Hi Reader,

Hope June treated you (and your invoices) kindly.

It's been a quieter news week on the surface, but underneath it three separate sets of rules just shifted.

Here's what caught our eye:

IN THIS ISSUE:

• A 20-year campaign finally pays off. New law caps how long big clients can sit on your invoices
• Your July HMRC diary, sorted. Three dates, one payment that actually matters
• Sick pay just changed for everyone. Including for the one employee you might have
• Plus: a Companies House outage, minimum wage rises, and the looming director ID verification deadline.

💷 THE BILL THAT FINALLY HAS YOUR BACK

If you've ever invoiced a bigger client and then spent six weeks chasing it, this one's for you.

The Commercial Payments Bill (also called the Small Business Protections Bill) has just entered Parliament, and it's the most serious crackdown on late payment in over 25 years.

It caps payment terms at 60 days, with a plan to bring that down to 45.

Miss it, and the client now owes you interest automatically, set at 8% above the base rate, no negotiating required. The Small Business Commissioner also gets real teeth to fine repeat offenders.

You don't need to do anything yet. Just know your leverage is about to change, and start mentioning the 8% interest rate next time a client goes quiet.

📅 YOUR JULY HMRC DIARY, SORTED

July is a stacked month for deadlines, but only one of them should actually change what you do.

P11D benefits reporting (6 July) and your Class 1A NIC payment (22 July) are both close enough now that if you haven't started, today's the day.

The one that's genuinely worth planning around is 31 July: your second Self Assessment payment on account. That's the one with real cashflow weight, especially if last year was a strong one and this year's profits haven't quite caught up yet.

And remember: HMRC doesn't care if your July is already busy. Put the 31st in your calendar now.

🩺 SICK PAY JUST CHANGED FOR EVERYONE

Statutory Sick Pay is now payable from day one, with no earnings threshold.

No more "wait three days" rule, no more "you didn't earn enough last month" exclusions.

The bigger change is who's watching. The new Fair Work Agency is now live and can investigate and fine employers directly for getting this wrong, which is a meaningfully bigger stick than before. If you've got even one employee, it's worth a five-minute check that your contract template reflects this.

That's the employment law conversation nobody's having until someone's off sick and you're googling the rules mid-week.

Pinsent Masons employment timeline is worth a look on this: https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/guides/employment-rights-bill-timeline-2026-beyond​

WORTH CHECKING OUT THIS WEEK

• Companies House had an outage mid-June. If your filing was delayed 12-16 June, you can appeal the penalty, but you'll need proof you tried (ICAEW: https://www.icaew.com/insights/viewpoints-on-the-news/2026/jun-2026/companies-house-delays-with-processing-filings).
• Minimum wage went up in April, and it's still worth checking your payroll math. 21+ is now £12.71/hour, 18-20 jumped 8.5% to £10.85 (GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates).
• Limited Company Director ID verification deadline is November, not July, but don't leave it to October. Takes about 2.5 minutes via the GOV.UK app (GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/verify-your-identity-for-companies-house).
• Sole trader or landlord earning £50k+? Your first MTD quarterly update is due 7 August. No penalties yet in year one, but the digital record-keeping rules are already live (GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/making-tax-digital-for-income-tax)

We’re curious …

One thing: What's the one takeaway from this issue you'll actually act on?

Hit reply and let us know. We read every response, and it genuinely shapes what we cover next.

We’re here to help you make better business decisions quicker — right from BEFORE day one.

All the best,

Graeme and Neil

Co-founders, Basics of Business (BoB)

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