The New York Times’ “You’re the Boss” blog recently reported on reaction regarding the Obama administration‘s “QuickPay” program for small businesses. The program reduces payment time for small-business invoices from 30 to 15 days.However, the issue at hand is whether or not the 15 days is within the time and point of which the government gets the invoice or when the government approves the invoice.
Writer of “You’re the Boss” blog Robb Mandelbaum contacted Office of Management and Budget spokeswoman Moira Mack and asked her to clarify the confusion.
“To the extent practicable, federal agencies shall establish a goal of paying small-business contractors within 15 days of receiving proper documentation, including an invoice for the amount due and confirmation that the goods or services have been received and accepted by the federal government,†Mack replied.
Traditionally, payments terms had been made between 30 to 60 days from the date of the invoice. Jeffrey Leonard wrote about this topic in the Washington Monthly and said, “The White House is definitely looking at the total through-put time. There’s a clear place where we had control — cutting the 30 days in half. The president took all these factors into consideration and said let’s do what we can and cut payment time from 30 to 15 days.”
