Member Article

Prompt payment delays unacceptable says Lobster

A tardy response to new prompt payment laws from managed service providers of electronic data interchange (EDI) has cost British businesses time and money, claims Leeds-based Lobster.

Jeni Steele, the EDI expert’s head of UK, said: “The legislation change required alterations to invoice templates that took weeks to implement, as the process was out of the suppliers’ hands.”

The way VAT is recorded against prompt payment discounts was amended in April to align Britain with the rest of Europe. Its low key introduction caught many businesses unawares, causing users of managed EDI services to request updates to their invoice templates simultaneously.

Lobster_data.wizard offers an alternative to managed service providers, the perceived UK standard for processing EDI. Its software gives users control of data mapping, ensuring no loss of service when changes are required and no implementation costs.

Jeni added: “We have been approached by businesses that were prevented from issuing invoices for three weeks, resulting in major cash flow issues, due to delays caused by the new prompt payment legislation. Under normal circumstances it can take UK managed service providers up to and sometimes more than a month to make amendments – at considerable expense to the client – which we think is unacceptable practise, but this additional burden exacerbated the problem.

“Our users are not dictated to by a managed service provider and can make changes to EDI in house with no disruption to operational or accounting processes. For those who are new to Lobster_data.wizard, we have a support team on hand to answer queries, quickly and efficiently.”

Lobster’s flagship software enables companies to send and receive information in any format from suppliers, colleagues and clients. For more information, visit www.lobster-uk.com, email: info@lobster-uk.com, telephone (0113) 366 2022 or follow the firm on Twitter @_lobsteruk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nina Sorby .