Create and Grow Law. Information obligation to fight against late payment

On 28 September 2022, Law 18/2022, of 28 September, on the creation and growth of companies, was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE). Some points that will affect us at the close of the current financial year are detailed in this article, especially the information on the average payment period and the consequences of non-compliance. In particular in Chapter IV “Measures to combat commercial late payment”, which amends the third additional provision “Duty of information” of Law 15/2010, of 5 July, amending Law 3/2004, of 29 December, which establishes measures to combat late payment in commercial transactions.

Where it is specified: 1. All trading companies shall expressly include their average supplier payment period in the notes to their annual accounts. 2. Listed and unlisted trading companies and those that do not present abridged annual accounts.

All these trading companies shall publish on their website (if they have one) their average supplier payment period, the monetary volume and number of invoices paid in a period shorter than the maximum established in the regulations on late payment and the percentage they represent of the total number of invoices and of the total monetary payments to their suppliers. This information shall be included in the notes to the annual accounts.

With reference to this Law, the ICAC in its consultation number 1 of BOICAC 132/2022, which was published on its website on 7 November 2022, made the following specifications:

• There are no plans to modify the methodology for calculating the average supplier payment period, established in its Resolution of 29 January 2016.
• It concludes that only entities that prepare the report in the standard format must expressly include information on their average supplier payment period in the report, together with the other information required by Law 18/2022.

3. Law 18/2022 also introduces changes to the General Subsidies Law in Chapter IV. In most cases, for subsidies of more than 30,000 euros, for companies which, in accordance with accounting regulations, cannot present an abridged profit and loss account, it establishes the need to accredit compliance with the legal payment deadlines by means of a certificate issued by an auditor registered in the Official Register of Auditors, which will take into account the actual payment deadline of the client company, regardless of any financing for early collection from the supplier company.

Article 31(2) is amended to read as follows:

“2. Unless expressly provided otherwise in the regulatory bases of the subsidies, expenditure shall be deemed to have been incurred if it has actually been paid prior to the end of the justification period determined by the regulations governing the subsidy.”

When the beneficiary of the subsidy is a company, the eligible expenses incurred in its commercial operations must have been paid within the payment deadlines established in the applicable sectorial regulations or, failing this, in those established in the legislation, otherwise they will not be considered eligible expenses.

We remind you that this rule is already in force and will affect the 2022 financial year closures.