Bury would well be the second League One club to be handed a points deduction ahead of the new season.
Bolton Wanderers have already been handed a 12-point deduction for the new season, having entered administration last month.
Now the Guardian reports that Bury could also be given the same punishment.
The Shakers are in financial trouble, with players going public in May to reveal they had not been paid since February - although owner Steve Dale has said the players have now been paid up to March, plus half of April's wages.
Dale has offered to pay some of the club's debts - including paying the club's football creditors in full - himself in order to avoid a winding-up petition.
Yet the club still owes £3.7m in loans secured on the club's Gigg Lane ground, whilst their sports bar has also been mortgaged for £120,000 to a different loan company.
Along side this, £1m is owed in unpaid tax, national insurance and VAT, and trade creditors are owed £2.4m.
However, should Dale himself pay the club's debts, then according to EFL rules, that counts as an insolvency event, meaning a 12-point penalty will be incurred.
If they are punished, it means two clubs will start the upcoming campaign on -12.
Bolton have just 14 players on their books, including scholars, and they have not been paid since March.
There are still ownership issues at the club, with Football Ventures having previously been announced as the preferred new owner for the club by administrators.
