Prompt Payment Directory Helping UK suppliers get paid on time

Prompt Payment Directory

Helping UK suppliers get paid on time

Latest Articles

Silence Is Agreement: Auditing Small Deductions Before They Become a Standing Discount
Cash Flow Planning

Silence Is Agreement: Auditing Small Deductions Before They Become a Standing Discount

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.
The Receivable You Cannot Sell: Anti-Assignment Clauses and the Finance You Never Drew Down
Late Payment Law

The Receivable You Cannot Sell: Anti-Assignment Clauses and the Finance You Never Drew Down

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.
The Query Without a Question: Converting Vague Invoice Objections Into a Dated Claim
Late Payment Law

The Query Without a Question: Converting Vague Invoice Objections Into a Dated Claim

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.
The Consent You Didn't Notice: Contractual Waivers of Late-Payment Rights in Supplier Onboarding
Late Payment Law

The Consent You Didn't Notice: Contractual Waivers of Late-Payment Rights in Supplier Onboarding

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.
The Empty Field: Why a Missing Purchase Order Reference Is a Payment Delay in Disguise
Late Payment Law

The Empty Field: Why a Missing Purchase Order Reference Is a Payment Delay in Disguise

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.
Charging for Patience: Recovering Interest on Overdue Invoices in 2026
Late Payment Law

Charging for Patience: Recovering Interest on Overdue Invoices in 2026

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.
The Calendar Behind the Calendar: Why a 30-Day Invoice Can Take Forty-Five
Cash Flow Planning

The Calendar Behind the Calendar: Why a 30-Day Invoice Can Take Forty-Five

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.
The Guarantee in the File: Auditing Director Security Before You Extend Credit
Late Payment Law

The Guarantee in the File: Auditing Director Security Before You Extend Credit

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.
Output Tax, Input Patience: The VAT Timing Trap in Every Unpaid Invoice
Cash Flow Planning

Output Tax, Input Patience: The VAT Timing Trap in Every Unpaid Invoice

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.
The First Seventy-Two Hours: What a Supplier Should Do When a Customer Enters Administration
Late Payment Law

The First Seventy-Two Hours: What a Supplier Should Do When a Customer Enters Administration

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.
The Senior Creditor: Funding the 31 January Tax Bill While Your Own Ledger Sits Unpaid
Cash Flow Planning

The Senior Creditor: Funding the 31 January Tax Bill While Your Own Ledger Sits Unpaid

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.
Signed, Sealed, Unpaid: Getting Real Traction From the Prompt Payment Code
Late Payment Law

Signed, Sealed, Unpaid: Getting Real Traction From the Prompt Payment Code

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 Pound Well Spent: Screening New Trade Customers Before You Extend Real Credit
Cash Flow Planning

A Pound Well Spent: Screening New Trade Customers Before You Extend Real Credit

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.
Before the First Invoice: Why Deposits and Stage Payments Should Be Standard, Not Exceptional
Late Payment Law

Before the First Invoice: Why Deposits and Stage Payments Should Be Standard, Not Exceptional

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.
Grading the Payer: A Four-Tier Method for Pricing Customer Risk Before Invoicing
Cash Flow Planning

Grading the Payer: A Four-Tier Method for Pricing Customer Risk Before Invoicing

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.
The Chain Reaction Clause: Why 'Paid When Paid' Is a Cash-Flow Risk You Must Price
Late Payment Law

The Chain Reaction Clause: Why 'Paid When Paid' Is a Cash-Flow Risk You Must Price

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 Pre-Quote Ledger Check: Reading UK Payment Practices Reports Before You Agree Terms
Cash Flow Planning

The Pre-Quote Ledger Check: Reading UK Payment Practices Reports Before You Agree Terms

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.
Eight Weeks to Go: A Practical Invoice-Chasing Plan for UK Suppliers Before Christmas
Cash Flow Planning

Eight Weeks to Go: A Practical Invoice-Chasing Plan for UK Suppliers Before Christmas

With eight weeks between 7 November 2026 and the first payroll of January, UK suppliers can still influence which invoices are paid before the Christmas shutdown. This week-by-week plan sets out the audit, reminder, escalation and year-end leverage steps to take now — and what to do if the money is still missing in February.
The Remedy in the Small Print: Why Statutory Late Payment Compensation Should Be Routine
Late Payment Law

The Remedy in the Small Print: Why Statutory Late Payment Compensation Should Be Routine

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.