Important information for suppliers to NHS England (NHSE), Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), Commissioning Support Units (CSUs) and the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB)
As part of a major programme to provide a next-generation integrated single financial environment for the NHS with a faster and smarter service, we’re improving the invoicing and payments process for NHS England, ICBs and CSUs and their suppliers.
This page contains important information for suppliers and will be updated regularly – why not bookmark it?
Please note that, at present, the information below only applies to organisations which supply goods and/or services to NHSE, ICBs and CSUs. There are currently no changes to invoicing for other organisations, including Trusts and Community Interest Companies.
In October, we will be launching a new, interactive portal, making it easier for suppliers to do business with NHS England and their partner organisations.
Through this new portal, most* suppliers will be able to:
- Track the status of their invoices and credit notes
- Raise and track support requests and get indicative resolution dates
- Keep their details, including name, address, and bank account up-to-date
The portal, called SBS one, is intuitive and user-friendly, and will make the invoicing and payment process swifter and more efficient.
For security reasons, only suppliers who have verified their details will be able to register to use the portal.
* Please note that although we eventually aim for all suppliers to have access to the SBS one portal, the following groups of suppliers are currently out of scope:
- NHS organisations
- Primary Care Networks
- GP practices
- Ophthalmic and optometrist suppliers
- Individuals, including those funded by a Personal Health Budget (PHB)
- Tax authorities (eg HMRC)
- Overseas companies (ie those where payments are made to a non-UK bank account)
- Factoring companies
- Franchises and organisations with multiple bank accounts
If you represent one of the supplier groups above, and have not received an invitation to verify yourself in order to register for the portal, there is no need to contact us.
If you believe you should have received an invitation to validate your company’s details, but have not, please contact 0303 123 1177, option 1.
Verify Your Details
Cutover Changes
Whilst the new system is introduced, we will be making some temporary changes to our processes and ways of working. A high-level summary of these is below.
For more information, please visit our FAQs, or contact our customer support centre on 0303 123 1177, option 1.
No new suppliers can be set up on the system between 1 September and 24 September 2025 (with the exception of GPs, primary care networks and optometrists, where the set up freeze is from 1 September to 19 September 2025).
To ensure that new suppliers are set up before the freeze, we are advising client organisations to submit supplier setup requests by 29 August at the latest.
No Purchase Order numbers will be issued after 24 September until 1 October. Requests for purchase orders received during this time will be processed after 1 October.
We will not be processing invoices between 20 September and 1 October.
Any invoices (either email or paper) received during this time will be processed after 1 October. The Tradeshift e-invoicing service will also be temporarily unavailable between these times.
The last BACs payment before cutover is 24 September, with cleared funds expected to arrive in suppliers accounts on or around 26 September.
BACS runs will restart on 2 October, with cleared funds expected to land in suppliers accounts on or around 7 October.
Tradeshift connections. Suppliers who currently submit invoices manually via the Tradeshift web portal will receive a connection request to link their Tradeshift account to the new system. Suppliers must accept this connection request in their Task List in order to continue to submit invoices via Tradeshift.
Tradeshift integrations. Suppliers who submit their invoices through the Tradeshift integrated solution will need to ensure their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is updated with the new identifier attributes, including the new Organisation ID codes (see organisation codes, below).
As well as the new supplier portal, from October there will be other permanent changes to our systems and processes. These are summarised below. For more details, please view our FAQs or call our Customer Support Centre on 0303 123 1177 option 1.
- Communicating with NHS SBS. There will be a change to our Customer Support Centre contact details – we will email you with the details shortly.
- Organisation codes. NHS England (currently X24) will become CBA003. All other organisations will have 000 at the end of their current three-character code. Our systems will still accept and process invoices containing the old codes during the transitional period.
- XX rules. If you submit invoices with a contact name instead of a Purchase Order, the format of those names (known as the “XX rules”) will change. Please contact the organisation you are trading with to confirm the new format.
- Suppliers using Tradeshift e-invoicing will need to take some specific actions to ensure they can continue to submit invoices. A summary is above, and detailed information is at Welcome to NHS SBS’s Tradeshift Network
FAQ
What is the new supplier portal?
“The new supplier portal, called SBS One, is an easy and intuitive interactive platform that makes it simple for you to do important tasks, including:
– Checking status of your invoices and credit notes
– Raising queries and getting indicative resolution dates for them
– Keeping your details, including name, address and bank account, up to date (administrators only)”
How do I know if I’m elegible to use the new portal?
“Eventually, we hope that all suppliers will be able to use the portal. However, for technical reasons, we are currently restricting access to companies and organisations (not individuals) that meet all the following criteria:
– submit invoices to NHS England, and/or Commisioning Support Units and/or Integrated Care Boards
– are not themselves part of the NHS
– receive payment into a UK bank account”
Which suppliers are not yet able to use the new portal?
“The following groups of suppliers are not yet able to use the portal:
– NHS organisations
– GP practices
– Opthalmic/optomotrist suppliers
– Individuals (ie not registered with Companies House), including those funded via a Personal Health Budget
– Tax authorities (including HMRC)
– Factoring Companies
– Franchises and organisations with multiple bank accounts on our system
– Suppliers who are paid into a non-UK bank account”
I’m a local authority – will I be able to use the portal?
Yes
I’m a charity – will I be able to use the portal?
Yes
I’m a Community Interest Company (CIC) – will I be able to use the portal?
Yes
I’m a sole trader – will I be able to use the portal?
Yes, provided you are registered with Companies House.
I supply both NHS England/ICBs/CSUs and other organisations, including hospital trusts. Can I use the portal?
Yes, but for the time being you will only be able to see and query invoices and credit notes relating to NHSE, ICBs,CSUs and HSSIB, You will also only be able to keep your details up to date for these accounts. To update your details for other accounts (such as NHS trusts) please contact sbs.providersupplieramendment@nhs.net
I have received an email inviting me to validate my details. What does that mean?
For security reasons, before suppliers are able to access the new portal, we will email them asking them to validate their details. It’s a similar process to that used by banks. If you’ve received an email, when you click on the link you will be asked a short series of security questions. The first of these asks if you are the correct contact within your organisation to validate your details. If you are not, you’ll be able to give us the name of the correct contact person, and we will send them a validation link (you don’t need to forward the email to them). Once the validation questions have been successfully answered and submitted, the person who has done this becomes an admin user for your organisation, and will receive an invitation to register for the portal once it goes live, and is able to set up other contacts within their organisation with portal accounts. In order to successfully answer the security questions, you will need to have access to a recent invoice sent to NHS England, an Integrated Care Board or a Commissioning Support Unit only.
I have received an email inviting me to validate my details. Is it genuine, or is it fraud/spam?
The email should come from NHS SBS (no-reply@comms.sbs.nhs.uk). If you are still uncertain, please contact us on sbs.nhs.uk/supplier-information
Why have I haven’t received an email inviting me to validate my details?
We have sent suppliers who are eligible to use the portal an invitation to validate their details. If you have not received this, it could be because your organisation is not eligible at this time, or it could be because the email has gone to a different email address within your organisation. Please check the list of in-scope suppliers; if you still believe you should have been invited, please contact our Customer Support Centre on sbs.nhs.uk/supplier-information
How can I find out who at my organisation has received an email invitating them to validate as an adminstrator?
Please contact our Customer Support Centre on sbs.nhs.uk/supplier-information
I keep failing the validation questions. What am I doing wrong?
“Make sure your answers all relate to the same invoice.
Make sure your answers relate to an invoice sent to NHS England, a CSU an ICB or HSSIB – not any other NHS organisation like a hospital or Trust.
If you repeatedly fail the validation questions, your case will be automatically referred to NHS SBS, and we’ll be in touch to help – there’s no need to contact us. ”
I’ve received an invitation to validate, but I don’t think I’m the right person to do this. Can I forward the invitation to a colleague?
The link in the invitation email is unique, so it shouldn’t be forwarded. However, if you click on the link, you will be given the option of telling us that you’re not the right person, and supplying the details of a more appropriate colleague. This will then generate a validation link which will automatically be emailed to that colleague.
I believe the validation email has been sent to the email address of someone who no longer works for my organisation. What should I do?
Please contact our Customer Support Centre on sbs.nhs.uk/supplier-information
I’ve successfully validated. How do I access the portal?
If you’ve successfully validated, you’ll receive an email confirming this. Then, once the portal goes live, you’ll receive a link to it and be invited to register.
How do I register for the portal?
If you’ve successfully validated, you’ll receive an email when the portal goes live inviting you to register. Click on that – you’ll be asked to set up a username and password, and you’ll need to accept the conditions of use.Then you’ll have access to the portal.
I need to remove a colleague’s portal adminstrator privileges. How do I do that?
Please contact our Customer Support Centre on sbs.nhs.uk/supplier-information
Lots of people in my organisation need access to the portal – how can this be arranged?
At the moment, we are validating system administrators who will have the authority to do things like amend their organisation’s details. Once the portal has gone live in October, the administrator will be able to give access to as many of their colleagues as they wish. These colleagues will be able to view the progress of invoices/credit notes and raise requests.
Can my organisation have more than one portal administrator?
Yes. If more than one person at your organisation has received an invitation to validate, you can validate more than one administrator. If only one person at your organisation has received an invitation to validate themselves, then you can currently have only one administrator.
How do I use the portal? Is there any training?
The portal is very intutive and user-friendly, and you probably won’t need training. However, there will be how-to guides available in the portal for you to access if needed.
Can I used a shared mailbox when registering for the portal?
No. Portal accounts must be registered to an individual to allow auditable changes to your data to be made.
When will the portal go live?
20th October 2025. We are expecting high volumes of calls/webforms over the first few days, so please be patient.
Will there be any changes to the way I submit invoices for NHS England, Integrated Care Boards and Commissioning Support Units?
The route you use to submit invoices will remain the same – either Tradeshift, email or paper (or, for certain organisations, via a third party such as PCSE or NHS Business Services Authority). However, some of the things you need to put on your invoice will be slightly different – these differences are explained below.
Will there be any changes to the way I submit invoices to other NHS organisations, such as NHS trusts?
Not at present. This will change eventually, but for the time being the only changes are for NHS England, Integrated Care Boards and Commisisoning Support Units and HSSIB.
What will happen to Purchase Orders as the new system goes live?
No PO numbers will be issued between 20 September and 1 October. Any requests for purchase orders we receive during this time will be actioned after 1 October. You do not need to resubmit your request.
What will happen to new supplier setups as the new system goes live?
Supplier setups will be frozen at close of play 29 August, after which no new setup requests can be processed until 1 October. After go-live, suppliers will need to be setup using the new supplier portal process.
What will happen to supplier data changes as the new system goes live?
Supplier data changes will be frozen at close of play on 29 August, after which no supplier data changes can be processed until 1 October. After go live, suppliers will be able to change their own details on the supplier portal (assuming they have validated their details and registered for the portal).
What will happen to invoices as the new system goes live?
We will not be processing invoices between 20 September and 1 October. Any invoices received during this time will be processed after 1 October. You do not need to re-submit your invoice.
What will happen to payments as the new system goes live?
No BACs payments will be made between 24 September and 1 October. The final BACs run will take place on 24 September, with cleared funds landing in suppliers accounts on or around 26 September. After the migration to the new system, the first BACs run will take place on 2 October, with cleared funds expected to arrive in suppliers accounts on or around 7 October.
Can I still submit invoices via Tradeshift?
Tradeshift will be temporarily unavailable between 5pm on 19 September and 9am on 1 October. After this, in order to continue to submit invoices, you’ll need to ensure you link Tradeshift to the new system (see below).
Tradeshift is online, but I can’t submit invoices – why not?
Tradeshift will be temporarily unable to accept invoices between 5pm on 19 September and 1 October. After this time, suppliers who manually submit invoices via Tradeshift will receive a connection request to link their Tradeshift account to the new system. Suppliers must accept this connection request (in their Task List) in order to continue to submit invoices via Tradeshift.
My organisation has a Tradeshift integration which isn’t working. What’s the matter?
Suppliers who submit invoices via Tradeshift’s integrated solution will need to ensure their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is updated with new organisation codes (see below)
How are organisation codes changing?
NHS England, which currently has an organisation code of X24, will have the new organisation code CBA003. ICBs and CSUs will have 000 at the end of their current 3 character code.