She doesn't like his friends, he can't stand her compulsive cleaning, but it's financial incompatibility that's often the clincher for couples harbouring relationship doubts.

New research from Direct Debit, reveals close to a third (32%) of British couples aren't financially compatible and spend their time constantly arguing or suffering their partner's bad money habits in resentful silence.

For more than one in 10 (11%) of women, their biggest relationship gripe is that their partner is financially disorganised and doesn't keep track of where the money goes. A complaint borne out by the finding that more than two thirds (68%) of women are responsible for looking after household bills.

Men, on the other hand, complain that women are all too eager to loosen the purse strings and spend too much cash (12%). Yet generously, three quarters (75%) of men completely trust their partner when it comes to money (compared to only 67% of women).

Michael Chambers from Bacs, the company behind Direct Debit, said, "Of the quarter of UK couples that don't see eye-to-eye, their biggest stumbling block is that they are financially incompatible which, at times, results in bills being paid late or not at all.

"Financial disorganisation is a bigger problem than most people realise - both partners assume the other will take responsibility for household bills and subsequently nothing gets paid on time. Using Direct Debit to automatically pay these bills could spell the end of many unnecessary money arguments."

The deciding factors when it comes to financial compatibility, according to expert researcher and psychologist Dr Glenn Wilson, are how well couples communicate about money and their level of respect for each other on all things fiscal.

Dr Wilson has developed a measure of couples' financial compatibility - Accounting for Love - exclusively for Direct Debit. The test compares the causes of friction between couples with the factors that create harmony and divides the nation's couples into four typologies.

More than half (56%) of couples are Fiscal Friends - partners who regularly discuss their finances and make plans for the future. The biggest gripe amongst this group is that one in 10 are uncomfortable with their partner either spending too much or being a bit miserly.

Not such good news for the quarter (25%) of couples that fall into the category of Cash Calamities, however. Money poses a real problem for these people who tend to bury their heads in the sand and hope all things financial will simply go away.

A further 12% can be labelled Dosh Delegators, couples that manage to get on perfectly well despite failing to talk much about money. The only hiccup in this pairing could be an unexpected change in finances catching them on the hop.

The final typology - Money Moaners - is a moniker worn by 7% of the UK's couples. These couples talk about money more than most, but most conversations usually end in an argument.

Dr Wilson said, "How financially compatible a couple is has a strong correlation with overall happiness in a relationship. Our research shows that money management isn't as big an issue for men as it is for women: while most men are still happy in their relationship even if they disapprove of their partner's financial habits, it's more important for women's overall relationship satisfaction to have a positive view of their partner's money management."

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Notes
A sample of 1,689 adults was surveyed by YouGov between 16-18 February 2004. All were in relationships - 78% were married and 22% were living with a partner.

In addition to other demographic questions, subjects answered 12 financial compatibility questions, each with five scaled responses. The study followed standard procedure for psychological research. A questionnaire was devised and administered to a significant sample to establish meaningful norms (rather than applying arbitrary scores). This methodology is used for the majority of studies of this nature, which need to be robust enough to pass the peer-review process required for the publication of scientific papers. One question from the Locke-Wallace Marital adjustment test was also administered. The Locke-Wallace test has been in use since 1959, many thousands of subjects have taken it, enabling it to be accurately verified as a measure of a person's satisfaction with his/her relationship.