The first installment of bonus It does not come at the best time for companies who will have to face the cost in a deeply recessive context, where there are billing drops of 40%.
The data reflects the harshness of the context that most small and medium-sized companies endure. The latest report from the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) from April already warned that 56% of companies are late with some of the payments that you have to face monthly, while 12% have problems with all obligationswhich includes the payment of salaries and Supplementary Annual Salary (SAC).
Marcelo Fernández, head of the Argentine Confederation of Medium Enterprises (CAME), pointed to Ambit that “if we continue along this path, in June “Payment of the bonus is going to be complicated.” He explained that “companies are going to have to request a loan, or they are going to have to pay in installments or they are going to have to use savings.”
The SME businessman indicated that in the first four months of the year there were “increases in salaries and rates, and not all SMEs are in the same conditions.”
“Companies in the sector nutritional are betterbecause people can do without buying a jacket now, but not eating,” he said.
Between 10% and 15% of SMEs have serious problems
For his part, Daniel Rosato, from Industriales Pymes Argentinos (IPA) agreed with Fernández that “Not all SMEs are in the same situation.” For him, those in the services sector are in better conditions than those in tradables.
Rosato estimated that the companies are enduring, in the middle of the year, billing drops of between 40% and 20%which forces them to choose which payments to make and which to postpone.
“This bonus will be paid by SMEs.”. There may be problems in some specific cases that have to be divided into 2 or 3 installments. We estimate that between 10% to 15% of companies are in serious problems”he explained.
Hence, like Fernández, he does not rule out that companies appeal to the reservations they make during peak billing periodsor take advantage of the offer loans made by banks these weeks, especially in a context of falling interest rates.
Businessman. nevertheless. He warned that if the recession is not reversed during the second semester “At the end of the year there will be many companies with problems” in paying the second installment of the SAC.
Financial assistance
June is a key month. The bonus usually has a great impact on the cash flow of companies. In addition, they have the annual Income Tax due date. In this sense, several financial entities specialized in SMEs came to the market to offer loans for the payment of the SAC.
Banco Provincia has a line of loans with special rates intended for the payment of salaries, bonuses, vacations and extraordinary bonuses.
The line is available from June 1 to July 31 for companies that certify the salaries of at least 25% of their employee payroll through Banco Provincia. Has fixed rate of 29% annually for MSMEs and 39% annually for the rest of the small and medium-sized companies, with a single payment period of six months. The maximum amount of the loan is given by the total amount that the company credits in salaries monthly in the Bank.
Between December 2023 and January 2024, when the Buenos Aires public bank established the line to face year-end allocations, 385 SMEs used it who were assisted with more than 4,622 million pesos.
Banco Credicoop launched loans to help SMEs pay bonuses. This line of credit “part of a Fixed Rate of 25% TNA”, offering companies a period of up to six months for its return. Furthermore, one of the outstanding characteristics of this credit is the possibility of pay the first installment after 60 days, providing SMEs with greater financial flexibility in these critical times.
The opinion of accountants
For his part, Vicente Lourenzo, tax advisor and accountant specialized in SMEs, considered that companies “are going to appeal to reserves or ask for credits” to pay this SAC.
“Talking about the bonus for an SME now is like talking about next year,” he explained. The situation is delicate, as she described it. Entrepreneurs are looking for ways to prevent sales from falling further, in a daily battle of promotions and discounts to sustain cash flow.
Source: Ambito
