Sainsbury's becomes final retailer to sign up to GCA forensic auditing commitment
The final retailer has now agreed to sign up to the GCA’s voluntary commitment on forensic auditing.
Sainsbury’s will adhere to the commitment limiting the auditing of suppliers’ trading for missed claims to no more than the current and previous two financial years from 6 March 2022.
The commitment is reciprocal and suppliers must agree to limit their own audit activity in return. Twelve of the thirteen retailers regulated by the GCA are currently signatories to the commitment.
It was first introduced in 2014 after the GCA survey identified forensic auditing as the issue of most concern to suppliers. Since then, the number of suppliers reporting having experienced the issue has fallen although some concerns remain about how audits are conducted and finalised.
GCA Mark White said: “In the early days of the GCA, the issue of forensic auditing was a major concern for suppliers who were being asked for large sums of money with the burden of proof falling on them to show that any discrepancies were not valid claims. For many suppliers having to piece together the audit trail after long periods of time was a massive challenge.
“Legally, retailers and suppliers can make claims against one another going back up to six years. However, the voluntary commitment has played an important role in building more constructive relationships in the groceries sector. I am delighted that Sainsbury’s has seen the value of signing up to the agreement.
“I will continue to monitor what suppliers report of their experiences.”