Wednesday 30th April, 2013

A survey by the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC), reveals how prepared Irish Businesses are for the SEPA deadline. The research found 42% of companies have not started preparing for SEPA, which comes into effect on 1 February 2014, and half are not aware of the impact SEPA will have.

IBEC Senior Economist Reetta Suonperä said: “There are differing levels of SEPA readiness among Irish businesses. Larger firms are clearly the best prepared. Smaller firms are less likely to have specialist finance or accounting function, so it is not surprising that these companies report the lowest levels of SEPA awareness and readiness".

“SEPA is an important step for completing the single European market, not unlike the euro changeover in 2002. The existing national payments systems will close on 31 January 2014. To pay and collect electronic euro payments after that date, businesses will need to ensure that payroll, direct debit and accounting systems are SEPA ready".

She added: "Businesses need to act now to ensure that their payroll and direct debit collection systems continue to function without problems. There is plenty of advice and support available from banks and software providers".

Key trends highlighted by the survey include:

• Only about one in seven (14%) companies with fewer than 50 employees are SEPA ready.
• Medium-sized firms with 50-249 employees are only slight ahead. More than four in ten have not started preparations and only one in ten report that they are SEPA ready.
• About one in three have discussed SEPA with their bank, and just over one in four have discussed SEPA with their software provider.
• One in five (20%) firms with more than 250 employees report that they are ready for SEPA, while fewer than three in ten (28%) have not started preparations.

For information ahead of the 1st February 2014 deadline visit: www.readyforSEPA.ie or www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu