How LEAT pays people

This page explains what happens between LEAT approving something and
money reaching somebody's account. It applies to everybody: our own
staff, the suppliers we buy from, the people our programmes pay, and
anybody who wants to check that we did what we said.

The one sentence that matters

LEAT does not move money. The bank does.

Everything LEAT does is preparation and record-keeping. Somebody builds a
payment package. Somebody else checks it. It is frozen, which fixes the
list and the total. It is taken to the bank, where two people who are
named on our bank mandate sign it. LEAT is not in the room for that part
and cannot see it.

What each status actually means

The words on the screen are chosen carefully, because the difference
between them is real money.

• Package frozen means the list and the total are fixed and the sheet can be printed. Nothing has been signed and nothing has been sent.
• Awaiting external bank authorisation means the sheet is with the people who sign at the bank. LEAT does not know what is happening to it.
• Submitted to bank means somebody at LEAT wrote down that it was handed over. It does not mean anybody has been paid.
• Batch debit confirmed means the bank statement shows the total leaving our account. It says nothing about who received anything.
• Delivery confirmed means the bank reported that this exact person received this exact amount. This is the first status that means paid.
• Reconciled means the bank and our accounts agree about it.
• Unknown means we do not know. It is not a polite way of saying "probably fine".

Why "unknown" is a real status

Most systems hide uncertainty. This one shows it.

If the bank has not told us that a payment arrived, LEAT says so and puts
the payment in a queue with a name and a clock on it. Nothing moves out
of "unknown" because time passed. Somebody has to ring the bank and find
out, and then write down what they were told.

A payment that quietly aged into "paid" would be a payment nobody
chased, and the person who did not get their money would be the last to
find out.

What a LEAT payment record proves, and what it does not

It proves that somebody with the authority approved the thing being paid
for, that a package was prepared and checked by a second person, that
the list and total were frozen before anybody signed, that somebody who
was neither the preparer nor a signatory recorded the handover, and that
the bank reported the money reaching a named account.

It does not prove that the people on the bank mandate actually signed,
that they read what they signed, or that they were not under pressure.
LEAT cannot see any of that, and it does not claim to.