Issue - meetings

The Committee to receive an update on BV8 – The percentage of invoices for commercial goods and services paid by the Authority within 30 days of being received.

The Committee to receive an update on BV8 – The percentage of invoices for commercial goods and services paid by the Authority within 30 days of being received.

Isabell Procter, Director for Finance and Support, advised that this Authority has always had difficulty with this BV8 but the December figures have improved. The biggest issue is getting services to deal with invoices in a prompt manner.  Reminder emails are issued.  Purchase orders must be raised properly, Good Received Receipted (GRNd) and then invoice matched.  Often an invoice will come in, that has no Purchase Order, has not been GRN’d or has a different amount which can cause delays.

A monthly report is sent to all Heads of Services with outstanding invoices. (League tables are produced which name and shame).  There is a robust chasing process.  The Authority aims to attempt to pay a supplier with NN postcode within seven days.  This rarely happens as an invoice can only be paid once it has cleared on the system. 

The Committee heard: -

·        NBC sets the limits for payment of invoices.  It is not a statutory requirement to report on this Performance Indicator (PI) anymore but it has been suggested that it is kept as a corporate PI.

·        Sometimes the right backup arrangements are not in place within the departments, for example, should the main contact for invoice payment be on leave or sick and the second nominees does not check the system, can cause delays in the process.

·        Sometimes the departments with the highest volume are better at paying invoices on time.

·        Current statistics can be provided to the Committee if requested.

·        Performance Plus will make reporting simpler, but will not make any difference as the information is loaded into Performance Plus monthly.  Directors will continue to receive data, as this is a corporate PI.

·        Investigations are taking place into the overall processes and how goods and services are procured.  A system is being looked at that will allow the Council to set up bookings and `picking lists for goods and services commonly ordered.  Once GRN’d the invoice will be automatically paid at the end of the month.