> I keep assuming they must have some massive upside I'm not seeing
My default assumption would not be that there's an upside in this for them, but that they're a disfunctional organization. The people procuring your services and authorizing the expense are not in contact with or unable to influence the people planning and authorizing the payment. They might not even share a superior all the way up to the board, with the procurement people reporting to the COO and the payment people to the CFO. If it's easier to spend the company's money than to save it, people will spend it. Corporate seldom rewards saving money anyway.
Based on previous experience, I concur. There are businesses with a culture of 'pay late no matter what' and this becomes the norm, regardless of logic.
I had a manager who could buy just about anything he wanted with no checks as to why he needed this stuff or where it went. The only control was the time period between delivery and payment.
My default assumption would not be that there's an upside in this for them, but that they're a disfunctional organization. The people procuring your services and authorizing the expense are not in contact with or unable to influence the people planning and authorizing the payment. They might not even share a superior all the way up to the board, with the procurement people reporting to the COO and the payment people to the CFO. If it's easier to spend the company's money than to save it, people will spend it. Corporate seldom rewards saving money anyway.