The Prompt Payment Code has confirmed that compliance with the new requirement to pay 95% of invoices from businesses with fewer than 50 employees within 30 days is being enforced from a signatory’s next full reporting period. For companies with a financial year ending 31 December, this will be January 2022. The Code is encouraging signatories that are required to report under the Duty to Report regulations to include the information as part of their biannual report using the narrative box within the Payment Terms section.

Companies that specify the Common Assessment Standard can use it to identify their suppliers with fewer than 50 employees through Question 10 which asks ‘Are you a Micro, a Small or a Medium‐Sized Enterprise?’ Any suppliers that state they are ‘Micro’ or ‘Small’ have fewer than 50 employees in accordance with the EC definitions used within the standard.