Helping UK suppliers get paid on time
When a customer says payment has gone out, the supplier's ledger has not moved. This guide explains how to test a remittance advice, audit bank-detail changes, establish the date the payment clock actually stopped, and preserve statutory late-payment rights when the money has not landed.
Supplier portals and e-invoicing platforms are now the default route for invoice submission across much of UK procurement. But a submission timestamp is not the same as receipt, and buyer-controlled systems can quietly move the statutory payment clock. This article sets out an audit approach for the terms, records and rejection codes that determine when a supplier is actually paid.
A customer issues a modest credit note for a handling charge or goodwill adjustment, and the supplier absorbs it because the sum seems too small to dispute. Over a year those deductions compound into a de facto price cut. This article sets out a year-end reconciliation method and a written policy for rejecting unsupported credit notes and re-invoicing within a fixed window.
A standard anti-assignment clause buried in a customer's terms can quietly prevent a supplier from using invoice finance — or turn a drawdown into a breach of contract. This analysis explains how the wording operates, where it hides in contract suites, which carve-outs are worth negotiating, and how to price the constraint when a major customer refuses to move.
A customer who says an invoice is 'under query' but never identifies the problem can freeze payment without ever making a coherent objection. This article sets out the supplier's position under UK late-payment rules, a practical escalation route, and a template response that turns vague language into a dated, evidenced claim.
Supplier onboarding packs often ask for more than bank details: they can contain clauses that purport to waive statutory late-payment interest, fixed compensation and recovery costs. This article shows where those clauses hide, how they interact with unfair contract terms, and what wording suppliers can negotiate before accepting a customer's standard terms.
For many UK suppliers, a missing or inaccurate purchase order number is not a clerical nuisance but the trigger for automatic invoice rejection and a fresh validation cycle. This article examines why no PO, no pay policies are applied unevenly, how suppliers can capture the reference before dispatch, and how to escalate a rejected invoice before it ages past 30 days.
Compensation for late payment is only one part of the statutory remedy. Interest on an overdue commercial invoice accrues day by day, yet many UK suppliers never bill it. This guide explains how the entitlement works, how to calculate it, and how to raise it in a chase letter without turning a commercial relationship into a dispute.
A compliant invoice can still miss a customer's payment run if it arrives after an internal cut-off that never appears in the contract. This guide explains how approval queues, BACS cycles and month-end freezes shape the real payday, and how suppliers can map the rhythm before quoting.
A personal guarantee can give a supplier a second route to recovery when a limited company stops paying, but only if the document is properly executed and commercially sensible. This guide covers enforceability, a pre-signature checklist and a formal escalation script.
A late-paying customer can leave a UK supplier funding VAT on money it has never received. This article explains how the tax point, bad debt relief and a simple monthly review interact, and where to build a cash buffer before HMRC's deadline arrives.
A trade customer entering administration or liquidation is not a single event but a sequence of deadlines, most of which fall inside the first three working days. This playbook sets out how to stop supply, test a retention-of-title clause, register and prove your debt, and avoid the hesitations that turn a recoverable position into a total loss.
Every supplier has heard a customer blame its own debtors. HMRC takes no interest in that explanation. This is a practical guide for sole traders and small suppliers to ring-fencing the tax reserve, triaging the ledger in December and January, and using Time to Pay before the deadline rather than after it.
Credit reference agencies describe a customer's past; a nominal first invoice shows you their present. This article sets out a low-risk screening method — a tiny paid test transaction — that reveals approval speed, paperwork friction and genuine payment behaviour before meaningful credit terms are on the table.
The Prompt Payment Code logo appears on websites, tender responses and purchase order footers, and is often cited as though it carried statutory force. It does not. This guide sets out what signatories actually commit to, how to verify that a claim is genuine, and how to use the Code as a rung in an escalation ladder rather than a magic wand.
A 30% upfront payment is not a sign of distrust; it is the cheapest credit control a UK supplier can buy. Waiting until the first invoice is overdue means financing someone else's business with your own. This opinion-led guide sets out how to make deposits and stage payments routine.
Most suppliers discover a poor payer only after the due date has passed. A simple A-to-D scorecard, built from average days late, dispute frequency, sector pressure and payment-run patterns, lets you set terms and chase intensity before the first invoice is raised. It is a practical discipline for UK suppliers in 2026.
A payment practices report can reveal how a large customer actually behaves once the invoice is issued. This walkthrough shows UK suppliers how to use the government register as a pre-contract red-flag check, from average days to pay to disputed-invoice rates.
Pay-when-paid wording can look like a sensible back-to-back arrangement, but all too often it transfers an open-ended funding risk to the supplier. This analysis sets out the contract language to watch for, the negotiation positions that work, and the warning signs that a client is avoiding a real payment commitment.
The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 gives UK suppliers a statutory right to interest and fixed compensation, yet most never claim it. This analysis explains the calculation, provides a soft-claim template, and argues that invoking the remedy should be a standard term of trade rather than a last resort.