Businesses across the country are encouraged to wrap up their payments in advance of the festive period, and tick that important job off the finance team's holiday to-do list.

Pay.UK, which runs the Bacs payment system used to process Bacs Direct Credits and Direct Debits, is providing useful advice and tips to help organisations prepare for Christmas, including a reminder that payment files can be submitted early.

Planning ahead will help to avoid any nasty holiday season surprises and make it even easier for finance, billing, and collections teams to navigate the additional Bacs non-processing days, which fall on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 December, and Monday 2 January.

This means that payments due to be credited or debited before Christmas Day will need to be submitted no later than Wednesday 21 December, while payments due on the first working day after Christmas (Wednesday 28 December), will need to be submitted by Thursday 22 December.

As we move into 2023, payments due either side of New Year should be submitted by Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 December, respectively. 

To help businesses, Pay.UK has also created a handy processing calendar which details all of the non-payment processing days to be aware of next year, as well as information on latest submission dates, and can be downloaded from www.bacs.co.uk/processing-calendars

This includes the additional bank holiday on 8 May 2023 to mark the coronation of King Charles III, which means that there will now be three non-processing days during that month.

Here are some handy tips to help with Christmas payments:

• Make sure you've downloaded our handy processing calendar and share with colleagues who may benefit from a quick reference guide
• Plan ahead and submit your payment files in advance
• Double check that you have submitted the files with the correct processing dates, and ensure your software reflects Bacs non-processing days
• Ask a colleague to review the submission dates – just in case
• With fewer staff available over Christmas, make sure you have a back-up plan to cover any planned or unforeseen absences
• As many workplaces are still operating with staff based remotely, now might be a good time to review if all those who may need to submit payment files have the equipment and access they require
• Remember that Direct Debits due on bank holidays should be collected on the next working day
• You can get more information from bacs.co.uk and www.wearepay.uk.