Invoice Guidance for Suppliers
Suppliers who have provided goods or services to the Department must follow the guidance below when submitting an invoice to the Department.
Suppliers’ invoices must include the following information:
- Date of invoice;
- Supplier name and contact details;
- Supplier bank details ;
- The valid purchase order number provided by the Department (if a valid purchase order is not provided the invoice may be returned unpaid);
- The agreed charge (and where not complete a breakdown of the relevant work or services as they relate to this charge or an explanation of a difference in expected charge); and
- Confirmation that the services detailed have been fully performed;
All invoices should be sent to the following address:
BERR Financial Services Team
Queensway House
West Precinct
Billingham
Stockton-on-Tees
TS23 2NF
If the above guidance is followed the Department will regard the invoice as being correctly rendered.
Upon receipt of a correctly rendered invoice as detailed above the Department will aim to pay valid invoices as soon as possible with a target of 10 days from date of receipt and within 30 days at the latest in line with our standard terms and conditions.
Suppliers should note that the date of invoice receipt is defined as the date of receipt at the above address.
If an invoice is disputed you will be informed and given the relevant contact details for further enquiries. In such cases the payment target will be frozen whilst the dispute is resolved.
If your invoice was legitimate and we took over 30 days to pay it you may have recourse through the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. (Guide to this and other debt legislation)