Know exactly when every payment is due and make sure the cash is there to meet it. Build your committed outgoings — loan and finance repayments, tax, rent, key suppliers — into a forward-looking cash flow forecast, use direct debits or standing orders where you can, and review the position weekly instead of reacting when a payment bounces.
Where you can see a payment will be a problem, contact the other party before the due date. Lenders, suppliers and HMRC generally have more options available before a payment is missed than afterwards. HMRC’s Time to Pay arrangements, for example, are designed for businesses that engage before a debt escalates.
Understand what a missed payment actually triggers under your agreement. Depending on the terms it may mean a fee, default interest, the loss of a promotional rate, a marker on your credit file, or the lender’s right to demand the whole balance. Interest and charges are set by each agreement and, in the case of tax, by rates that are reviewed periodically — read your agreement for the former and check gov.uk for the latter rather than assuming.
Repeated late payments make future borrowing harder and more expensive, because lenders can see the conduct on your credit file and in your bank statements. If missed payments are becoming a pattern rather than an accident, treat that as a signal to review the underlying position with your accountant; free and impartial debt advice is also available from Business Debtline. CWAF can look at whether restructuring existing finance would ease the pressure, but refinancing is not a cure for a business that is trading at a loss, and any decision to lend or to vary an agreement rests with the lender.