A new Australian Supplier Payment Code, the work of the Business Council of Australia, is off and running. The code "is a voluntary initiative that requires signatories to pay eligible suppliers within 30 days of receiving a correct invoice," the BCA said yesterday. The code's proponent said that "in some cases this will more than halve payment times" and thus serve as a prop to small business viability. Still, there are sceptics. Kate Carnell, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, said the code "provides three options for signatories to commit to, which may lead to payment times over 30 days [and] there is no standard reporting in place to monitor payment practices." "This is why we're going to be monitoring the signatories every three months to ensure they're compliant," Carnell said. The recent report of the inquiry by the ASBFEO, and other agencies, into payment times for small business confirmed widely held views of patterns of delayed payments - with many larger firms holding back from paying small businesses for up to 120 days. The report noted: "there has been a growing trend in payment practices, particularly amongst large Australian and multinational businesses, to extend payment times. The growth in extended payment times is partly linked to the practices of multinational businesses who apply global policies to improve their working capital efficiency.  "Extending payment times for suppliers effectively uses the businesses in the supply chain as a cheap form of finance."