The invoice that kept me waiting

Letter from the table

To the Cashflow Council,

I co-signed because I know the particular quiet that comes after you send an invoice. The work is finished. The invoice is correct. You have done what you agreed to do. And then your attention starts circling a payment that is no longer in your hands.

On 18 August 2025, I sent a large buyer an invoice for AUD 6,480. The agreed term was 30 days, so I expected payment by 17 September. The invoice was not disputed. I checked the details before sending it and kept copies of the agreement, the invoice and every follow-up.

When the due date passed, I wrote to the accounts contact. On 2 October, I followed up again and asked whether anything was holding the invoice. I escalated through the buyer’s contract contact, then checked in once more on 16 October. Each time, I stayed polite and specific. I was not asking for a favour. I was asking for payment for completed work, on the terms we had agreed.

The money arrived on 31 October: 44 days after the due date. By then, I had spent weeks planning around a hole in my cash flow. I had to decide which outgoing payments could wait and which could not. Rent and ordinary business costs do not pause because somebody else’s payment process is still moving. I also had to keep time aside for reminders and records instead of work that could bring in the next job.

I tried the channels available to me: the buyer’s accounts process, an escalation to the contract contact, and advice about what options a small business has when an invoice is overdue. I kept the messages factual and gave the buyer room to resolve it. That is what a responsible supplier should do. But the effort and risk sat with me, while the buyer could keep the money until its process was done.

Australia has a Payment Times Reporting Scheme. It creates reporting obligations for certain large businesses and makes information about payment times visible. Visibility matters, but it is not the same as a clear deadline on every invoice or a remedy that starts automatically when an undisputed invoice is paid late. In my case, knowing that slow payment can be measured would not have put the AUD 6,480 in my account on 17 September.

That is why I support CF-001. A large buyer should pay a small supplier within 15 days of an undisputed invoice. If the invoice is disputed, the buyer should say what the issue is promptly and clearly, rather than letting silence do the work. If it is not disputed and payment is late, interest should arise automatically. Payment times should also be published in a way that lets suppliers and the public see whether a buyer is meeting the standard.

Fifteen days will not make every business problem disappear. It will not prevent a genuine disagreement about work, and it cannot make a buyer’s finances healthy. But it changes the default. It says the supplier is not expected to act as an interest-free lender while a large organisation takes its time. Automatic interest matters because chasing a late fee can become another unpaid task, especially when the amount owed is important to the buyer and the supplier still needs the relationship.

I would want the standard to be practical: clear rules for when an invoice is considered undisputed, a prompt route for raising a real dispute, and straightforward payment-time reporting. The small supplier should not have to guess whether an invoice has been received, whether it has entered the system, or which person can move it forward. A payment clock that is visible to both sides is fairer than a chain of private reminders.

My experience is not a claim that every large buyer behaves badly. It is a reminder that the same delay can carry very different costs for the two sides. A large buyer may have many invoices in a queue. A small business may have one overdue invoice shaping the decisions it makes that week. The rule should reflect that imbalance.

I support the 15-Day Pay Standard, and I want the Council to carry that message into its consultation and, if the Assembly adopts it, to the people who can put it into practice. Pay on time, make the terms visible, and do not make the supplier beg for interest after the delay. That is a reasonable standard for work already done.