Four Agency Worldwide
April 2023 - standard payment terms for all supply chain contracts
• Our standard payment terms are 30 days from receipt of a correctly formatted
invoice. In some cases we agree different payment terms with suppliers. For
example we may agree shorter terms with very small suppliers or mutually
agreed longer terms with long-term major suppliers.
• The agreed payment terms should be included in all supplier invoices
• Purchase orders (POs) should be raised for the majority of purchases
• Supplier invoices should be sent to purchaseledger@fourcommunications.com
• Invoice(s) from suppliers must quote the PO number (if applicable)
• All details on the supplier invoice should agree to the original POs
• Invoice will be processed as follows:
o Pdf copy attached to the accounting system
o Amount and description entered
o Details checked against the original PO
o Invoice sent to authoriser to be authorised
o All bank payments to suppliers are double authorised by officers of the
company
o Once authorised, invoice is posted to the system
Payment of invoices
• As is normal for a company of our size, payment runs are conducted once a week
• All invoices becoming due will be picked up and processed in the weekly payment
run
• In general, payments are made via bank transfers which takes three working
days to reach the supplier
• (Any urgent payments can be made on a same day transfer)
• If the supplier accepts credit card payments, this may be used instead
• A proportion of suppliers are paid via direct debit. These are marked on the
system so that they will not be paid via the payment runs
Late and missed payments
• When a supplier makes the finance team aware of an unpaid invoice, a copy of
the invoice will be requested
• The invoice will be fast-tracked through the system and authorisation sought
• Once authorised, the invoice(s) will be picked up on the next available payment run
• If urgent, payment will be set up immediately on a same day transfer
Payment disputes
• If the authoriser disputes an invoice they can reject the invoice on the system
• When finance notices a rejected invoice, the authoriser will be contacted to enquire
why
• Finance will work with the authoriser to contact the supplier to inform them of the
rejected invoice together with the reason
• The following procedure follow:
o Where appropriate, the original PO will be referred to in order to ensure
all the details are correct
o In the first instance, any dispute should be settled between the
representative who placed the order, and an authorised person for the
supplier
o If the dispute is not resolved, the supplier should email the purchase ledger
team with a copy of the invoice, a summary of the issue(s) and
correspondence to date in respect of the dispute. The purchase ledger
team will escalate the information within the business to facilitate
Four Agency Worldwide
resolution where possible
April 2023 - standard payment terms for all public sector contracts
• Our standard payment terms are 30 days from receipt of a correctly formatted
invoice.
• The agreed payment terms should be included in all supplier invoices
• Purchase orders (POs) should be raised for the majority of purchases
• Supplier invoices should be sent to purchaseledger@fourcommunications.com
• Invoice(s) from suppliers must quote the PO number (if applicable)
• All details on the supplier invoice should agree to the original POs
• Invoice will be processed as follows:
o Pdf copy attached to the accounting system
o Amount and description entered
o Details checked against the original PO
o Invoice sent to authoriser to be authorised
o All bank payments to suppliers are double authorised by officers of the
company
o Once authorised, invoice is posted to the system
Payment of invoices
• As is normal for a company of our size, payment runs are conducted once a week
• All invoices becoming due will be picked up and processed in the weekly payment
run
• In general, payments are made via bank transfers which takes three working
days to reach the supplier
• (Any urgent payments can be made on a same day transfer)
• If the supplier accepts credit card payments, this may be used instead
• A proportion of suppliers are paid via direct debit. These are marked on the
system so that they will not be paid via the payment runs
Late and missed payments
• When a supplier makes the finance team aware of an unpaid invoice, a copy of
the invoice will be requested
• The invoice will be fast-tracked through the system and authorisation sought
• Once authorised, the invoice(s) will be picked up on the next available payment run
• If urgent, payment will be set up immediately on a same day transfer
Payment disputes
• If the authoriser disputes an invoice they can reject the invoice on the system
• When finance notices a rejected invoice, the authoriser will be contacted to enquire
why
• Finance will work with the authoriser to contact the supplier to inform them of the
rejected invoice together with the reason
• The following procedure follow:
o Where appropriate, the original PO will be referred to in order to ensure
all the details are correct
o In the first instance, any dispute should be settled between the
representative who placed the order, and an authorised person for the
supplier
o If the dispute is not resolved, the supplier should email the purchase ledger
team with a copy of the invoice, a summary of the issue(s) and
correspondence to date in respect of the dispute. The purchase ledger
team will escalate the information within the business to facilitate
resolution where possible
Four Agency Worldwide action plan for improvement of supply chain payments
April 2023
Identification of the primary causes of failure to pay all supply chain invoices within 60 days
• Our standard payment terms are 30 days from receipt of a correctly formatted
invoice bit in some cases we agree different longer payment dates with major
suppliers with whom we have long standing relationships. These typically include
those with annual ongoing agreements.
• Invoices are being sent to the wrong people or wrong email addresses
• Invoices that are incorrectly formatted or have missing information so they
cannot be immediately processed
Action to address each of these causes:
• Agreement with suppliers to extend their payment terms will no longer be
made. Instead the aim will be to pay them within their agreed payment terms
• The finance team will contact all suppliers who send invoices to the wrong people
or email addresses and ensure they use the correct contact details
• Outreach programme to suppliers with inductions and how-to-guides to ensure
invoices are correctly formatted and submitted
• Automated supplier reconciliations being built for suppliers with a large volume of
invoices
A mechanism for and commitment to regular reporting to the supplier’s audit committee
(or equivalent):
• We have an enhanced reporting team who are committed to all forms of internal
and external reporting when required and we are currently performing a
sustainability report on the subject of payment performance
This plan has been agreed by Nan Williams, group chief executive. The plan is available to
view on our website in the supply chain section.