Amsterdam months late in paying freelancers, consultants and contractors

Problems with the implementation of a new purchasing and payment system have resulted in the municipality of Amsterdam being around two months behind in paying invoices from suppliers, alderman Hester van Buren informed the city council on Tuesday. This is putting many contractors, freelancers, and consultants in a difficult position, they told Parool.

According to Van Buren, the city has approximately 43,000 invoices that still need to be paid. Of these, around 27,000 invoices are in arrears. The municipality receives around 25,000 invoices per month. The alderman blamed “technical problems” with the implementation of the new purchasing and payment system Afis. The transfer of invoices from the old to the new system is taking longer than expected, she said.

“We have a huge problem now that the municipality of Amsterdam is not paying our invoices,” a landlord of external meeting locations told Parool. He didn’t want the newspaper to mention his name for fear of losing his contract with the municipality. But now that the city isn’t paying, the outstanding amount is rising and his bank account is running lower and lower. “It concerns almost 5,700 euros that should have been paid already. The oldest invoice is 50 days old.”

The same applies to a freelancer who works for the municipality. The city owes her 17,000 euros. “That is a lot of money for me,” she told the newspaper. “I have been working for the municipality for a while now and therefore know that I have to keep a close eye on things. It has happened before that I had to wait three months for an invoice to be paid.”

Youth worker Michael Schmidt and his colleagues haven’t been paid for two months. “We are talking about large amounts,” he told the newspaper. “Fortunately, I still have an income on the side, but some colleagues put all their time into it and can no longer pay the rent.”

Alderman Van Buren said on Tuesday that the city has set up an “emergency procedure” for entrepreneurs who urgently need payment. “In that case, the invoice will be paid within a few days.” This involves entrepreneurs in “serious financial problems” or if an entrepreneur stopping delivery would result in “a serious disruption of the business continuity of the municipality.” Van Buren also said she has hired temporary workers to pay the invoices manually.

The duped suppliers are anything but satisfied. “I feed a family from this and have to pay rent every month,” the freelancer said. “Now extra temporary workers are being hired to catch up on the backlog, but why didn’t that happen in December? If I have to pay income tax before my invoice is paid, I am actually bankrupt.”

The landlord of the meeting locations is unable to pay his sales tax this month because of the outstanding invoices. “I think that is a real scandal. There is also no communication at all. I just want to know when payment will finally be made.”