Payment of Supplier Invoices
Winchester City Council undertakes to pay its supplies and contractors in accordance with the terms and conditions details on purchase orders and within the terms of a contract. Where there are no terms explicitly stated, the council aims to make payment within 30 days of receipt of a correct and properly addressed invoice.
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Submitting an invoice
To help ensure that payments are made promptly suppliers are asked to submit invoices promptly following the provision of goods or services. Invoices are to include:
- an invoice number
- the invoice date and a tax point date if that is not the same as the invoice date
- the supplier’s name, address and VAT registration number (if they are registered for VAT)
- a full description of the goods or services provided. If any works fall into the sub-contracting category, under the HMRC Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), then a split must be clearly shown between labour and materials where applicable
- bank details for payment by BACS
- a valid purchase order number previously provided by the council (if applicable).
A failure to quote a purchase order number if one has been issued may lead to your invoice being disputed.
All invoices should be sent to:
Accounts Payable
Winchester City Council
Colebrook Street
Winchester
Hampshire
SO23 9LJ
or emailed to invoices@winchester.gov.uk -
When are payments made?
Payments are normally generated on a Wednesday for crediting to suppliers’ bank accounts on the Friday (exceptions may apply for Easter & the Christmas / New Year period). If you have provided an email address for remittance advices you will receive an email on the day of the payment run informing you of the amount due to be credited to your account. Alternatively you will receive a remittance advice by 2nd class post which will be posted at the latest on the day following the relevant payment run.
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Disputed invoices
If the council disputes an invoice you will be informed as soon as it is apparent that there is a dispute. In cases where an invoice is disputed payment will be made on the first available payment run following resolution of the dispute.
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Querying an invoice
If you have a query about an invoice, you should initially get in touch with the officer or service who is managing your contract or who placed the order with your organisation. Their contact details are quoted on any official purchase order issued.
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Invoice payment performance data
Under Regulation 113 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the council is required to publish performance data for paying suppliers within 30 days of verifying the invoices received. The council seeks to pay invoices within 30 days of receipt rather than 30 days of invoices being verified and therefore the figures below may not be directly comparable with other organisations.
Invoice payment performance
Financial Year Proportion of valid and undisputed invoices paid within 30 days of receipt The amount of interest paid to suppliers due to a breach of the requirements of regulation 113 2015/16 95% £66 2016/17 96% NIL 2017/18 94% NIL 2018/19 95% NIL 2019/20 96% NIL 2020/21 99.0% NIL 2021/22 99.5% NIL 2022/23 99.5% NIL 2023/24 Q1-3 97.3% NIL Under the Prompt Payment Code the council also undertakes to request that its lead suppliers encourage adoption of the Code throughout their own supply chains.