Transparency On Payment Practices

The Government is consulting on proposed regulations to require all quoted companies and other large companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) to publish information about their payment practices. The regulations will not dictate payment terms, but are intended to allow businesses to identify which customers are good payers and which offer suppliers the terms that fit best with their business model.

The reporting obligation will apply to all quoted companies. Other companies and LLPs will be caught if they do not qualify as small or medium for the purposes of Companies Act accounting requirements (or only fail to so qualify because they are public companies). A company or LLP currently qualifies as small or medium in a year in which it satisfies two or more qualifying conditions. The medium qualifying conditions, which will set the threshold for reporting, are: