Duty to report on payment practices

Digital records help large companies to meet their Duty to report on payment practices

As of October 2017 large companies are required by the UK government to report on their payment practices. The governement issued the following guidance to reporting on payment practices and performance.

Background to payment practices

Every year, thousands of businesses experience severe administrative and financial burdens, simply because they are not paid on time. Late payment is a key issue for business, especially smaller businesses as it can adversely affect their cash flow and jeopardise their ability to trade. In the worst cases, late payment can lead to insolvency.

Regulations made under section 3 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (and, for limited liability partnerships (LLPs), the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000), introduce a duty on the UK’s largest companies and LLPs to report on a half-yearly basis on their payment practices, policies and performance for financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2017. The information must be published through an online service provided by the government, and will be available to the public.

This guidance is for companies and LLPs who must comply with the statutory reporting duty for payment practices and performance. 

Who needs to report?

Which businesses need to report? How are companies requied to report defined?

1. The reporting requirement applies to large companies and large LLPs (regardless of whether they are private, public or quoted) which exceed certain size criteria.
2. The information for the reporting requirement should be prepared on an individual company or individual LLP basis, not at a group level.

What are the size criteria for the reporting requirement?

Businesses are in scope of the requirement for a financial year if, on their last two balance sheet dates, they exceeded two or all of the thresholds for qualifying as a medium-sized company under the Companies Act 2006 (section 465 (3)). The thresholds relate to turnover, balance sheet total and average number of employees.

These reporting thresholds are:

• £36 million annual turnover
• £18 million balance sheet total
• 250 employees

Document Records Management and Audits

Records management is a hot topic with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force.

Document Logistix flagship product, Document Manager, helps companies to track records. Digitized records are indexed and filed for workflow actions. All activity, including approvals and payment schedules, are logged and easily reported.

Document Manager overcomes the need for manual intervention; reports can be generated across all departments and for multiple sites. All payment transactions are highly auditable.

You can find out more about the Duty to report on payment practices and performance at Gov.UK