Now this is an interesting news release on the website of Supply Management. It states that the UK Government is asking for views on our proposals to make companies report on their payment performance to help create responsible payment practices.
The idea behind the consultation is to know if the UK Goverment should ask companies to report on a series of measurements that will tell them about several payment performance indicators. They propose to include the:
- proportion of invoices that are paid beyond the payment terms
- proportion of invoices paid within 30 days
- proportion of invoices paid over 30, 60 and 120 days
- the average time taken to pay invoices
They also want your views on whether companies should also provide a statement that would help the supplier understand the company’s payment practices and performance. In addition, companies would also have to publish on their websites details of their supply chain finance and e-invoicing, standard payment terms, changes to standard periods for payment, and invoice dispute resolution mechanisms.
These proposals would allow suppliers to compare different customers against a standardised time frame of payment. The reporting procedure would be easy for companies to understand and straightforward to complete. It would also provide useful data for suppliers to use.