Cloud accounting giant Xero has announced the rollout of a new reporting tool designed to remove administrative hurdles for businesses applying for the UK’s Fair Payment Code. The feature, known as the Supplier Days to Pay Detail report, aims to automate the tedious data gathering process that has historically discouraged firms from proving their prompt payment credentials.
The move comes as the business community continues to grapple with pervasive cash flow pressures driven by delayed invoice settlements. For years, advocates have argued that late payments function as an unapproved form of debt, with smaller enterprises inadvertently acting as a source of free credit for the larger entities they supply. By simplifying the process of auditing and evidencing payment performance, Xero hopes to encourage wider adoption of the Fair Payment Code and foster a cultural shift toward standard 30-day payment terms.
Making It Easier to Do the Right Thing
To qualify for the Fair Payment Code, businesses must transparently demonstrate how rapidly they settle accounts with their suppliers. Until now, many organizations have been forced to calculate these metrics manually. This labor-intensive process typically involved exporting raw financial data into disparate spreadsheets and building custom formulas, a task that could consume hours of valuable administrative time.
The inspiration for the new report emerged directly from the experiences of Xero’s user base. Libby Walklett, founder of The Ethical Bookkeeper and a Fair Payment Code Gold Awardee, encountered this exact operational friction while seeking accreditation for her own business. Recognizing the profound impact that delayed payments have on her clients daily, Walklett applied for the code as a matter of principle. However, finding no native tooling to support her application, she was forced to construct her own spreadsheets from scratch and manually verify the figures before sharing them to assist peers in the profession.
When Walklett discussed the challenge with the Xero product team, it highlighted a clear opportunity to build a native solution. Developed in close collaboration with the Office of the Small Business Commissioner, the Supplier Days to Pay Detail report is designed to give applicants immediate, verifiable evidence of their payment performance straight from their ledger data.
The report provides a single, consolidated view showing the exact duration it took an organization to pay every bill from every supplier over a customized date range. Transactions are automatically categorized into distinct time brackets covering zero to 30 days, 31 to 60 days, 61 to 90 days, and over 90 days, with full export capabilities for compliance and auditing purposes.
Because visibility over payment timing remains one of the most frequently requested features from the platform’s user community—encompassing both outgoing disbursements and incoming revenues—this release marks the first phase of a broader reporting rollout. Xero has confirmed that a complementary Customer Days to Pay Detail report, alongside two summary reports calculating average payment durations across both customers and suppliers, is currently in development.
Walklett noted that proving prompt payment performance should not require disproportionate effort. She expressed hope that the introduction of the automated report will empower a significantly larger volume of businesses and their professional advisors to pursue and achieve the code’s recognition.
Why the Fair Payment Code Matters
The initiative arrives at a critical juncture for the UK economy, where micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) form the backbone of local commerce. Recent data compiled through Xero Small Business Insights reveals that during the June quarter, UK small businesses waited an average of 29.1 days to receive payment for rendered goods and services. More critically, payments arrived an average of 8.3 days past their agreed-upon due dates.
While an additional eight days may appear negligible in isolation, for an independent enterprise operating on tight margins, it can mean the difference between meeting payroll obligations or facing severe liquidity constraints.
Emma Jones CBE, the Small Business Commissioner, welcomed the software update as a meaningful contribution to the ongoing battle against commercial friction. She emphasized that late payments strip small businesses of the time and financial resources they desperately need to invest, innovate, and grow. Pointing to Xero’s long-standing support of the initiative, Jones noted that the company has moved beyond mere advocacy by equipping its customer base with practical tools to achieve accreditation and secure the recognition they deserve.
The UK Government’s Fair Payment Code is viewed by industry stakeholders as a major step forward in establishing corporate accountability. While regulation alone cannot entirely eliminate delayed settlements, the code creates a reputational framework that identifies organizations committed to treating their supply chains fairly.
Xero maintains that 30-day payment terms should represent the baseline standard across British commerce, without exception. As a certified Gold Awardee of the Fair Payment Code itself, the company views the benchmark not only as an internal standard of operational integrity but also as an invitation for enterprises of all sizes to scrutinize their own accounts payable practices.
Let’s Make Paying on Time the Norm
Cultivating a healthier commercial payment culture requires more than top-down mandates; it demands a collective cultural commitment from every enterprise to view prompt settlement as a fundamental operational baseline.
Business leaders who already prioritize timely payments are encouraged to step forward, seek accreditation, and leverage the Fair Payment Code to validate their business practices. For those organizations that have not yet reached that standard, internal benchmarking reports can serve as a diagnostic tool to identify operational bottlenecks and narrow the gap between invoice receipt and settlement.
At the same time, the broader professional advisory ecosystem is being called upon to act as a catalyst for change. Accountants and bookkeepers maintain a unique vantage point regarding client cash flow health, allowing them to readily identify prompt payers versus habitual offenders. By virtue of the trusted advisory relationships they cultivate, financial professionals are ideally positioned to guide their small business clients toward sustainable financial habits and prompt payment practices.
