Issue link: https://go.axway.com/i/1321495
35 Open Banking APIs State of the Market Report 2020 There are a range of measures sole traders and self-employed can use to measure the financial health of their business, but in the COVID-19 climate, perhaps a metric such as the quick ratio, which shows a business' capacity to pay short-term expenses immediately is an appropriate measure. 9 Current products aimed at supporting sole traders and the self- employed include: While there are some basic functional products especially in the account-keeping and budgeting sub-sector, there are few more nuanced products that address key pain points for sole traders. For example, sole traders may contract other self-employed contractors to help assist with customer-facing projects. In the United States, for example, there are obligations to complete Form 1040 for independent contractors that may be hired. UK and Australia also have similar requirements. Spain has an IRPF income tax system for self-employed contractors in which payments must be lodged and payments made by the business paying the sub-contractor. Fintech products around the globe rarely address these key pain points that create quarterly tax challenges for sole trader businesses. New fintech products for invoice and factoring services and for other cashflow optimization approaches are also sorely needed. EMERGING AVAILABILITY \ Alternative lending \ Business Operations \ Payment back-end and Infrastructure \ Marketplaces GOOD AVAILABILITY \ Ecommerce payments \ Account-keeping and budgeting \ Transaction and Processing \ Merchant Payments LIMITED AVAILABILITY \ Account/API Aggregation services \ Digital identity \ Digital Banking \ Consumer credit services \ Card and Wallet Management \ Cashflow and balance transfer management \ Line of credit \ Subscription payments \ Invoice factoring management \ Line of credit/Working capital management