The reforms are, at bottom, a demand for finance-function precision. They require a business to know, invoice by invoice and day by day, what it is owed, when each sum fell due, what statutory interest has accrued, and — for larger firms — to publish that information twice a year with a board-level explanation if the picture is poor.
That is not a legal capability. It is a controller’s capability, and a great many British businesses in the band between micro and large do not currently have one.
What is actually being proposed
The detail matters, not least because it is still moving. The measures are not yet law and will mainly arrive through the Commercial Payments Bill, with some elements delivered by secondary legislation. On current indications, the earliest the main restrictions bite is 2027, and a transition period is expected.
Support authors and subscribe to content
This is premium stuff. Subscribe to read the entire article.
