More than €3bn available to businesses through invoice finance

Average funds advanced per client remained stable at almost €1m.

Brian Hayes: Debtor days fell from an average of 45 to 43 days year on year.

More than €1.3 billion was advanced to businesses in Ireland through invoice finance at the end of the first quarter, down 1.4% year on year.

New data from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) shows the total funds available rose by 1.9% to over €3bn over the same period. Invoice finance is a working capital or revolving credit facility, used by both SMEs and larger businesses, to release cash tied up in outstanding customer invoices.

According to the report, the average funds advanced per client business remained stable between the end of March 2025 and the end of March 2026 at almost €1m.

Total quarterly client sales were over €9.5bn in the first quarter, virtually unchanged from the same period in 2025.

The average number of debtor days outstanding fell from 45 in the first quarter of 2025 to 43 days in 2026.

Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI said: “The latest figures show that invoice finance continues to provide important working capital support to Irish businesses across a wide range of sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture, transport and logistics, services and recruitment. Participating lenders advanced more than €1.3 billion to client firms in Q1 2026, down 1.4% on the same period last year, while the overall funding available through these facilities increased by 1.9% to more than €3 billion.” 

Mr Hayes added: “At the end of March 2026, average funds advanced per client business stood at almost €1 million, unchanged from the same period in 2025, while total quarterly client sales also remained stable at more than €9.5 billion in Q1 2026. As the sales ledger is used to secure access to funds, growth in client sales can help support greater availability of finance. Meanwhile, debtor days fell from an average of 45 to 43 days year on year, indicating that client customers were, on average, paying their invoices more quickly.”

"These figures underline the practical role invoice finance can play for businesses managing the timing gap between issuing invoices and receiving payment. For firms with strong sales that want to expand or enhance their working capital, it can provide flexible funding that moves in line with their customer invoices," he said.