Successful contract negotiation and its execution by all parties is very often only the top of the iceberg. Smooth fulfillment of contractual obligations is the most important and lengthy phase of the contract’s lifecycle, and today we would like to speak about contract payments.

According to different surveys site payment delays occur averagely in 40% of cases. Huge percentage, isn’t it? Let’s see how contract negotiator can help to tackle this issue.

It looks simple – site performs work and invoices this to the sponsor (or designee) as frequently as agreed in the contract, the sponsor performs payment within contractually agreed term.

But is it so easy to get site’s invoice? In many cases it is not. Though it looks like the site is interested in being paid more than anyone else, paradoxically it may take some efforts for the sponsor to be invoiced.

Country and site-specific processes may complicate the process.

For instance, in some Eastern European countries, such as Russia and Ukraine, the payer must create the work acceptance certificate where all the actually performed work is detailed. Such certificate must be signed by the sponsor and the site, and only based on the signed certificate the site can issue an invoice to the sponsor. This certificate requirement comes from the old soviet times, but it is still alive in the modern accounting system.

Some Central European sites (like in Germany) may require formal request for invoice from the sponsor which functions as both a reminder for the site and as an instrument to ensure correctness of the amounts to be invoiced.

Thus, there is often something between the contract and invoice. Considering that in many cases it is clinical staff (CRAs) who deal with site payments (at least at payment preparation phase) it is vitally important for contract negotiator to make invoicing process as clear as possible in the contract. Ideally contract should provide forms or templates of ancillary payment documents (work acceptance certificate, request for invoice etc.) to avoid ‘surprises’ at payment stage.

However, it worth mentioning that with development of technologies in some regions site payments are becoming something that can be made almost automatically, but in many countries the accounting process is so diversified (even at site level) that a ‘one-click’ payment seems to be a matter of the distant future.

Surely, complicated invoicing process in some sites and some countries is hardly the only reason for payment delay, however it is something that may and must be mitigated at contract negotiation stage.