Figure 1.
Figure 2.
Fisher’s test
| 1–5 years | 6–10 years | 11–20 years | > 21 years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–5 years | 0.2388 | 0.01053 | 0.00517 | |
| 6–10 years | 0.2388 | 0.04273 | 0.01831 | |
| 11–20 years | 0.01053 | 0.04273 | 0.9121 | |
| > 21 | 0.00517 | 0.01831 | 0.9121 |
Research Questions
| Question | Possible answers |
|---|---|
| What in your opinion is an indicator of your company’s financial security? |
|
| How do you verify the credibility of your customers (contractors)? |
|
Chi-square Test with Yates’ Continuity Correction
| 1–5 years | 6–10 years | 11–20 years | > 21 years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–5 years | 0.3012 | 0.01456 | 0.007924 | |
| 6–10 years | 0,3012 | 0.0555 | 0.02184 | |
| 11–20 years | 0.01456 | 0,0555 | 0.9364 | |
| > 21 | 0.00792 | 0.02184 | 0.9364 |
Employment and Industry (N = 500)
| Employment (size) | % | Industry | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–9 employees | 36.0 | Services | 46.8 |
| 10–49 employees | 44.0 | Manufacturing | 29.2 |
| 50–249 employees | 20.0 | Trade | 24.0 |
Methods of Verifying Business Partners’ Financial Security by Company Tenure
| Response Variant | 1–5 years | 6–10 years | 11–20 years | > 20 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ask friendly companies in the industry | 5 | 19 | 40 | 109 |
| Check data in National Court Register/CEIDG | 4 | 13 | 24 | 113 |
| Check online (own research — forums, opinions, etc.) | 2 | 13 | 29 | 71 |
| Do not verify contractors at all | 6 | 13 | 35 | 46 |
| Check if the contractor is on the VAT Taxpayers White List | 1 | 2 | 15 | 71 |
| Check in business information bureaus (BIG, KRD, ERIF, mBIG etc.) | 1 | 7 | 23 | 49 |
| Analyse company financial statements | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 |
| Order reports from business intelligence agencies | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 |
| Check company registration documents | 1 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| Query Tax Office about contractor’s VAT or tax arrears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Query Social Insurance Institution about public law liabilities | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Check on transport companies’ exchange | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Conduct local/environmental survey through sales representatives | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Company is verified by our insurer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Don’t know, hard to say | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
Methods of Verifying Business Partners’ Financial Security
| Response Variants | Number of answers | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Ask friendly companies in the industry | 174 | 34,80 |
| Check data in National Court Register/CEIDG | 156 | 31,20 |
| Check online (own research - forums, opinions, etc.) | 117 | 23,40 |
| Do not verify contractors at all | 100 | 20,00 |
| Check if the contractor is on the VAT Taxpayers White List | 89 | 17,80 |
| Check in business information bureaus (BIG, KRD, ERIF, mBIG etc.) | 81 | 16,20 |
| Analyse company financial statements | 17 | 3,40 |
| Order reports from business intelligence agencies | 16 | 3,20 |
| Check company registration documents | 15 | 3,00 |
| Query Tax Office about contractor’s VAT or tax arrears | 8 | 1,60 |
| Query Social Insurance Institution about contractor’s public law liabilities | 6 | 1,20 |
| Check on transport companies exchange | 4 | 0,80 |
| Conduct local/environmental survey through sales representatives | 4 | 0,80 |
| Company is verified by our insurer | 3 | 0,60 |
| Other | 5 | 1,00 |
| Don’t know, hard to say (not read) | 9 | 1,80 |
| Total | 500 | 100,00 |
Company Tenure (N = 500)
| Years on the market | % |
|---|---|
| 1–5 years | 3.0 |
| 6–10 years | 10.0 |
| 11–20 years | 25.0 |
| >21 years | 61.4 |
Perception of Financial Security
| Company’s tenure >>>>>>> | 1–5 years | 6–10 years | 11–20 years | from 21 years | Declined to answer | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response Variants | Number of answers | Percentage (%) | Number of answers | Percentage (%) | Number of answers | Percentage (%) | Number of answers | Percentage (%) | Number of answers | Percentage (%) | Number of answers | Percentage (%) |
| Stable customer base | 8 | 53.30 | 22 | 44.00 | 45 | 36.00 | 159 | 51.80 | 1 | 33.30 | 235 | 47.00 |
| Available funds in bank account | 11 | 73.30 | 27 | 54.00 | 46 | 36.80 | 110 | 35.80 | 0 | 0.00 | 194 | 38.80 |
| Monthly income exceeding expenses | 8 | 53.30 | 17 | 34.00 | 42 | 33.60 | 114 | 37.10 | 1 | 33.30 | 182 | 36.40 |
| No overdue receivables | 7 | 46.70 | 18 | 36.00 | 41 | 32.80 | 103 | 33.60 | 0 | 0.00 | 169 | 33.80 |
| Low company debt | 1 | 6.70 | 10 | 20.00 | 16 | 12.80 | 68 | 22.10 | 0 | 0.00 | 95 | 19.00 |
| No public-legal arrears | 1 | 6,70 | 6 | 12.00 | 31 | 24.80 | 57 | 18.60 | 0 | 0.00 | 95 | 19.00 |
| No bank loans | 2 | 13.30 | 6 | 12.00 | 25 | 20.00 | 61 | 19.90 | 0 | 0.00 | 94 | 18.80 |
| No legal proceedings | 3 | 20.00 | 5 | 10.00 | 18 | 14.40 | 50 | 16.30 | 0 | 0.00 | 76 | 15.20 |
| Maintained financial liquidity | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 3.20 | 1 | 0.30 | 0 | 0.00 | 5 | 1.00 |
| Active credit | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.80 | 2 | 0.70 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.60 |
| Legal stability | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 1.60 | 1 | 0.30 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.60 |
| Long-term, profitable contracts | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.80 | 1 | 0.30 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.40 |
| Good market reputation | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 1.60 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.40 |
| High quality of services provided | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.80 | 1 | 0.30 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.40 |
| Don’t know, hard to say | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 2.00 | 5 | 4.00 | 12 | 3.90 | 2 | 66.70 | 20 | 4.00 |
| Other | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 3.20 | 2 | 0.70 | 0 | 0.00 | 6 | 1.20 |
| Total | 15 | 100.00 | 50 | 100.00 | 125 | 100.00 | 307 | 100.00 | 3 | 100.00 | 500 | 100.00 |
Annual Turnover and Region (N = 500)
| Annual turnover (PLN) | % | Voivodeships (selected) | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| < 1 million | 26.6 | Mazowieckie | 12.4 |
| 1.1–5 million | 18.4 | Śląskie | 15.0 |
| 5.1–10 million | 10.6 | Wielkopolskie | 12.8 |
| >10.1 million | 21.2 | Dolnośląskie | 8.4 |
| Not disclosed | 23.2 | Other regions combined | 31.2 |
Areas of Financial Statement Information Used in Determining Customer Credibility
| Analysed Areas of Financial Statement Information | Frequency | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Other | 2 | 2 |
| Don’t know, hard to say (not read) | 18 | 18 |
| Liquidity (cash and cash equivalents, etc.) | 52 | 52 |
| Profitability (revenues, costs, profit, loss) | 7 | 7 |
| Indebtedness (bank liabilities, public obligations such as taxes and social security, employee liabilities, trade payables) | 21 | 21 |
Legal Form of Enterprise (N=500)
| Legal form | % |
|---|---|
| Sole proprietorship | 42.0 |
| Limited liability company (Sp. z o.o.) | 32.4 |
| Registered partnership | 10.6 |
| Civil law partnership | 5.4 |
| Joint-stock company | 4.4 |
| Other forms (cooperatives, associations, etc.) | 5.2 |
Statistical Analysis
| Response Variant | Chi-square test | Was Monte Carlo simulation used for p-value? | Strength of relationship – Cramér‘s coefficient | Fisher’s test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stable customer base | 0.02532 | No | 0.137 | 0.8947 |
| Available funds in bank account | 0.003332 | No | 0.166 | 0.0009428 |
| Monthly income exceeding expenses | 0.4796 | No | 0.071 | 0.7824 |
| No overdue receivables | 0.7364 | No | 0.051 | 0.4827 |
| Low company debt | 0.08846 | Yes | 0.115 | 0.7362 |
| No public-legal arrears | 0.1284 | Yes | 0.108 | 0.08902 |
| No bank loans | 0.5617 | Yes | 0.066 | 0.1747 |
| No legal proceedings | 0.6522 | Yes | 0.058 | 0.5808 |
| Maintained financial liquidity | 0.04448 | Yes | 0.128 | 1 |
| Active credit | 1 | Yes | 0.031 | 1 |
| Legal stability | 0.2639 | Yes | 0.076 | 1 |
| Long-term, profitable contracts | 1 | Yes | 0.04 | 1 |
| Good market reputation | 0.1309 | Yes | 0.11 | 1 |
| High quality of services provided | 1 | Yes | 0.04 | 1 |
| Other | 0.1024 | Yes | 0.108 | 1 |
| Don’t know, hard to say | 0.8231 | Yes | 0.046 | 0.4907 |