August’s increase is a prompt to inspect who owes you, whom you depend on, and how long cash can wait.
A small contractor finishes a project on Friday. Staff have been paid, materials installed and the customer has signed the completion note. On Monday, the invoice enters an approval system. Two weeks later, a new question arrives. Then another. Payment moves from this month into the next.
Nothing has formally failed. Yet the contractor is already financing the customer through wages, materials and VAT. If that customer becomes insolvent, the loss will not begin on the bankruptcy date. It began when completed work stopped turning into cash.
That ordinary scene gives the latest bankruptcy figures their practical meaning. After adjustment for court-session days, CBS counted 304 bankruptcies among businesses, institutions and sole proprietorships in August 2026. That was 24 more than a year earlier and 38 more than in July. The adjusted rate rose from 7.6 to 8.1 per 100,000 businesses.
The headline is a prompt, not a forecast
The longer rate had followed a slightly declining trend since autumn 2024. August interrupts that direction. It deserves attention without turning one month into a national forecast.
The wider business climate is mixed. Entrepreneur confidence improved sharply at the start of the third quarter, from minus 14.8 to minus 5.3. It still remained negative for the nineteenth consecutive quarter. Orders improved on balance, while businesses continued to judge their order positions negatively.
That combination matters. Some companies are finding work and rebuilding confidence. Others are carrying thin margins, delayed projects or difficult financing. They still buy from each other. A healthier supplier can therefore inherit the cash pressure of a weaker customer without recognising it immediately.
Sector figures add context. In the unadjusted August comparison, hospitality recorded 21.0 bankruptcies per 100,000 businesses. Industry stood at 20.1, construction at 16.5, and rental and other business services at 15.8. The figures point towards different kinds of pressure, from fixed costs and stock to project milestones and payment chains.
Your concentration matters more than the national rate
For a microbusiness, exposure is personal. One customer may represent a third of next month’s receipts. One supplier may hold the only component needed to complete three orders. One main contractor may control approval of every invoice on a project.
A national rate cannot tell a founder whether that concentration is acceptable. The company’s own records can. The first useful question is not how many bankruptcies occurred. It is which single delay would force the business to use tax money, postpone payroll or ask the bank for room.
That question often reveals the difference between turnover and collectable turnover. Revenue in the accounts may depend on a missing purchase order, disputed variation, unsigned delivery record or milestone that the customer has not accepted. Until those matters are resolved, the sale cannot carry rent or wages.
Financial constraints were named as a principal obstacle by 11.9 percent of entrepreneurs in July, up from 10.4 percent a year earlier. Among businesses reporting greater economic uncertainty, 23 percent were building buffers or managing liquidity. Another 22 percent had postponed or reduced investment.
Those responses may be prudent. They also show why another company’s delayed payment can travel further than expected. A supplier that has already delayed maintenance or preserved every available euro has less room to absorb a customer’s problem.
Payment discipline is governance
The Dutch government renewed its call in June for companies and public buyers to pay suppliers on time. For business-to-business contracts, agreed payment terms are generally limited to 60 days. A 30-day term applies when no term is agreed, while large companies paying SMEs and public authorities generally face 30-day rules. The precise rule depends on the contract and the parties involved.
Good governance begins before a payment becomes late. Who agreed the customer’s credit limit? Who notices when payment behaviour changes? Who follows up when an invoice awaits approval rather than being formally disputed? A debtor list without names, dates and next actions is history, not control.
Purchase orders, delivery notes and acceptance records can look administrative when business is moving quickly. They become cash evidence when payment slows. The same applies on the supplier side. A deposit paid to a critical supplier is not merely an advance. It is money exposed to that supplier’s ability to perform.
The August signal is a reason to look eight weeks ahead. Separate expected receipts from hopeful receipts. Compare both with payroll, VAT, rent, supplier payments and debt service. Then identify the customers and suppliers whose delay would do the most damage. This is not a call to distrust every trading partner. It is a way to stop trust from becoming unmeasured credit.
Return to the unpaid invoice
Our contractor’s invoice may still be paid. The customer may simply have a slow approval process. The response should not be passive waiting. The contractor can confirm acceptance, resolve questions quickly, record the promised payment date and decide when escalation becomes necessary. Meanwhile, the cash forecast should treat the receipt according to evidence, not optimism.
Financing the gap later may cost more than managing it now. De Nederlandsche Bank reported that SMEs paid about 3.6 percent on outstanding bank credit in March 2026, compared with about 3.1 percent for larger businesses. These are market averages, not individual offers. They still show that smaller firms rarely finance uncertainty for free.
A bankruptcy elsewhere does not automatically create your crisis. Dependence does. The calm response is to know where that dependence sits, what supports the money owed, and how long the company can carry the delay.
August’s figures should not make founders fearful. They should make the cash chain visible. Another company’s trouble usually reaches your business through something very ordinary: an invoice, a deposit, a delivery or a promise that took too long to become cash.
If you want to make your cash dependencies visible before they become a crisis, let’s examine your exposure together.
The data, sourcing, and analysis behind this article were conducted by Paolo Maria Pavan. AI was not used to identify sources, build the factual basis, or produce the analytical judgment contained here. AI was used only as a drafting aid. The final English text was personally reviewed, edited, and approved by Paolo Maria Pavan before publication.
References
- In augustus 9 procent meer faillissementen dan een jaar eerder | CBS
- CBS - Business confidence, orders and profitability
- CBS - Financial constraints and uncertainty responses
- Rijksoverheid - Payment terms and supplier financing risk
- Ondernemersplein - Statutory payment terms and interest
- CBS - Cost pressure and customer affordability
- De Nederlandsche Bank - Credit cost and SME information quality
- CBS - Business closures beyond formal bankruptcy
