Information on the status of assessed contributions has been provided to Member States in accordance with a decision taken by the General Assembly at its 2444th plenary meeting, on 17 December 1975. In that context, the General Assembly decided that the Secretary-General should provide Member States, on a biannual basis, with information, for each Member State, on the amounts assessed, paid and owed to the regular budget and on continuing operations for which there is a special assessment.

That decision was taken, inter alia, in response to the Secretary-General's appeal to Member States to help to ease the cash-flow position of the United Nations by forwarding their contributions more promptly. In accordance with that decision, and in view of the continuing financial difficulties of the United Nations and the desire of Member States to be kept informed of the financial situation, periodic reports on the status of contributions have been issued since 1976. Biannual reports on the status of contributions were issued during the period 1976 -1986, quarterly reports were issued during the period 1987-1988, and monthly reports from 1989 to present.

With the growth in the number of funds covered by assessed contributions and the increases in United Nations membership, the standard report grew from under 20 pages in 1976 to more than 200 pages in 2010. In order to better deal with the current scope and to ensure that the status of contributions is available to Member States in a more timely, comprehensive, and useful manner, online information on the status of contributions, updated based on daily receipts, is contained herein.