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Supplier Guide to Getting Paid
Leads Direct is very proud of its longstanding commitment to providing prompt payment to all of its suppliers.
Even back in the early days the business was one of the first signatories to the original Better Payment Practice Code, and has continued to abide by that commitment as the business has grown and changed over the years.
This guide provides information to suppliers and contractors that provide goods and services to Leads Direct Ltd, setting out the steps they need to take to ensure that they are paid for these goods and services promptly. These steps are really simple, and reflect practices that every business should be following anyway. Effectively, that amounts to ‘send us a valid invoice promptly’ – do that, and we will do the rest!
For those who want the full low-down, here it is:
Definitions
- Trivial Goods and Services: Small value orders of items such as small components, office supplies, cleaning materials, sundries, and staff refreshments which are prepaid in full. For example, where an order is placed online and prepaid by any method of electronic funds transfer.
- Non-Trivial Goods and Services: Orders of any type or value which are purchased on credit terms.
- Valid Invoice: An invoice meeting the requirements of current legislation, a plain English description of which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/vat-record-keeping/vat-invoices, and which shows the official Purchase Order number and payment terms which match those shown on the order to which the invoice relates. In addition if the supplier is incorporated the document should meet the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (as amended).
Our Commitment To Prompt Payment
Leads Direct policy is to pay 100% of valid invoices presented by suppliers on or before the due date unless prevented from doing so by circumstances outside of its control. The company will pay any valid invoices supplied too late to be paid on the original due date (for example because they were not received due to supplier error, technical error, or delayed delivery) as soon as possible after receipt.
Purchase Orders
Leads Direct will confirm all orders for non-trivial goods and services by issuing an official purchase order. Leads Direct may also issue a Purchase Order for trivial goods and services if
- The supplier requires it for their records
- The details of the order are complex and must be provided to the supplier for the avoidance of error
- Leads Direct requires it for its own records or internal accounting purposes.
Purchase Orders are issued electronically in PDF format and therefore suppliers are required to provide their full company details and a valid email address before any orders can be raised.
Presenting Invoices for Payment
All invoices must meet the definition of a Valid Invoice and should be sent electronically as an email attachment in PDF format to: accounts@leadsdirect.co.uk
Leads Direct Ltd does not normally accept invoices in any other format or by any other delivery method. However, if for any reason it should prove impossible for a supplier to meet this requirement an invoice may be sent by post to: Accounts Payable, Leads Direct Ltd, 89 Railway Road, Newhaven, BN9 0AY. It must be understood that invoices that are delayed or not received as a result of using this alternative method may be processed and paid later than usual as a result. No other method of presentation is acceptable.
Any invoices not meeting the definition of a Valid Invoice will be rejected and in order to get paid the supplier must issue a replacement which does meet that definition. This will necessarily delay the processing of the invoice and subsequently the payment.
Disputed Invoices
If an invoice is disputed, a member of Leads Direct staff will contact the supplier and seek to agree a resolution. Disputed invoices are flagged in our accounting system and will not be paid until the dispute is resolved.
Payment of Invoices
Leads Direct policy is to make all payments to suppliers by Electronic Funds Transfer direct to the bank account nominated by the supplier. An automatic Remittance Advice is sent to the supplier using the email address they have provided for the purpose setting out the details of what has been paid and how it has been allocated.
A weekly payment run is made, normally on a Friday, and the payments made will at the very least cover all undisputed invoices which have been successfully validated and that fall due on or before that date. Normally payments will cover all payments falling due up to 7 days ahead of that date.
In the event of any issue preventing a particular run from being made (for example national and bank holidays, failure of computer, interent, or banking systems, national emergencies, etc.) the payment run will be made on the first possible date after the issue has been resolved.
Statements
Please send statements to: accounts@leadsdirect.co.uk All statements received will be compared with our records to ensure that no invoices have been missed or entered incorrectly, ensuring that payments are made correctly and as they fall due.
Queries and Disputes
In the event of any queries concerning an order, the goods or services supplied, suppliers should take the matter up with the sales and purchasing teams. Queries concerning the payment of an invoice, or any form of invoice dispute, should be taken up with the Accounts team. However, all Leads Direct staff members are authorised to accept such queries and will be able to pass them on to the relevant person or department if they are unable to handle the query themselves on the spot.
Please use the following points of contact to raise any query or dispute:
Sales and Purchasing: sales@leadsdirect.co.uk
Accounts: accounts@leadsdirect.co.uk
Telephone: 0345 193 0615
