About 74% of HK SMEs struggle with payment reconciliation: survey

21% strongly agreeing that reconciliation poses a critical challenge, compared to 9% of small businesses.

A majority of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Hong Kong are struggling to reconcile payments across their businesses, according to new research commissioned by global fintech platform Adyen.

The survey found that 74% of SMEs identify payment reconciliation as a major pain point, with financial services (83%), retail (70%), hospitality and tourism (60%), and beauty, health & wellness (57%) sectors hit hardest.

Medium-sized businesses are feeling the burden even more acutely, with 21% strongly agreeing that reconciliation poses a critical challenge, compared to 9% of small businesses.

On average, businesses are spending six hours each week on accounting and reconciliation tasks.

Medium businesses typically log more hours than smaller counterparts, and companies not yet using SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solutions often spend over 15 hours weekly on these processes.

To address these inefficiencies, many SMEs are adopting SaaS platforms to streamline operations.

However, 80% of current SaaS users still juggle multiple platforms, which can introduce new complexities. The most sought-after SaaS features include consolidated reporting (78%), adding payment methods (71%), risk management (55%), and business lending (49%).

Looking ahead, the appetite for SaaS investment remains strong. Over 80% of SMEs plan to invest further in SaaS solutions over the next year, with the retail sector (90%) leading the charge, followed by financial services (83%) and tourism & hospitality (80%).