Government agencies taking accountability with timely invoice payments

Michael Alp, General Manager New Zealand Government Procurement says, “this is the first time New Zealanders can monitor payment time data for so many government agencies, making it easier for small businesses who do business with government.”

“The Government has been clear that government agencies need to prioritise making prompt payments to suppliers. Previously, we only had data available for around 30 central agencies – but now more than triple that number are required to report on how they are meeting their obligations.”

All Government agencies are required to pay 90% of invoices within 10 business days and send their data to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) every quarter. This target will increase to 95% in January 2026.

“Data released today shows most agencies meeting or exceeding the new target, with some only narrowly missing the timeframes,” said Michael Alp.

“But there are still a small number of agencies who are struggling to meet the deadline – and MBIE will be following up to see how we can support these agencies to improve their payment times.

“One way to speed things up is by adopting eInvoicing – which will help improve accuracy and security and reduce processing times.

“Today’s data is a promising start, and I expect that change underway in these areas will see results continue to improve over time,” Michael Alp said.

Central Government agencies’ invoice payment times