Payment Times Reporting Checklist

Before you start

The Payment Times Reporting framework requires larger businesses to report on how quickly they pay small-business suppliers. Smaller businesses are generally not caught, so the first task is to work out whether the obligation applies to you at all. Gather your turnover figures, group structure, and accounts-payable data before deciding.

• Check whether your business or group meets the size thresholds — verify the current criteria.
• Map which of your suppliers are small businesses for reporting purposes.
• Locate your accounts-payable data covering invoice and payment dates.
• Identify who is responsible for the report internally.

This is general information only and not legal advice. The thresholds, periods and rules can change — confirm the current requirements with the regulator or your adviser before relying on them.

Confirm whether you must report

1. Assess your business and any group against the current size criteria.
2. Determine which entities in a group carry the obligation.
3. Identify the reporting periods that apply to you.
4. Decide whether you also need to identify small-business suppliers using any prescribed tool.
5. If you are unsure, take advice rather than guessing in either direction.

Getting the threshold question wrong in either direction is a problem — reporting when you need not wastes effort, while missing an obligation can expose you to enforcement. Confirm your status before building anything.

Capture data and report

1. Configure your systems to record invoice receipt dates and payment dates consistently.
2. Measure payment times against the framework's definitions, not your own internal ones.
3. Separate small-business supplier payments from the rest.
4. Prepare the report in the required format for the period.
5. Submit on time and retain the underlying data that supports it.

Accurate, well-defined data is the whole point. If your systems measure payment times differently from the framework, your report will be wrong even if your intentions are good, so align definitions early.

Common mistakes

• Assuming you are caught — or not caught — without checking the current criteria.
• Measuring payment times against internal definitions rather than the framework's.
• Failing to identify which suppliers count as small businesses.
• Missing a reporting period because no one owned the obligation.
• Not keeping the underlying data needed to support the figures reported.

If you are unsure whether you are caught or how to capture the data, get professional advice. For day-to-day cash flow questions, our main site has practical guidance on getting paid faster.