Their own payment-practices filing · gov.uk
Costco Wholesale UK Limited pays suppliers in 35 days on average — within its stated 30–60 day terms
Their H1 2026 filing puts the average 5 days past the shortest term they state (30 days), still within their 60-day upper term.
- Their stated terms
- 30–60 days
- Paid outside agreed terms
- 6% of invoices
- Paid after 61+ days
- 2%
- Reporting period
- 1 Sept 2025 – 15 Feb 2026
- Source
- their gov.uk filing, filed 1 Jun 2026
Self-reported figures from their statutory filing. How this is compiled.
Terms vs reality · their H1 2026 filing
Paid within their stated range — 35 against 30–60 days
Where their invoices landed · share of all invoices
The pattern · last 6 of 17 reports
Holding steady around 35 days
The read · computed from their figures
Costco Wholesale UK Limited's H1 2026 filing puts their average at 35 days against stated terms of 30–60 days; 6% of invoices were paid outside agreed terms and 2% took 61 days or longer. Filed 1 Jun 2026.
The pattern is steady — their reported average moves within about ±1 days period to period.
On the latest reported averages: Faster than 57% of the 815 large companies reporting in wholesale & retail trade.
That is 17 statutory periods on record (earliest H1 2018) — a historical record, not a promise for a new invoice.
What they tell their suppliers
In their own words · from the filing
Standard payment terms
Costco Wholesale UK Limited negotiates payment terms individually with suppliers. Terms can be either a set number of days from receipt of goods or date of invoice, or end of month plus a set number of days after receipt of goods or date of invoice. Typical payment terms are net 30 days or end of month plus 30 days. The business does not pay for merchandise before receipt of goods. Services are not normally paid for until the work has been performed, although where a service is to be provided over a period of time staged payments may be made. Where payments are due on a weekend or a public holiday funds are sent to arrive in a supplier’s bank account on the next working day. Any payments due on a weekend or a public holiday that were settled on the next working day have been treated
Dispute resolution
Costco Wholesale UK Ltd pays for the actual goods received at the price agreed on the purchase order. If there is a discrepancy in the quantity received or the price stated on a supplier’s invoice then Costco will only dispute the difference and not the entire invoiced amount. In this situation Costco will pay for the goods received and the supplier can either raise a credit note or submit a claim for the difference. Payment processing is dealt with by the Expense Accounts Payable and Merchandise Accounts Payable teams. Any supplier payment queries that may arise are dealt with by the appropriate Accounts Payable team. In the event that the Accounts Payable team are unable to resolve the matter then any queries should be discussed between the supplier and the area of the business that
Every statutory report on record
Most recent first.
| Period | Avg days | Outside terms | 61+ days | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H1 2026 | 35 | 6% | 2% | 1 Jun 2026 |
| H1 2025 | 35 | 4% | 2% | 20 Oct 2025 |
| H1 2025 | 33 | 6% | 2% | 11 Apr 2025 |
| H2 2024 | 34 | 4% | 2% | 14 Oct 2024 |
| H1 2024 | 32 | 4% | 1% | 28 Mar 2024 |
| H2 2023 | 35 | 3% | 1% | 5 Oct 2023 |
| H1 2023 | 35 | 4% | 1% | 24 Mar 2023 |
| H1 2022 | 34 | 5% | 2% | 30 Sept 2022 |
| H1 2022 | 34 | 3% | 2% | 25 Mar 2022 |
| H1 2021 | 34 | 3% | 1% | 29 Sept 2021 |
| H1 2021 | 34 | 5% | 2% | 26 Mar 2021 |
| H1 2020 | 32 | 4% | 1% | 28 Sept 2020 |
| H1 2020 | 35 | 4% | 2% | 30 Mar 2020 |
| H2 2019 | 34 | 5% | 2% | 24 Sept 2019 |
| H1 2019 | 31 | 6% | 2% | 22 Mar 2019 |
| H2 2018 | 34 | 5% | 2% | 24 Sept 2018 |
| H1 2018 | 34 | 5% | 2% | 26 Mar 2018 |
On the public register · Companies House
Company record
- Status
- Active
- Type
- Private Limited Company
- Incorporated
- 6 Aug 1991
- Registered office
- 213 HARTSPRING LANE, WATFORD, WD25 8JS
Illustrative · working-capital arithmetic
What a 35-day cycle ties up
A worked example, not a finding. On a hypothetical £12k/month account, at a 35-day vs a 30-day payment cycle.
Late Payment Act. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 lets a supplier charge statutory interest and fixed compensation on invoices paid past agreed terms. Work out what a late invoice is worth → Whether it applies depends on your contract — check with an adviser.
Quick answers · Costco Wholesale UK Limited
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How UK payment reporting works
What is a Payment Practices Report?
What does "paid outside agreed terms" mean?
How often is this data updated?
Is this official government data?
How this is compiled. Built from official records only: Companies House and the gov.uk payment-practices service. The payment figures are self-reported — companies over the size threshold must file them by law and the board signs them off. No credit-agency data. The numbers are theirs; the plain-English read is ours. This is information compiled from public records under the Open Government Licence v3.0 — not a credit rating and not advice.
The 31-day comparison figure is the median across 6,104 companies with a current statutory report — every sector pooled, not an average of sector medians (how the figure is built).
Report PL-02635489 · latest period to 15 Feb 2026
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