If your organisation is a contracting authority, such as a council, NHS body, academy trust, university or housing association, the Procurement Act 2023 asks you to publish notices, set and assess KPIs on large contracts, and report how quickly you pay suppliers. SupplierVault's Procurement Act module adds a checklist of those duties to each supplier, with due dates, and builds the payment reports you publish on the Central Digital Platform.
Switch it on
- An admin opens Settings and finds Public sector: Procurement Act 2023.
- Tick "We're a contracting authority under the Procurement Act 2023. Add the Act's notices, deadlines, KPIs and payment reporting to each supplier."
- Choose the Type of authority: Sub-central (councils, academy trusts, universities, housing associations and most others) or Central government (departments, NHS trusts and foundation trusts). This sets which thresholds apply.
- Enter Our unique identifier (PPON). It's used in the payment reports.
- Tick We're a school if it applies. Some duties, including below-threshold notices, prompt-payment reporting and payment notices, don't apply to contracts awarded by a school. Check with your adviser whether this covers you.
- Tick We're a Welsh contracting authority if it applies. Copies of contracts over £5 million aren't published, below-threshold notices start at £30,000 for all Welsh authorities, and the Payments over £30,000 report stays empty because that duty isn't in force in Wales yet.
The module is included in every plan. It's built for contracting authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Thresholds used
Thresholds from 1 January 2026, including VAT:
| Contract type | Central government | Sub-central (others) |
|---|---|---|
| Goods | £135,018 | £207,720 |
| Services | £135,018 | £207,720 |
| Works | £5,193,000 | £5,193,000 |
| Light-touch services (e.g. health, social, education) | £663,540 | £663,540 |
Below-threshold notice duties start at £12,000 (central government) or £30,000 (others, and all Welsh authorities), including VAT.
The Procurement Act 2023 section on a supplier
Once the module is on, each supplier record has a Procurement Act 2023 section on its "Contract and money" tab. Fill in:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Contract type | Goods, Services, Works, or Light-touch services. Services is used if you don't choose. |
| Total value over the whole term, including VAT (£) | The full estimated value, including VAT, across the whole contract term with any extensions you expect to use. |
| How it was procured | Open procedure, Competitive flexible procedure, Direct award, Call-off from a framework, Award under a dynamic market, Below threshold, advertised, Below threshold, not advertised, or Exempted contract (not covered). |
| Direct award justification (Schedule 5 ground) | Shown for direct awards: the ground you relied on. |
| Date the contract was entered into | Deadlines count from this. Until you set it, the contract start date is used. |
| Procurement started | Payment notices under section 70 cover procurements started from 1 April 2026. |
| Procurement identifier (Find a Tender), Contract identifier, Supplier's unique identifier (PPON) | Used in the reports so you can copy them across to the Central Digital Platform. |
Under the fields, a line tells you where the contract sits, for example "Above the threshold (£207,720 including VAT for services contracts): a covered procurement.", "Below the threshold but over £30,000 including VAT: below-threshold notice duties apply.", "Below £30,000 including VAT: no notices needed." or "Exempted contract: the Act's notices don't apply."
The duties checklist
A table lists each duty that applies, when it's due, its status and where you record it. Record a date and a notice reference or link to mark a duty done.
| Duty | When it applies | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Conflicts of interest assessment | Above threshold | Before the tender or transparency notice. Record the date and who assessed it. |
| Debarment list checked for this supplier | Above threshold | Before award. Record the date and the result: "Not on the list" or "On the list". |
| Transparency notice published (direct award) | Above threshold, direct award | Before the contract is entered into. |
| Contract details notice | Above threshold | Within 30 days of entering into the contract (120 days for light-touch). The day the contract is entered into counts as day 1. |
| Copy of the contract published | Above threshold, over £5 million, not Welsh authorities | Within 90 days of entering into the contract (180 days for light-touch). |
| At least 3 key performance indicators set | Above threshold, over £5 million, not light-touch | Set before the contract is entered into and published in the contract details notice, unless KPIs couldn't appropriately assess performance. Marked done automatically when 3 KPIs have names. |
| Performance assessed against the KPIs and contract performance notice published | Above threshold, over £5 million, not light-touch, while the contract runs | At least every 12 months. Separately, a contract performance notice is due within 30 days of a breach that leads to termination, damages or a settlement, or of a supplier failing to improve after being given the chance. |
| Final assessment against the KPIs and contract performance notice | Above threshold, over £5 million, not light-touch, once the contract has ended | On termination, published before the contract termination notice. Marked done when an assessment is recorded from 30 days before the end date. |
| Contract termination notice | Above threshold, once the contract has ended or the supplier is closed | Within 30 days of the contract ending. The day it ends counts as day 1. |
| Below-threshold tender notice | Below threshold but over £12,000 / £30,000, procured "Below threshold, advertised" | On the Central Digital Platform before advertising anywhere else. |
| Contract details notice (below threshold) | Below threshold but over £12,000 / £30,000 (not schools) | As soon as reasonably practicable after entering into the contract (guidance: 30 days for central government, 90 days for others). |
Each duty shows Done (with the date), Overdue since date, Due date (amber within 14 days) or To do (no fixed date). The section heading shows how many are overdue. Overdue duties and those due within 14 days also appear in the Dashboard attention list, labelled "Procurement Act 2023".
If you record that the supplier is On the list for debarment, the section warns: "This supplier is on the debarment list. Take advice before awarding or continuing the contract."
KPIs and performance assessments (over £5 million, not light-touch)
- Under Key performance indicators, select Add a KPI and give each a name and target. Remove deletes one.
- Under Performance assessments, choose the date, a rating (Good, Approaching target, Requires improvement or Inadequate), a summary and the contract performance notice reference, then Record assessment. The next one is due 12 months after the latest.
Contract changes (above threshold)
Under Contract changes, record the date, what changed and the change notice reference, then Record change. A change with no reference shows "no change notice recorded". Publish a contract change notice before making a change to an above-threshold contract (with some exceptions).
Every entry is recorded in the supplier's history, for example "Procurement Act: performance assessed as Good".
Invoices: received date and VAT
With the module on, logging an invoice on a supplier's "Payments & accounts" section also asks for Received (the date the invoice arrived, today by default) and VAT. The payment reports need both: payment days count from when an invoice was received, and the £30,000 test includes VAT. If you connect your accounting software (Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage Accounting, Sage 200 or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central), both are filled in from your bills: the received date is the bill date.
The reports
Three reports in Reports cover the Act. Each can be printed or downloaded for Excel, like every report. See Reports.
Procurement Act duties
Every duty not yet done across all suppliers, overdue first: Supplier, Contract (above or below threshold), Duty, Due and Status ("Overdue", "Due within 14 days" or "To do").
Payments compliance notice
The figures for the payments compliance notice, for the six-month periods 1 April to 30 September and 1 October to 31 March (the latest four periods). It covers invoices from suppliers with above-threshold contracts, and leaves out contracts awarded by a school.
| Column | How it's worked out |
|---|---|
| Publish by | Within 30 days, counting the last day of the period as day 1: 29 October for a period ending 30 September, 29 April for one ending 31 March. |
| Invoices paid | Invoices marked Paid with a paid date in the period. |
| Average days to pay (from the day after receipt) | Days from the received date to the paid date, averaged, to one decimal place. |
| Paid in 1 to 30 days, 31 to 60 days, 61 days or more | Share of the invoices paid in the period. |
| Paid in line with the prompt payment terms | Of the invoices that were, or should have been, paid in the period under the 30-day term, the share paid on or before the day they were due. |
| Due in the period but not paid in it | Of the invoices due in the period, the share not paid within it. |
Example: an invoice received on 2 May and paid on 28 May took 26 days and was due by 31 May, so it counts as paid in 1 to 30 days and in line with the terms. The notice for 1 April to 30 September must be published by 29 October, with a statement approving it from the director or similar officer responsible for your finances, giving their name and job title. Concession contracts, contracts awarded by schools and private utilities, and transferred Northern Ireland authorities are out of scope. If invoices have no received date, the invoice date is used and the report says how many.
Payments over £30,000
Payments over £30,000 including VAT on above-threshold contracts whose procurement started from 1 April 2026, by calendar quarter of the paid date, in the columns the Central Digital Platform asks for: Quarter, Our PPON, Procurement identifier, Contract identifier, Supplier, Supplier identifier, Payment net of VAT (£), Payment date, Invoice and Check. Publish within 30 days, counting the quarter's last day as day 1: by 29 July (April to June), 29 October (July to September), 29 January (October to December) and 29 April (January to March). The duty doesn't cover concession contracts, contracts awarded by schools or private utilities, or transferred Northern Ireland authorities, and isn't in force yet for Welsh contracting authorities, so the report stays empty if you've ticked We're a Welsh contracting authority.
Where VAT wasn't recorded, the Check column says "VAT not recorded: 20% assumed for the £30,000 test". If your PPON is missing it says "Add your PPON in Settings". Amounts are in your reporting currency.
Good to know
- Only admins can switch the module on and change its settings. Anyone who can edit suppliers can fill in the supplier section.
- The three reports are always listed. Without the module, or without values recorded, they show nothing to report.
- Exempted contracts and contracts below the lower amount have no duties listed.
- SupplierVault doesn't publish anything for you. You publish on the Central Digital Platform and record the date and reference here.
- Thresholds change from time to time. SupplierVault uses the figures shown on this page until they're updated.
Related
- Reports
- Payments, invoices and bank checks
- Connect your accounting software
- Contracts and renewals
- Settings
- How figures are calculated