CBI wants large firms to pay up
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• Small businesses should be given protection against late payment by larger firms who should declare in their annual reports how long they take to settle bills, says the Confederation of British Industry.
In its response to a Government consultation document, the CBI recommends that auditors carry out spot checks on large companies to check they pay invoices in the time they pledge.
It claims this would be more effective than the Department of Trade and Industry's proposal to force large companies to provide a calculation of the average time they take to settle bills.
Chairman of the CBI's smaller firms council Richard Brucciani says the CBI's initiative "would expose directors to scrutiny and provide a basis on which they, and their auditors, could be tackled for poor payment practices in breach of their stated policies."