The majority of small to medium businesses in Australia have struggled with cash flow in the last year, new data from Commbank has revealed.

Nearly 80 per cent of small to medium businesses have experienced a lack of cash flow in the past 12 months.

Of the businesses surveyed, 85 per cent had specific strategies in place to manage cash flow, despite the impacts they experienced.

For more than a quarter of small businesses, that meant dipping into personal savings or not paying themselves a salary.

”While it’s encouraging to see small business owners take proactive steps to manage their cash flow, some of those strategies – like dipping into savings or not paying themselves a salary – may not be what’s best for the business or the business owner for the long term,” CBA Executive General Manager Small Business Banking, Rebecca Warren said.

Declining revenue made up 35 per cent of cash flow issues, while low cash reserves contributed to 30 per cent of cash flow issues.

Seasonal fluctuations also made up 27 per cent of cash flow issues.

“For small businesses, success often hinges on a delicate balancing act as they constantly juggle various aspects of their operations, from managing customers and employees to dealing with suppliers and vendors,” Warren said.

“It’s not surprising that the economic challenges of the past year have resulted in cash-flow impacts for many Australian SMBs.”

The survey comes as the bank launches a free cash flow management course for any Australian small business, regardless of whether they are a Commbank customer.

The course was designed with Lifelong Learning at the University of New South Wales.