B. BRAUN MEDICAL LIMITED

We strive to make payment to our third party suppliers within 30 days. This is controlled via supplier master data held within our SAP system.

Given that our business makes weekly BACS payment runs, there are a large volume of payments that are received by suppliers within 5 days of our 30 day target. Taking this factor into account, the percentage of invoices that were paid outside the target of 30 days would reduce from 74% to c. 36% in this reporting period (along with a corresponding significant reduction in the value). Our system records only the date stated on the invoice, the date the invoice is approved for payment; and the payment date itself. Our SAP system does not record the date the invoice is physically received. We have based our measurements on the stated invoice date, and on the assumption that all suppliers have 30 day payment terms. We have therefore been prudent in this report.

Invoice queries are usually raised either on management review (via a web-based invoice approval portal), or due to discrepancies between invoices and our purchase order (system based control). In either case, or Accounts Payable/Purchasing teams will discuss with suppliers on a case by case basis to reach a resolution. There is no fixed timescale target, however a report of blocked invoices is reviewed weekly to identify issues that need to be escalated.
We have not adjusted our late payment statistics for disputed invoices, so again have taken a prudent position.