Number of the week · checked 19 October 2026
50% of small employers named uneven cash flow as a challenge.
In the Federal Reserve Banks' newest survey of firms with 1 to 499 employees, uneven cash flow, including collecting from clients, ranked third among financial challenges.
The short version
In the Federal Reserve's newest small business survey, 50% of employer firms said uneven cash flow was a challenge, including collecting from clients.
That's firms with 1 to 499 employees, surveyed in late 2025. Only rising costs and paying operating expenses ranked higher.
Pay weekly and bill net 30, and you're floating about four payrolls. Work out your own gap.
In numbers
| Challenge | Share |
|---|---|
| Increased costs of goods, services, and/or wages | 73% |
| Paying operating expenses | 54% |
| Uneven cash flow | 50% |
| Weak sales | 48% |
Sources
Checked on 19 October 2026.
""Uneven cash flow" includes collecting on receivables."
Federal Reserve Banks, 2026 Report on Employer Firms: Findings from the 2025 Small Business Credit Survey. Published 3 March 2026. Financial challenges chart, page 3. "The 2025 SBCS was fielded from September 3 to November 14, 2025. It yielded 6,525 responses from a nationwide convenience sample of small employer firms with 1–499 full- or part-time employees"
Same report, about the survey. Introduction.
About four payrolls is our arithmetic: a 30-day wait holds 30 ÷ 7 = 4.3 weekly paydays. The survey is a convenience sample, not a random one.
Watch
Psst posts every video on these channels.
Psst is made by Zain Ali, who founded ivector, a software company.