Invoice Indecision, a Thaw in Tech Funding, Anthropic Puts Agentic AI on Task

Hey everybody, it's Gene Marks, and welcome to this week's episode of the Paychex THRIVE Week in Review. This is where we take a few items of news that impact your small business and mine, and we talk about it a little bit.

The first item comes from a company called Bluevine. They're a financial services firm, a lender. They issued a new survey which highlights how late customer payments are creating serious cash flow stress for small businesses.

The survey found that nearly 3 in 10 owners reported delaying their own paychecks because invoices aren't paid on time, underscoring how owners personally absorb financial strain. The issue extends beyond personal sacrifice, according to the survey. About 17% of businesses have missed or nearly missed payroll due to late payments, showing a direct link between receivables and employee compensation. Late payments are widespread, affecting roughly 59% of SMBs, and many have significant funds tied up in unpaid invoices, often exceeding $5,000.

These delays also create operational efficiencies or inefficiencies, with owners spending valuable time chasing payments instead of running their businesses. The report frames late payments as a systemic problem, particularly for smaller firms with limited reserves, and highlights the importance of faster payment systems and better invoicing tools to stabilize cash flow and reduce financial stress.

Now, first of all, take some of this data with a grain of salt. Bluevine provides those invoicing tools and financing – factoring, it was called back in the day – for certain large invoices. So, you know, this study itself is being conducted by somebody that, you know, obviously, you'll benefit, I want to say, from these customers or these small business owners that are having these cash flow issues.

But putting that aside, it still underscores the importance of cash flow for small businesses and the issues that a lot of small businesses are facing with cash flow; Three in 10 delaying payment themselves. I mean, that's a lot.

So, here's a few things that we need to be making sure that we are considering as business owners. For starters, we have to have financing vehicles in place for our businesses. Bluevine provides a great one. Other lenders do the same thing. Working capital loans or lines of credit are also very important. There is nothing wrong with taking money out for a working capital line of credit if you know that you're going to pay it back because you're just waiting on payment from a customer. That is what businesses do.

Some people even use credit cards for that purpose, as well, and although credit cards come with high interest rates, remember that if you pay your credit card off within 30 days, you generally avoid those high interest rates. So, you need to make sure that you've got this financing and those credit facilities up and running for when cash flow changes.

A lot of us run seasonal businesses or we have challenges depending on when our customers are paying us, and that is something that has to be taken into consideration.

The other thing also you want to consider is changing how your customers pay you. I have a lot of clients that require, and my company does, we get upfront payments from clients on projects. Like when we do a project, we require blocks of time being paid upfront. We charge our time against it. This is not an uncommon practice among many service firms, as well as some companies that are in the construction or other service areas. They require companies to pay maybe 30 or 40 percent upfront for a project before it begins, then they keep a close eye on their billing.

And finally, speaking of billing, make sure that you're getting bills out promptly. One of the biggest reasons why companies fall behind in cash flow is because they're lazy with their billing. Get them out on a daily or a weekly basis. Don't just wait till the end of the month because now you're extending things by yet another 30 days.

So, yeah, these cash flow issues are certainly challenges for a lot of small businesses, but they can be overcome if you make sure that you've got the right financing and cash flow practices in place. So, I hope that advice helps you.

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Alright, the next bit of news comes from Congress, and it impacts you as a small business owner if you are really in the sort of the technology-related field. Congress has passed legislation to restore funding for two major small business innovation programs – the Small Business Innovation Research or SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer programs – after a months-long freeze that halted these new awards.

These programs, often described as the federal government's venture capital arm for startups, channel billions of dollars annually into early-stage research and development across industries like defense, healthcare, and energy. The funding lapse, which began in 2025, left thousands of startups without access to critical capital.

The new bill reauthorizes these programs through 2031 and includes reforms aimed at improving oversight, limiting abuse, and strengthening national security protections. It has passed both the House and the Senate with bipartisan support and is awaiting presidential approval, which is expected. If enacted, the legislation will restart funding flows, restore certainty for small innovators, and reinforce the federal government's role in supporting early-stage technology development.

I'm very happy to see that these grants and these funds are now back in place again. I think they were part of a lot of the government cutbacks and the DOGE actions that were happening last year. If you're a small business, particularly in the research and development or scientific field, there is always work to be gotten from the federal government, and these are great programs to get you started: the Small Business Innovation Research and the Small Business Technology Transfer Programs.

I want you to look into both. You can Google them both. You can get help from the Small Business Administration in applying for these kinds of awards. They're grants, so you don't have to pay the money back and they are amounts that could really get your business particularly if your startup going. These grants can range from $10,000, $20,000, even up to $100,000 depending on the project that you're looking to do. It could be a great source of money particularly if you're cash starved at the early stages of your business.

So, great news. The SBIR and the STTR programs have been reauthorized waiting for presidential signature, which I expect to happen, and that will be more funds for startups, particularly in the scientific and engineering fields.

Speaking of science, let's turn now to our AI news of the week. This week's AI news comes from Anthropic and Claude, and this is a report that's been widely reported this past week. I'm taking this report from The Verge. Claude can now control your computer. Anthropic has introduced a major new capability for its Claude AI program that allows it to directly control a user's computer, making a significant step towards agentic AI.

Now, get this; Through tools like Claude Code and Claude Cowork, the system can perform tasks such as opening files, navigating applications, browsing the web, and executing workflows by simulating mouse and keyboard actions. Initially available as a research preview for paid users on Mac OS, the feature integrates with services like Slack and Google Workspace, but can also operate independently where integrations aren't available.

Users issue commands, often via mobile, and the AI executes tasks on their desktop. Anthropic emphasizes that safeguards are in place, including requiring explicit user permission and allowing manual override.

While still early and sometimes limited in handling complex tasks, the development signals a shift towards AI systems that act autonomously within existing software environments, potentially transforming how routine digital work is performed.

So, let me put this into plain English for you, okay? You look at, you go to your computer, you talk to your computer, and you say, “Send an invoice to our customer ABC Company for $400.” Claude understands that command, goes into your accounting program, pulls up an invoice, pulls up that customer, creates that invoice and sends it out. You haven't even touched the computer. Do you get that?

Perform a bank reconciliation. Check a supplier's website. Do a purchase order for this type of inventory. Check inventory balances and reorder inventory when it falls below a certain amount. Run payroll. Do this social media campaign. Send out an email campaign. All of the kinds of things that you would ask an employee who's sitting at their desk to do. You just ask your computer to do it: (snaps) Boom! Agentic AI picks it up and does it for you.

Now, people get concerned that this is going to replace jobs, and I want to make no qualms. Yes, of course, AI is going to replace some jobs. But come on? This is the kind of stuff – dumb stuff – that employees are doing right now that if you can automate this, it frees them out to do more important, thinking, cash-related stuff.

So, it is a great productivity tool. I strongly suggest you look into what Claude has introduced, as well as any other agentic AI features that are out there; ChatGPT has got them, Copilot, Gemini, GROK. Start getting familiar with agentic AI. It will save you significant amounts of money in your business by increasing productivity.

My name is Gene Marks, and you have been watching or listening to this week's episode of the Paychex THRIVE Week in Review.

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Thank you so much for watching or listening. We'll be back with you next week with news that impacts your small business and a few comments about that news. We'll see you then.

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