Small businesses will benefit from commitments made by NAB and other large Australian companies to adopt The Australian Supplier Payment Code, an industry-led initiative that will ensure small business suppliers are paid within 30 days of issuing a correct invoice.

Established by the Business Council of Australia, the measures address one of the key concerns for Australian SMEs by reducing invoicing delays and improving cash flow and certainty for business owners.

NAB Chief Customer Officer Business and Private Banking Angie Mentis said the code marks an important milestone with big business and small business coming together to agree to standards that make things simpler for small business.

“Our nation’s economic wellbeing relies on a healthy SME sector, so we need to do everything we can to make it easier for these businesses to thrive.

“We congratulate the Business Council of Australia for its leadership on this issue and as one of Australia’s largest companies, we look forward to working with our many thousands of suppliers and SME customers as the new standards are implemented”, said Ms Mentis.

Recent research by NAB reveals 45% of SMEs feel dealing with bigger companies makes it difficult for their business to succeed and 69% cite dealing with red tape and complexity as taking a lot of effort.

“From our conversations with customers across the country, we know businesses desperately want to spend more time on their businesses, and less time on dealing with paperwork.

“The introduction of this code, together with changes we’re making to create plain English contracts and remove financial indicator covenants for small business contracts demonstrates we’re listening to our customers and responding with measures that make things simpler and fairer.”

For more information on the Australian Supplier Payment Code, including commencement date, visit: http://www.bca.com.au/policy-agenda/australian-supplier-payment-code