Running a business in 2025 and 2026 means navigating a minefield of rising costs, tighter credit, and customers who can’t pay on time. Nearly half of all U.S. business-to-business invoices are currently overdue and bankruptcy filings are surging past pre-pandemic levels. The outlook from small business owners is at its most pessimistic since 2020. A … Read more
Marketing and advertising agencies don’t just feel late payments on their own books. When large clients take months to pay, that debt pressure trickles down to the freelancers and contractors who do a growing share of the work. A new report by The Kaplan Group looks at how extended payment terms for agencies combine with … Read more
Staffing agencies have always lived with a timing problem: they pay workers weekly, then wait weeks or months to get paid by clients. When key client industries slow hiring, automate roles, or run into financial trouble, that timing gap quickly turns into a serious collections and cash‑flow risk. A new report by The Kaplan Group … Read more
Business bankruptcy filings in the U.S. have surpassed pre-pandemic levels. After bottoming out at 13,481 filings in 2022, annual business bankruptcies climbed to 24,737 by 2025. A new report by The Kaplan Group analyzes federal judiciary data from 2019 through 2025 to map where commercial bankruptcies are rising fastest. Key Takeaways National business bankruptcy trends … Read more
In 2025, U.S. goods trade expanded in both directions, with exports and imports growing compared with 2024, but imports rising more than exports. The annual goods deficit is slightly wider than the year before. A new report by The Kaplan Group examines when this shift happened, and which partners and product groups drove it. Key … Read more
Small businesses rarely fail because they lack ideas; they fail because they run out of cash. The Kaplan Group compiles 51 up‑to‑date data points on how often owners are juggling late customer payments, rising costs, and expensive debt just to keep the lights on. These numbers highlight the financial pressure points that can quickly turn … Read more
Marketing and advertising agencies are enjoying some of their strongest demand in years, but late-paying clients turn that growth into a persistent cash flow problem. A new report by The Kaplan Group combines two years of Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data, two decades of Google Trends demand signals, and the latest B2B payment research … Read more
What happens when 12.8M green card holders can’t get SBA loans? The Small Business Administration has issued new rules that shut lawful permanent residents out of its main small‑business loan programs, even if they own just 1% of a company. That shift could pull billions of dollars in affordable credit away from immigrant‑owned and mixed‑ownership … Read more
A new report by The Kaplan Group shows that temp help employment more than doubled between 1990 and its March 2022 peak, yet has since fallen by nearly one‑quarter. At the same time, online interest in “staffing agencies” and “temp work” is higher than ever, signaling curiosity and concern that don’t fully align with actual … Read more
The U.S. manufacturing landscape entering 2026 is defined by mounting financial strain and rising credit risk. Balance sheets are weakening, bankruptcy activity is climbing, and many producers are increasingly dependent on debt just as trade tariffs and higher input costs squeeze margins. Together, these pressures are fueling longer payment terms, more frequent delinquencies, and a … Read more
America’s small business landscape is under pressure from higher interest rates and tighter credit—but not all states are feeling it the same way. A new report from The Kaplan Group ranks all 50 states on small business health using a blend of credit fundamentals and early stress signals, revealing where small firms look most resilient … Read more
U.S. “office” construction is no longer just about cubicles and corner suites. It has split into two very different stories: a shrinking market for traditional offices and a fast‑growing, infrastructure‑heavy buildout of data centers. A new report by The Kaplan Group offers a data-driven snapshot of this transformation, highlighting rapid data center growth, as artificial … Read more
Debt collection complaints offer one of the clearest, real‑time windows into how collection practices impact consumers at scale. Drawing on more than 600,000 recent complaints from the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database, a new report by The Kaplan Group pinpoints where risk is concentrated, which complaint types dominate, and how much of the observed under-performance remains … Read more
A new report by The Kaplan Group examines how hidden consumer liabilities—especially Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) loans that do not appear on traditional credit reports—are building risk of default and creating “ghost debt” that will spill over into commercial credit. It combines Google Trends search‑trend signals with recent Federal Reserve, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau … Read more
U.S. business debt entered 2026 under sustained pressure, not a single crisis moment. The Kaplan Group analyzed key economic signals to show how tighter credit, higher‑for‑longer interest costs, and tariff‑driven price shocks are reshaping the risk landscape for American companies. Our full State of U.S. Business Debt 2026 report provides detailed findings and charts. Key … Read more
Failed SaaS subscription payments have emerged as a critical challenge for software companies, directly influencing cash flow, customer retention, and long-term business health. Payment failures and involuntary churn account for as much as 40% of lost subscribers and significant annual revenue leakage. Understanding why recurring payments fail, and tracking their impact, is essential for any … Read more
Medical debt has become one of the most pervasive financial burdens facing American households, affecting more than one-third of all families nationwide. A new report by The Kaplan Group examines the national medical debt crisis through comprehensive state-level data, revealing significant geographic disparities and establishing connections between consumer medical debt, and serious payment delinquencies. Key … Read more
On September 28, 2024 Governor Newsom signed SB 988, the Freelance Worker Protection Act, and its key provisions became law on January 1, 2025. The FWPA creates baseline contract and payment protections for many freelancers and small one-person contracting entities, and it gives freelancers tools to enforce those rights. Who’s covered The law defines a … Read more
International tourism to the United States experienced a significant contraction in July 2025, with total losses of 624,404 visitors representing an 8.9% year-over-year decline. The downturn generated an estimated $2.62 billion in lost spending. A new report by The Kaplan Group analyzed how tourism-dependent cities are facing elevated foreclosure risk due to a decline in … Read more
The B2B payment landscape in 2025 reveals a crisis of unprecedented proportions. More than half of all business-to-business invoiced sales in America are overdue, creating a ripple effect that touches every aspect of commercial operations—from cash flow and growth plans to supplier relationships and operational efficiency. The Payment Delay Crisis Current data reveals that late … Read more
