Honest by design
The receipts
Every number we cite traces to a real, dated source. Where a source is a vendor, old, or otherwise limited, we say so — because a claim you can't check isn't worth making.
1 · $17,500 owed · 47% over 30 daysPrimary anchor
2025 Intuit QuickBooks U.S. Small Business Late Payments Report — survey of 2,487 small businesses, Jan 2025. "56% had outstanding invoices"; "owed $17,500" on average; "47%… more than 30 days past due."
quickbooks.intuit.com/r/small-business-data/small-business-late-payments-report-2025Note: Intuit is a vendor, but this is a proper 2,487-respondent survey — our most credible demand anchor. Numbers corroborated by
Stacker.
2 · 85% of freelancers paid late at least sometimes
Remote — Contractor Management Report 2025. "85% of freelancers have their invoices paid late at least some of the time"; "just over 21%… paid late (or not at all) over half the time."
remote.com/blog/contractor-management/reversing-late-payment-cultureNote: sample size/methodology not disclosed on the page — used as corroboration, not sole proof.
4 · 29% of freelance invoices are paid late
Bonsai — analysis of 100,000+ users, 3 years of invoicing data. "29% of invoices were paid after they were due"; 90% of late invoices resolve within a month (a chasing problem, not a default problem).
hellobonsai.com/blog/late-freelance-paymentNote: vendor blog; "late" = 1+ day past due. Used for texture, not severity.
5 · Why the endgame stays "prepare paperwork," never "we're your lawyer"
FTC finalized an order against DoNotPay (Feb 2025): $193,000, and a bar on claiming its service works like a real lawyer. This is why Dunwell prepares documents and checklists and never claims to be a law firm.
ftc.gov — FTC finalizes order on DoNotPayThe "$6,000 owed / 71%" figure often quoted for freelancers comes from a Freelancers Union study from 2015— a decade old — so we deliberately don't lead with it.