Christine Christian

EMPLOYMENT expectations are the best they have been for four and a half years according to the latest Dun & Bradstreet Business Expectations Survey.

MORE than three quarters of the companies questioned in the latest Dun & Bradstreet Business Expectations Survey admit they are not GST-ready.

INTEREST rates may be at near 30-year lows, but already debt collection agencies are raking in slabs of new job orders.Dun & Bradstreet last week reported a 200 per cent growth in the number of accounts taken on by the group in 2001.

BUSINESS investment is expected to provide the source of economic growth for at least the next two years, offsetting the downturn in the building and property sector.

In the second part of our series on cash flow management, Mark Beyer looks at trends in trade payments.

TALK of interest rate rises is sparking concerns about falling sales and increased operating costs, according to the lates Dun and Bradstreet National Business Expectations Survey.

TRADE payments by Australian industry have fallen to an average of 47 days, the lowest level in four years.

Australian businesses have seen a gradual improvement in the promptness of business-to-business trade payments over the last quarter, but the average payment period in June is still at around 54 days, keeping the pressure on.

More than half of Australian businesses anticipate declining sales and profits in the March quarter amid fears of a steep rise in unemployment leading executives to prepare for a tumultuous year ahead.

Western Australian business are getting quicker at paying bills with the average time reduced by 2.7 days, the latest Dun & Bradstreet quarterly trade payment analysis shows.