Start the payment clock from acceptance
A buyer purchasing goods or services from a qualifying micro or small supplier must follow sections 2(b), 15 and 16 of the MSMED Act, 2006. With no written payment agreement, payment is due before the appointed day. A written agreement can fix a payment date, but cannot extend it beyond 45 days from acceptance or deemed acceptance.
Deemed acceptance is the actual delivery or service date when the buyer makes no written objection about acceptance within 15 days. It is not a date 15 days later. Where a written objection is made within that window, acceptance is the date the supplier removes that objection. The appointed day is a different defined term: the day immediately following the expiry of 15 days from acceptance or deemed acceptance.
This date calculator excludes the initial acceptance day when counting a period expressed as days “from” that day. For delivery on 1 June, 15 days expire on 16 June; the appointed day is 17 June. Keep the delivery, objection and resolution evidence with the calculation. A disputed or partly accepted supply needs a separate assessment of those facts.
Calculate the due date and delay
Use one accepted supply at a time. For instalments, partial objections or partial payments, keep separate dated lines. The review date can be the actual payment date or the date on which you are checking an unpaid invoice.
The result measures timing only. It does not calculate a bank-rate history, monthly compounding, an MSEFC award or a tax deduction. No weekend or public-holiday extension is assumed.
Worked dates with a real decision consequence
All transactions below are fictional. Each has delivery on 1 June 2026 and payment on 30 September 2026. The ₹10,00,000 invoice value does not change the payment dates.
| Facts | Acceptance | Payment due | Interest starts if unpaid | Delay to 30 September |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No written agreement; no timely objection | 1 June | 16 June | 17 June | 106 days |
| Written 45-day term; no objection | 1 June | 16 July | 17 July | 76 days |
| Written 30-day term; no objection | 1 June | 1 July | 2 July | 91 days |
| Written objection on 10 June, removed on 20 June; written 45-day term | 20 June | 4 August | 5 August | 57 days |
The no-agreement example cannot use a 31 July due date. Silence does not create an extra 15-day acceptance period, and absence of an agreement does not grant a 45-day credit period.
Separate principal, statutory interest and tax timing
Section 16 requires compound interest with monthly rests at three times the RBI-notified bank rate when the buyer misses the section 15 payment requirement. With no written agreement, interest runs from the appointed day. With an agreed payment date, it runs from the next day after that date. Do not substitute the repo rate, a single assumed annual rate or simple interest for the statutory calculation. For a rate change or part payment, preserve a dated principal and rate schedule.
For periods governed by the Income-tax Act, 1961, section 43B(h) concerns the deduction timing of sums payable to a micro or small enterprise beyond the MSMED section 15 time limit. A late principal payment is not automatically a permanent loss of deduction: the actual-payment rule and the year in which payment occurs matter. Section 23 of the MSMED Act separately prohibits deduction of the section 16 interest. For a tax year governed by the Income-tax Act, 2025, apply that Act’s operative provision; this date tool does not decide a tax deduction or map a section number.
In the fictional example paid on 30 September 2026, do not describe the principal as still outstanding at 31 March 2027. That is a different fact pattern. Reconcile the bank payment and the accounting year before making a tax adjustment.
Records needed for each invoice
- Supplier identity and micro/small eligibility at the relevant transaction date, with registration records and the basis for treating it as a supplier under the Act.
- Purchase order and written payment terms, invoice, goods receipt or service completion evidence, and actual delivery date.
- Any objection made in writing within the statutory window, what was disputed, and evidence showing when the supplier removed it.
- Bank payment dates, allocation of part payments, outstanding principal and a dated interest schedule.
- Applicable bank-rate notifications and separate accounting/tax treatment of principal and statutory interest.
A contractual term of 60 or 90 days cannot enlarge the 45-day statutory outer limit. The calculator rejects an entered written term above 45 days so that it cannot produce a misleading extended deadline.
Questions about the payment clock
Does no written agreement give the buyer 45 days?
No. Payment must be made before the appointed day. In this calculator’s 1 June example, the due date is 16 June and interest starts on 17 June if the amount remains unpaid.
Does silence move deemed acceptance 15 days after delivery?
No. When there is no timely written objection, deemed acceptance is the actual delivery or service date. The appointed day is the separately defined later date.
Can a timely written objection change the starting date?
Yes. If the buyer makes the acceptance objection in writing within 15 days, the acceptance date is when the supplier removes it. Keep both dated records; an unsupported new date cannot reset the clock.
Does this calculator produce statutory interest?
No. It gives the payment due date, interest start date and delay days. Interest needs the applicable RBI bank rate and monthly rests, with separate treatment of rate changes and part payments.
Official sources and related tools
- Ministry of MSME Samadhaan — official MSMED Act, 2006: sections 2(b), 15, 16 and 23.
- Supreme Court, M/S Sonali Power Equipments Pvt. Ltd. v. Chairman, Maharashtra State Electricity Board & Ors., 2025 INSC 864: discussion and quotations of the acceptance, appointed-day and payment provisions; PDF pages 22–24.
- MSME principal-payment tax-timing calculator
- MSMED Act guide
Download the worked payment-date guide · Download the one-page date checklist