GOV.UK
VODAFONE LIMITED
Company number: 01471587
Reporting period:
1 April 2023
to 30 September 2023
This report was filed on 30 October 2023
and approved by Emanuele Tournon
Payment statistics
Average time taken to pay invoices: 68 days
Invoices paid:
- within 30 days: 22%
- in 31 to 60 days: 33%
- in 61 days or more: 45%
Invoices due but not paid within agreed terms: 2 %
Payment terms
Shortest standard payment period
30 days
Longest standard payment period
115 days
Standard payment terms
The percentages provided in the payment statistics above include payments made to Vodafone Group entities providing goods or services to Vodafone Limited. Vodafone intercompany payment terms include many transactions with payment terms up to 115 days. These payments are included in our reported statistics as required and this therefore impacts the payment statistics. If intercompany payments are excluded from the statistics, they are as follows:
Average time to pay in days – 44 days
Split of payments made under qualifying contracts in the reporting period
A) Percentage of invoices paid between day 1 and day 30 (inclusive) – 43%
B) Percentage of invoices paid between day 31 and day 60 (inclusive) – 50%
C) Percentage of invoices paid on or after day 61 – 7%
Payments due in the reporting period which have not been paid within the agreed period – 3%
Our standard payment terms are as follows:
General procurement agreements:
For external suppliers Vodafone Limited’s standard payment terms are 60 days from the date of receipt of invoice, or where a supplier is classed as a small supplier, in accordance with the UK Companies Act, 30 days from the date of receipt of invoice. Where the relevant agreement relates to the provisions of goods or services for supply to public sector customers, Vodafone Limited’s standard payment terms are 30 days from date of receipt of invoice. For procurement from other Vodafone Group companies Vodafone Limited’s payment terms are up to 115 days.
Longer or shorter payment terms may be agreed as part of a wider commercial negotiation of the relevant agreement. Any deviation from standard terms will take into account, amongst other things, (i) the type of goods or services provided and undertaken, (ii) the size of the supplier and its wider corporate group, (iii) the supplier’s relationship with the wider Vodafone Group and (iv) any other relevant commercial factors.
Carrier services agreements:
Vodafone Limited operates netting arrangements with certain other telecommunications providers in relation to reciprocal roaming and inter-connect agreements. These arrangements are standard in the telecommunications industry. Invoices that are set-off in full against reciprocal invoices from Vodafone Limited to other parties are not included in the payment statistics as no payment is made. Outside of these netting arrangements Vodafone Limited’s standard payment terms for these types of agreements are as set out above for general procurement.
For sponsorship and utilities agreements there are no standard payment terms as all contracts are agreed on a case by case basis.
For Retail Franchise Partner Agents and Consumer (CBU) Indirect channel partners, commission is calculated monthly and is paid one month in arrears at the end of the following month.
For Enterprise (EBU) Indirect Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) Partners (also known as Vodafone Partner Services) commission is calculated monthly and is paid on the first Tuesday or Friday (whichever comes first) in the second month following.
For Aggregator Partners, revenue payments for ‘charge to bill’ services are calculated at the end of the month following the month in which the service user's transaction occurred and are paid in arrear at the end of the calculation month. Further revenue payments to Aggregator Partners, for 'charge to bill' transactions where the service user has paid Vodafone late, are paid at the end of the 6th month following the transaction.
Were there any changes to the standard payment terms in the reporting period?
No
Maximum contractual payment period agreed
186 days
Vodafone Limited’s maximum contractual payment period in the reporting period arose under an agreement entered into with a very large multinational supplier for outsourced services. Invoices are paid on 155 days from the end of the month after the receipt of the invoice, which could therefore be a payment term of between 155- 186 days from receipt of the invoice, depending on when the invoice is received.
Any other information about payment terms
Vodafone Limited is a signatory to the Prompt Payment Code and remains committed to aligning to its requirements.
Vodafone Limited continues to assess its supplier base to ensure that we offer payment terms of less than 60 days to our suppliers whilst also assessing legacy agreements to ensure compliance .
1.75% of our invoices paid 61 days or more in this reporting period are due to:
(i) a delay in the implementation of a system configuration change to align to a shortened payment term agreed with a (high invoice volume) supplier; and
(ii) a high volume of purchase orders being raised in the previous reporting period with one supplier prior to a newly agreed shorter payment term being implemented.
In the case of (ii), invoices were received in the current reporting period for purchase orders raised in the previous reporting period resulting in the legacy (longer) payment terms being applied to those payments.
Vodafone Limited does not expect these issues to reoccur for these suppliers in the present or future reporting periods.
Had these 2 issues not occurred, Vodafone would have reported 5.25% of invoices in the reporting period as paid on or after day 61 (excluding inter-company payments).
The majority of our invoices are received via eInvoicing which also improves our ability to pay them on time.
Vodafone Limited continue to ensure that suppliers identified as small in accordance with the Companies Act, are changed to payment terms of 30 days from receipt of invoice where previous longer terms applied.
Dispute resolution process
Any disputes on individual invoices should be raised to the Vodafone Limited Accounts Payable team via our Supplier Digital Portal (http://supplier.ariba.com/) who will work with the supplier to resolve the issue. The supplier will generally receive a response the next day but we aim to respond to all queries within 5 working days. In addition, our Chatbot, “Kay”, allows suppliers to obtain updates, and escalations on invoice payment in “real time” – this tool can be accessed via the following link:
https://www.vodafone.com/about-vodafone/how-we-operate/suppliers/supplier-management-help
Any contractual disputes are managed through our Commercial Contract Management Process involving the supplier, Supply Chain Management and Legal. Suppliers should contact Supply Chain Management or the applicable Vodafone Commercial Manager in such cases.
Other payment information
Has this business signed up to a code of conduct or standards on payment practices? If so, which?
For example, signatories to The Prompt Payment Code must commit to paying 95% of their invoices within 60 days.Yes – Signatory to the Prompt Payment Code
Does this business offer e-invoicing in relation to qualifying contracts? This is where suppliers can electronically submit and track invoices. It’s not just allowing suppliers to email them an invoice.
Yes
Does this business offer supply chain finance? This is where a supplier who has submitted an invoice can be paid by a third-party finance provider earlier than the agreed payment date. The business would then pay the finance provider the invoiced sum.
Yes
Under its payment practices and policies, can this business deduct sums from payments under qualifying contracts as a charge for remaining on a supplier list?
No
During the reporting period, did the business deduct sums from payments as a charge for remaining on a supplier list?
No