses average $1,500 in overdue customer payments per month creating an approximate $33 billion collective strain on cash flow for 22 million small businesses in the U.S.

• Plans to weather economic downturn. Nearly 40 percent of small businesses are "trying to get paid by customers as fast as possible" as part of their plan to weather the economy. This ranked third after "reducing costs" with 60 percent and "focusing on customer retention" with 59 percent.

• Overdue payments keep them up at night: 42 percent of small businesses state that "getting paid quickly by customers" is one of the key issues that keeps them up at night. This is preceded by "finding new customers" with 67 percent, and "losing customers" with 44 percent.

• Overdue payments today compared to last year: 33 percent of small business owners state that they have more overdue payments today compared to last year.

• Aging invoices over 30 days: Nearly 40 percent of small business owners have aging invoices of over 30 days with some not knowing how many days it takes to get paid.

• Manual invoicing methods still used: 66 percent of small businesses still handwrite invoices, use word processing programs and spreadsheets, or simply don't have a standardized method. 34 percent use automated financial software or online invoicing tools.

• Forgetting to invoice or follow-up: Nearly 20 percent of small business owners admit to forgetting to invoice or follow up on an overdue invoice. Over 50 percent of these respondents admit that they are simply "not organized" and "lack an automated system for creating and tracking invoices."

• Many don't accept credit cards and electronic checks: Only 30 percent of small businesses accept credit cards and only 22 percent accept electronic checks. The most common forms of payment are standard checks with 85 percent followed by cash with 59 percent.

• Getting paid Faster: 33 percent of small businesses that accept credit cards state that they get paid faster now compared to when they didn't accept credit cards.

• Lost customers due to lack of credit card processing: 20 percent of small businesses admit to having lost a customer because they could not accept credit cards.

• $42 billion in bad debt: Small businesses have over $1900 in bad debt on average each year adding up to a collective $42 billion loss for 22 million small businesses in the U.S.

Survey Background and Methodology

Decipher Inc., an independent, full-service market research firm, conducted the Intuit Billing Manager "Get Paid Survey" from October 7 - 10, 2008, sampling 751 small business owners with less than 10 employees.

Respondents accessed the survey via Decipher's online system.

Media Contacts

Sharna Brockett

Intuit Inc.

650-944-3856

sharna_brockett@intuit.com

Brooke Tvedten

Access Communications

415-844-6257

btvedten@accesspr.com