Factoring Company Guide
The First Step: The Client Application
First, you fill out a basic profile for your company that we provide. This profile will ask for simple things like your company's name, address, what your business does, and some info about your customers.
You might also need to give us things like an accounts receivable aging report or the credit limits of your existing customers. Keep in mind that we're trying to figure out how creditworthy your customers are, beyond their credit history with your business. We're interested in their overall financial health.
At this stage, you'll also discuss basic financial details with us. For example, you'll decide how many invoices you want to factor each month (which helps us know how much cash you need to have on hand), what the advance rate and discount rate will be, and how fast we'll get the advance to you.
Most of the time, the answers to these questions will depend on how financially solid your customers are, how many sales you expect to factor each month, the industry you're in, how long you've been running, and how risky your customers might be. So, if you have lots of risky clients, you'll end up paying more in factoring fees than if you just have a few government agencies that are slow to pay.
In the factoring industry, the more you factor (in terms of dollar amount), the better your rates will be. That's why volume is crucial.
We'll look at the client profile you filled out to decide if factoring is a good fit for your business. Essentially, we're weighing the risks against the potential benefits, using the info you gave us.
Once we say yes, you can expect to start negotiating the terms and conditions. This negotiation will consider different aspects of the deal. So, if you want to factor $10,000, you can't expect to get as good a deal as a company that wants to factor $500,000.
During these negotiations, you'll get a good understanding of what it costs to factor your accounts receivable. After you agree on terms with us, we start the funding process. We'll check out your customers' credit and any liens against your company. We also need to make sure your invoice is legit before we buy your receivables and give you cash.
Factoring Company Benefits
Advantages of Using Factoring Services:
- Focus on expanding your business rather than dealing with cash flow issues.
- Avoid the obligation of repaying monthly loan installments. You can receive the funds in as little as two to four days.
- Retain total authority over your business.
- Minimize or get rid of the costs associated with chasing payments.
- Take control of your cash flow by selecting which invoices to sell and when to do it.
- Combat slow-paying customers effectively.
- Boost your production and sales.
- Access professional collection and credit checking services.
- Easily meet your payroll obligations.
- Pay your payroll taxes without any hiccups.
- Take advantage of cash discounts when buying materials.
- Amplify your purchasing power, allowing you to enjoy discounts on bulk purchases or early payments.
- Improve your credit rating by having cash available to pay bills on time.
- Have the cash ready for your business expansion plans.
- Allocate funds for your marketing strategies.
- Enhance your financial statements.
- Receive detailed reports on your accounts receivable portfolio.
Is Factoring For You
How Factoring Helps Small Businesses Grow
Factoring is a helpful tool that can contribute to the growth of small businesses in simpler terms. Here's how it works:
Access to Quick Cash: Small businesses often struggle to access funds they need for daily operations or expansion. Factoring allows them to get quick cash by selling their unpaid customer invoices to a factoring company. This immediate cash infusion gives them the financial resources to cover expenses and seize growth opportunities.
Better Cash Flow Management: Cash flow is crucial for small businesses to pay bills, purchase inventory, and invest in growth. Factoring improves cash flow by providing a steady stream of money from the factoring company for the outstanding invoices. This helps small businesses maintain a healthy financial situation and avoid cash flow gaps.
Improved Credit Standing: By using factoring, small businesses can build a good credit history. They can pay suppliers on time and establish a reputation for reliability. This can lead to better credit terms with suppliers and easier access to loans or other financing options in the future.
Business Expansion: Factoring gives small businesses the financial flexibility to expand their operations. They can use the cash from factoring to invest in marketing, hire more employees, purchase equipment, or open new locations. This helps them take advantage of growth opportunities and increase their market presence.
Outsourced Invoice Management: Managing customer invoices can be time-consuming and complex. Factoring companies handle this task for small businesses. They take care of invoicing, collecting payments, and managing customer credit checks. This frees up valuable time and resources for small businesses to focus on core operations and serving their customers.
Reduced Financial Risk: Factoring companies assume the risk of non-payment from customers. They conduct credit checks and monitor payments, protecting small businesses from bad debts. This reduces financial risk and provides peace of mind to small business owners.
Flexibility to Grow: Factoring is a flexible financing option that grows with the business. As sales increase and generate more invoices, small businesses can access more funding through factoring. This adaptability allows them to fund their growth without being limited by traditional loan structures.
In simple terms, factoring gives small businesses quick cash, improves their cash flow, helps build good credit, supports business expansion, streamlines invoice management, reduces financial risk, and offers flexibility for growth. By using factoring, small businesses can overcome financial hurdles and create opportunities for long-term success.
Factoring History
Factoring History
Welcome to the world of factoring. Whether you're a business owner, aspiring entrepreneur, or seeking new financial tools for your current employer, factoring can help you achieve your financial goals. Surprisingly, factoring serves as the financial backbone for many successful American businesses.
The irony lies in the fact that factoring is rarely taught in business colleges, seldom mentioned in business plans, and remains relatively unknown to the majority of American businesspeople. However, it plays a crucial role in freeing up billions of dollars every year, enabling thousands of businesses to thrive and prosper.
So, what exactly is factoring? It is the process of purchasing commercial accounts receivable (invoices) from a business at a discount. In today's business landscape, offering credit terms to customers has become a common practice in order to secure business. However, these terms can strain the financial health of new or struggling companies, as cash flow is the lifeblood of any business.
Factoring has a rich and ancient tradition, dating back 4,000 years to the days of Hammurabi, the king of Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia, often called the "cradle of civilization," contributed numerous advancements including writing, structured business codes, government regulations, and the concept of factoring.
Over time, various civilizations embraced factoring. The Romans, for example, were the first to sell promissory notes at a discount. In the American colonies before the revolution, factoring gained widespread documented use. The colonists relied on merchant bankers in London and Europe who provided funds in advance for shipping cotton, furs, and timber before they reached the continent. This allowed the colonists to continue their operations without waiting for payment from European customers.
It's important to note that these arrangements differed from modern banking relationships. If the colonists had relied on traditional banking services in eighteenth-century England, the process would have been much slower. Banks would have awaited payment from the European buyers before paying the colonists. This impractical process led to the emergence of factors in colonial times, who advanced funds against accounts receivable, enabling clients to continue their operations before receiving payment.
During the Industrial Revolution, factoring evolved to focus more on credit issues while preserving its core principle. Factors assisted clients in assessing the creditworthiness of their customers and establishing credit limits, thus guaranteeing payment for approved customers. This practice, known as non-recourse factoring, is common in today's business landscape.
Prior to the 1930s, factoring primarily occurred in the textile and garment industries, as these industries directly inherited the colonial economy's reliance on factoring. After the war years, factors recognized the potential to extend factoring to other industries that relied on invoices, leading to its expansion.
Today, factors come in various forms and sizes. They exist as divisions within large financial institutions, but more frequently as privately owned entrepreneurial endeavors. The rise of private factors surged in the 1960s and 1970s when interest rates soared to unprecedented heights. This trend continued in the 1980s due to increasing interest rates and changes in the banking industry. With banks becoming costly and inflexible due to heavy regulations (recall the Savings and Loan crisis), small business owners sought alternative sources of financing for their expansion and growth. As more banks distanced themselves from small business owners, factoring emerged as a popular option.
Each year, thousands of businesses sell billions of dollars in accounts receivable through factoring. They do so to achieve profitability, fuel growth, and, in some cases, ensure their very survival.
Credit Risk
Quick Continuous Cash: Get Expert Credit Risk Assessment at No Extra Cost!
Accurately evaluating credit risk is a crucial aspect of our factoring business. Very few, if any, clients can perform this function as objectively as we can.
At no additional fee, we act as your dedicated credit department for both new and existing customers. This gives you a significant advantage over handling these functions in-house.
Imagine a scenario where a salesperson is pursuing a new account with the potential for substantial purchases. The salesperson may be so focused on winning the business that they overlook warning signs related to credit difficulties. They might even bypass your internal credit checks to expedite the process. While this may secure the sale, it won't guarantee payment, and without payment, there is no sale.
With us, this situation won't occur. We make credit decisions based on a comprehensive understanding of the new customer's credit situation. We won't purchase the invoices of customers with poor credit ratings, minimizing the risk of nonpayment. However, please don't view our involvement as a tightening of credit to the extent that it negatively impacts your business beyond your control.
If you have a new customer with questionable creditworthiness, the ultimate decision to do business with them remains yours. (Nevertheless, we reserve the right to say, ""I told you so!"")
While we may not purchase those invoices, you still retain the freedom to extend credit terms as you see fit. You remain in control. Regardless of the decisions you make, thanks to our participation, you can be confident that you'll have access to more comprehensive, objective, and high-quality information for informed credit decisions compared to your past practices.
We thoroughly research new clients and, equally importantly, regularly monitor the credit ratings of your existing customers. This is in stark contrast to most businesses where routine credit updates on the established customer base are rare. Such neglect can be a grave mistake.
Typically, businesses only conduct a credit check when it's too late and the problem has already spiraled out of control. On the other hand, we will promptly inform you if there are any changes in the credit status of your existing customers.
In addition to providing specific customer credit information, you'll also enjoy the benefits of comprehensive, detailed reports on your accounts receivables as a whole. As part of our process, you'll receive accounting details, transactional insights, aging reports, and financial management reports. This data empowers you to incorporate it into your sales tracking, account history, and in-depth analysis.
With over 70 years of successful cash flow and credit management experience, we are eager to leverage our expertise for your benefit. Let us put our knowledge to work for you and help you achieve your financial goals.
How To Change Factoring Companies
Changing Your Invoice Financing Company
All the key things about switching invoice financing companies.
- Are you considering a different invoice financing firm?
- Unsatisfied with your present financier?
- Thinking of quitting your current financier?
- What should I know if I'm thinking of changing invoice financing companies?
What is a UCC and how does it relate to me changing invoice financing companies?
Invoice financing companies typically use something called a Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filing to protect their claim to the invoices they've financed.
The UCC helps financiers, banks, and commercial lenders keep track of who's lending against what assets...
A UCC is somewhat like having a first mortgage on your business.
The Payoff Process
Whoever filed their UCC first usually has first rights to any payments from the financed invoices...
To switch invoice financing companies, the old company has to be paid off by the new one...
A 'payoff' or 'buyout' happens when the new invoice financing company pays the old one...
How is the Payoff Figure Calculated?
The payoff figure is typically calculated by taking the total amount...
How much does the buyout cost?
If you can submit new invoices to the new company to pay off the outstanding ones...
How long does a buyout take?
Switching companies usually takes a few days longer than the usual setup process...
What if my situation is not that simple?
In some cases, the old and new companies might be able to work out an agreement...
Questions you might have wished you'd asked before signing up with your current company:
- Can I use multiple invoice financing companies at once? The answer is usually no, according to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).
- How much notice do I need to give if I want to switch companies?
