Loophole leaves late payment reporting requirements unfit for purpose
29th May 2019.
MPs have pointed out that a loophole in the late payment reporting requirements means they are unfit for purpose.
MPs and SME representatives are calling for legislation designed to force large companies to reveal how long they take to pay their suppliers to be rewritten over concerns loopholes mean it is easily sidestepped.
This comes after it was shown that not all subsidiaries of large firms are required to follow the duty to report rules, no matter how big the overall group was.
Therefore large firms could continue to practice late payment and perpetuate the late payment culture by making payments through subsidiaries without the need to report it in their figures.
Rachel Reeves, chairwoman of the Commons business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee, said: “If large companies can exploit loopholes to dodge reporting requirements, it undermines efforts to tackle late payments and protect small businesses.”
Ian Cass, managing director of the Forum of Private Business, said that the loophole “makes a mockery of the legislation. A large organisation with lots of subsidiaries can just bypass the whole process, which is a joke. It seems to be another example of poorly written legislation” and went on to describe the rules as “not fit for purpose.”
Paul Uppal, the small business commissioner, said: “It is disappointing that the regulations are not proving to be as effective as I anticipated.”
Since 2017, qualifying businesses have been required to publish reports on their payment practices to suppliers at least twice a year.
The government has said that the purpose of the rules were to help identify late payers and encourage better payment practices, tackling the administrative and financial burdens put on SMEs when they are are not paid on time. The late payment culture in the UK is the biggest cause of cash flow problems for UK businesses and that in turn is the biggest killer of otherwise good UK companies.
Companies have to report on their payment practices if they meet two of three qualifying criteria:- £36 million annual turnover, an £18 million total balance sheet or at least 250 staff. It is a criminal offence for qualifying companies not to comply.
However, where services are contracted and paid for by group subsidiaries that fall below the threshold, there is no duty to report.
Last week Mr Uppal criticised G4S, the outsourcing group, for “persistent late payment” of a supplier. While G4S is a member of the FTSE 250 share index, it paid this supplier through a subsidiary that does not meet the threshold. There is no suggestion that it was trying to avoid the requirements.
Debbie Abrahams, the Labour MP, said that suppliers would “continue to be unfairly squeezed” unless the loophole was addressed.
CPA is passionate about late payment
The Credit Protection Association has been protecting smaller firms against poor payment practices for over 100 years.
We are passionate about breaking the late payment culture that holds back the UK economy and threatens many SMEs with cash flow difficulties being the single biggest killer of Britain’s small businesses.
If you were regularly paid late we can help. Those former customers used you to boost their own cash-flow, regularly paying you late.
As a result you had extra costs, you had the distraction of having to chase payment, you had opportunity costs because your capital was tied up in their late invoices.
Under little used legislation, you are entitled to compensation for those late payments.
Now you can boost your own cash-flow.
CPA can help unearth the those hidden treasures.
We have the technology to reveal the compensation you are due and we have the extensive experience and expertise to then turn those claims into cash.
Yes, CPA can help you boost your business cashflow.
Don’t let your bankers control you, contact CPA today.
CPA practices what it preaches
The Credit Protection Association has a policy of turning round invoices as quickly as possible and paying our suppliers as soon as the invoice is authorised. Many invoices are paid in the same week they are received. A large number the same day.
This is true, even if the supplier offers 30 days credit terms.
And we switched from paying most suppliers by cheque, to paying by bank transfer because we want our payment to arrive quickly and for it not to be unexpectedly delayed nor be a hassle to bank.
Why?
Because we are passionate about late payment and want to lead by example.
But what to do?
Do you realise you could be sitting on a fortune?
Late payments often result in a cash flow crunch and leave SMEs in need of a cash injection.
If you need extra capital, rather than shutting down or jumping through hoops with your bank, you could look to uncover the resources from an unexpected source within your own business.
Not many are aware but there could be a hidden fortune within your business, sitting there, just waiting to be uncovered and released?
We can help you uncover the pile of gold, you didn’t even know you were sitting on.
If you trade with other businesses and were often paid late then you could be entitled to significant compensation.
Under little known and under-utilised legislation your business could be due huge amounts in compensation that you didn’t even know about.
Let’s be clear – this is not a way to weaken any customer relationships you value. It is one that identifies who’s been paying late and then recover the potentially significant sums in compensation using Late Payment Legislation from businesses where the relationship has already ended.
You can pick and choose who you want us to follow up – but once we’ve agreed which companies you’d like to pursue compensation from it’s a fast process and there’s no financial outlay to you whatsoever. My team at CPA put its expertise to work to recover the compensation due and fight late payment culture.
That compensation could be the cash rescue your business needed.
But don’t delay, that compensation evaporates if not claimed within six years of the late payment.
How can CPA help?
CPA has developed a unique technology to dig into your accounting records and discover the cash injection you are due by means of compensation. The software does all the hard work. Our software interacts over the cloud with over 300 different software packages, working directly with your accounts package, just so long as it’s stored on a computer.
We recognise that most companies do not have the resources to spend time on the identification and calculation of Late Payment Compensation. Our service can produce an Analyses within just a few days with (usually) less than 30 mins of co-operation from our clients. We work directly with over 300 accounting packages but can also work with bespoke accounts packages. Indeed, speed is essential as the oldest invoices may fall foul of the 6-year time limit.
Once the Sales Ledger Analyses is made available to clients, all that is required is that management decide which commercially sensitive ex-customers to remove from the list and return it to us.
CPA then uses its years of collection experience to explain and recover the Late Payment Compensation Claims. Clients do not handle any part of the recovery process as our team will take all communications from the companies against who the claims has been made. Often, it’s simply a case of explaining the legislation, sometimes we have to go all the way and enforce the legislation through the courts.
The result is that we are realising clients’ claims worth tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of pounds which, of course, is pure net profit. You may also be among the recipients of “hundreds of thousands of pounds” should you elect to take advantage of our services.
We do the work, you receive the cash.
If you have supplied goods and services to businesses on credit and were regularly paid late then you could be due significant sums in late payment compensation.
We are talking to companies and unearthing claims in the hundreds of thousands from former business customers who paid them late. Large business customers who abused their power to inflict unfair and sometimes illegal payment practices.
We are helping companies that were looking to close down, who looked insolvent and finding that cash injection they need to avoid insolvency.
The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections
Ready to speak to an advisor?
For help or advice on credit management, entirely without obligation.
Call us today
0330 053 9263
The Credit Protection Association is a credit management company established in 1914. If you supply goods or services on credit then we can help you!
Do you have a problem with late payments?
The Credit Protection Association can help!
Formed in 1914, CPA has been providing credit management services to SMEs for over 100 years.
At the Credit Protection Association, we provide first class credit information that can help you avoid being over extended to customers who are at risk. Our monitoring service can flag up warning signs long before the end, giving you the chance to adjust and reduce your exposure. We provide recommended credit limits and credit scores on a traffic light system and can help you set appropriate credit policies for your customers.
We regularly publish lists of the latest insolvencies but by then it is too late. Our credit reports however predict approximately 96% of company insolvencies long before they arrive.
Companies in trouble usually have very bad cash flow and they try to deal with it by delaying payment to their suppliers, increasing your exposure to them.
If you supply to businesses on credit help us help you identify the risks. Spot those companies ignoring rules on payment and treat them appropriately.
Why use a third party collector?
As a third party collector, we can also get your payments prioritised over those who are not as hot on collections. When you customer receives a letter from the Credit Protection Association regarding their outstanding account, they are going to want to get that resolved as a priority. Our overdue account recovery service can get your unpaid invoices to the top of their “to do” list and get your invoice paid.
Over the years we have collected billions in overdue invoices for our customers.
Our debt recovery and credit management services give our members the financial freedom needed to grow and prosper, while our new Late Payment Compensation department could unlock hidden potential and offer the compensation needed to springboard your business to success.
The Credit Protection Association – Prompting Punctual Payments – Ethical, Effective, Efficient, Economical collections
Ready to speak to an advisor?
For help or advice on credit management, entirely without obligation.
Call us today
0330 053 9263
The Credit Protection Association is a credit management company established in 1914. If you supply goods or services on credit then we can help you!
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