25.11.2025
Liquidity bottlenecks can also affect robust companies and endanger their existence – especially in uncertain economic times. This article shows how Swiss SMEs currently assess their credit standing and which levers they can use to safeguard their liquidity.
Find out more about the topic of “Liquidity planning: stay liquid at all times”.
An order is completed, the invoice is sent – but the money has still not arrived. Meanwhile, salaries, rents and production costs still have to be paid. For many SMEs, this situation is a daily reality. And it is precisely this that decides whether a company remains solvent or stumbles, for if liquidity dries up, even well managed enterprises quickly encounter difficulties. Liquidity is therefore not just important, but is a top priority when it comes to ensuring a company’s survival.
Liquidity is your company’s ability to pay invoices on time. To do this, you need sufficient liquid assets – in other words, cash, bank deposits and assets available at short notice. If no funds are available to settle outstanding liabilities, your company faces the threat of bankruptcy. And in the worst-case scenario you will have to declare insolvency.
For practical purposes, liquidity is measured at three levels:
Ratio of liquid assets to current liabilities: the liquidity ratio 1 (also known as cash liquidity or cash ratio) tells you how many of your current liabilities (debts due within a year at the latest, such as invoices from suppliers) you can settle with liquid assets (cash and business account assets).
Liquidity ratio 1 = liquid assets / current liabilities x 100
If your liquidity ratio 1 is 50 percent, this simply means that you can pay half of your current liabilities immediately with your cash and account assets.
The optimum value varies depending on the company. A benchmark of 10 to 30 percent serves as a rough guideline.
If you have a high liquidity ratio 1, it may be worth considering an investment.
Go to the article entitled “Liquidity at SMEs: invest surplus liquid assets”
Also takes into account securities and current receivables: the liquidity ratio 2 (also known as the quick ratio) also adds securities and current receivables to liquid assets, as both of these can be turned into cash relatively quickly. The ratio between these three components and current liabilities indicates whether your company can pay its bills.
Liquidity ratio 2 = (liquid assets + current receivables) / current liabilities x 100
The optimum value varies depending on the company. A liquidity ratio 2 of 100 to 120 percent can be used as a standard benchmark. A significantly lower liquidity ratio 2 is a clear sign of a liquidity bottleneck or payment difficulties.
Includes total current assets including inventories: the liquidity ratio 3 (also known as the current ratio) describes the ratio of current assets to current liabilities. Current assets include liquid capital, securities, current receivables as well as all inventories (raw materials, semi-finished and finished products).
Liquidity ratio 3 = current assets / current liabilities x 100
The optimum value varies depending on the company. A range of 150 to 200 percent is recommended as a benchmark.
What is the current situation with regard to liquidity at Swiss companies? A PostFinance survey of 750 corporate customers shows a differentiated picture:
Having examined how company liquidity can be assessed and how SMEs assess their situation, the next question to ask is: how can this be actively improved? The following non-exhaustive selection of practical levers will help you to secure your ability to pay.
Draw up liquidity planning. This will help you to estimate your income and expenditure over the next three to twelve months. How much revenue do you expect? What payment liabilities are imminent? How is your sector performing? If carried out carefully, liquidity planning will help you to estimate your future ability to pay. It will also enable you to identify potential bottlenecks at an early stage. However, it is not a universal remedy as unforeseeable events can always crop up.
Issue your invoices as early as possible – ideally immediately after completing an order or service – and without errors, because an incorrect invoice address will automatically lead to a delay. Remember: you’re interested in getting your debtors’ money as quickly as possible. For larger or longer-term projects, it is advisable to agree on partial payments and to issue interim invoices. A short payment term and the granting of discounts also act as incentives for quick payment.
Go to the blog post “Making smart use of early payment discounts”
React quickly to payment delays and contact your customers immediately. Start by reminding them in a friendly manner of the outstanding payment before proceeding step by step with more direct reminders – through to the announcement of consequences. Keep reminder periods short and don’t put reminders off. A well-structured reminder system – perhaps even automated – will help you with this.
If your customer is currently unable to pay the full amount, try arranging at least a partial payment.
Go to the blog post “What to do if the customer doesn’t pay”
Go to the blog post “The debt collection process controlled by you”
The link will open in a new window Go to Tilbago (in German)
Negotiate favourable payment terms with your creditors so that you don’t have to pay immediately. Instalment payments can help in the case of large amounts of receivables.
Postpone expensive purchases and investments if they are not urgent. Many items can be rented instead of purchased, from office premises to machinery.
Inventories have a direct impact on a company’s liquidity: high inventories tie up capital and reduce a company’s liquidity, while reducing inventories increases liquidity as tied-up money is released. The crucial factor is to maintain inventories that ensure readiness to deliver while minimizing costs and capital commitment.
Create provisions! Orders can suddenly collapse at any time or unplanned costs be incurred. That’s why it’s important to build up sufficient liquidity reserves.
By using the overdrawn account facility, you can increase your financial leeway at short notice if necessary. The overdrawn account facility is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises and serves to bridge short-term liquidity bottlenecks.
Before accepting large orders, checking the potential customer’s credit standing may be worthwhile. This allows you to make sure your customer has sufficient means of payment so you avoid unpleasant surprises.
Digital solutions help to manage liquid assets more efficiently and bring transparency to everyday life.
Software-based liquidity planning helps companies to monitor their ability to pay in real time and manage it proactively. Scenarios can also be calculated on the basis of the data, such as how declining revenue, investments or higher personnel expenses will impact liquidity. This will enable you to identify bottlenecks at an early stage, take targeted countermeasures and make more informed strategic decisions – such as on credit lines or payment deadlines. Automatic updating and AI-based forecasts can replace the tedious task of updating Excel tables, which in turn saves time and reduces errors. When selecting and introducing the tool, it is advisable to involve a specialist (e.g. a trust company).
Digital invoices not only increase the efficiency of invoicing processes, but also promote a faster and more reliable cash flow. Two examples: invoices issued to private customers via eBill are often settled more quickly, as they appear directly in e-banking. This shortens payment deadlines and makes income more predictable. And in the exchange of invoices between companies, B2B e-invoicing accelerates approval and payment processes with digital transmission and automated processing.
The Cash Management & Multibanking Tool (CMT) gives you a quick overview of the liquidity of all your business accounts – i.e. accounts from PostFinance and third-party banks in Switzerland and abroad.
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