Invoice Factoring And Why Your Business Requires It

Invoice Factoring
Free up cashflow!
Invoice factoring is a brilliant solution to traditional bank loans whereby you can free up working capital and raise cash for your business immediately.

Whatever business you may be a part of or running, having a good cash flow is always imperative. Anyone who is running a B2B operation will know that late payment of invoicing is a persistent and ever present problem and can build stress within the company, even when it is doing really well.

Invoice factoring is a form of accounts receivable financing which will help you get paid on time every time and will enable you to perform daily operations and payments normally. While invoice factoring as a  does have its pros and cons, the cons for the most part apply only if the process is used on a business model which does not need this type of financing.

What is Invoice Factoring?

Invoice factoring is a type of financial transaction where you, as a business owner will sell your accounts receivable to a third party, called a factor at 80% to 95% of their face value. The third party then goes around collecting payments for the invoices and forwards any balances that may be left less charges to you.

Here is a step by step illustration of how the process works:

Step 1: You contact a factoring company and sell your overdue invoices to them at a pre-determined rate which is typically 80% to 95% of the invoice’s value.

Step 2: The factoring company will provide you said value, usually within 24 hours thereby freeing up capital for your company.

Step 3:  The factoring company then collects the payment due on those invoices it just got from you.

Step 4: Your customers pay the factoring company instead of you and any residual balance which is left is immediately remitted to you.

This type of accounts receivable financing will help you free up locked capital quicker and also take care of a huge headache by allowing you to pursue your business goals rather than running after customers for payment.

What Types of Businesses is Invoice Factoring Good For?

 Invoice factoring is typically applicable when businesses are extending their customers a line of credit, or if they are a B2B operation selling to other companies. Also businesses which need cash now, rather than cash later can use invoice factoring to get the money they need in order to run their operations normally. By using Invoice factoring you will be able to plan out your cash flow better, pay bills and take care of payroll. Finally when you use invoice factoring, the factor will then take care of your sales ledger and do the running after for you.

Invoice factoring is a brilliant solution to traditional bank loans whereby you can free up working capital and raise cash for your business immediately. With this type of accounts receivable financing, your cash is in the bank, the funding is immediate and is primarily driven by your costumer’s demand for your products. Finally, another advantage of invoice factoring is that the service fee is only charged against advances that are not fulfilled by your customers. So every time a customer pays, the debt is automatically repaid.

 

 

The Pros and Cons of Factoring Invoices 2013

By: Chris Lanchech

If your company is in dire need of ready cash for your working capital, one way of securing that money is by factoring invoices that your business has accumulated and has not yet collected on. This is just one way of securing quick cash for the company (other typical ways include securing a business loan or establishing a line of credit), and although it is not as common as other options, many companies have found it compatible with their particular needs and circumstances.

What is Factoring?

If your company offers credit to customers, then the accounts receivable (which in the accounting books of customers are labeled as “accounts payable”) constitute part of the company’s assets. It has not been turned into cash just yet—and this is what a factoring company does in a very short amount of time. Instead of waiting for the customers to pay the balance of their accounts, your company can sell those invoices at a discount. For example, your company can receive $900 right away for an invoice that calls for a $1000 payment. When the customers pay their invoices in full, that payment goes to the factoring company.

Advantages of Factoring

Quick ways of securing cash for companies have their own sets of pros and cons, and factoring invoices is no exception. These are the advantages that your company receives should it decide to factor its invoices to a factoring company:

  • Some businesses may find it difficult to get a small business loan or establish a line of credit. Invoice factoring is much more possible to secure.
  • This practice allows the company to receive the money it needs much more quickly than waiting for the customers to pay the balance of their accounts. Typically, your company should receive the money about two to five business days after your agreement with the factoring company has been finalized. Some companies even receive their money in as fast as 24 hours.
  • The money your company will receive is generally larger than the amount you can get from a business loan.
  • Invoice factoring also saves your company the effort of collecting the accounts receivables, as the work is done by the factoring company.

Disadvantages of Factoring

There’s no such thing as a perfect solution for getting large amounts of cash for a company, and factoring has its downsides as well. This is especially true if you have less than ideal customers. If they are slow to pay or if they have a dubious credit history, this can affect the fee that the factoring company will require.

Your customers must also pass the standards set by the factoring company; if they do not or if the factoring company thinks your customers are unreliable then you may receive a lower percentage of the accounts receivable up front.

But in spite of the drawbacks, factoring your invoices via a factoring company will be beneficial for your business. It will provide you a steady flow of cash that your business needs to operate and grow.

 

Factoring: How to Obtain Cash Without Debt

 By: Chris Lanchech

obtain cash without debt
factoring invoices will help your business obtain cash without debt

I’m sure that you know already that debt can be your worst enemy.

It comes down to this: Are you solvent? Or if you’re not, will you soon be? In other words, is your insolvency temporary? Can you turn things around quickly?

This is an issue that you must consider, the frequency of which will depend on your business and your circumstances. There are no hard and fast rules.

No doubt you have seen, in the past few years, many stories of companies that had been in business for decades, but that had to close down because they were no longer solvent.

It didn’t matter if their order books were full. When the ratio of debt to cash and accounts receivable passed a certain point, the banks closed them down.

There are a number of ratios that you can use to see just how healthy your company is, and your accountant will be the best person to discuss them with, but I just want to mention one of them. It’s called the Acid Test.

To calculate this key ratio, all you need to do is to add together your invoices and the cash you have on hand, and then divide that number by your current liabilities.

In other words compare what you can convert into cash quickly to what you owe in the time it takes you to make that conversion.

The number you get should be at least one. Anything less than that is a warning sign.

Although many creditors expect to be paid when they provide the service, others will give you a grace period of 30, 60 or even 90 days before contacting a collection agency. And if that’s the case, then you may be able to recover in time.

Another approach, however, would be to conduct the acid test for each of those periods. That is at the 30 and 60 day points, as well as the 90 day one.

And it’s here where you could come unstuck.

It may be comparatively easy to pay your own bills within 90 days and as a result, satisfy your creditors; but it’s just as likely that you will have bills to pay in the intervening period.

And when that happens, you can find yourself insolvent for 30 days or more.

Let me give you an example to show you what I mean. I’ll use small numbers to make it easier to follow.

Let’s imagine that you have $1000 cash on hand and that you have $4000 in outstanding invoices. That makes your total liquid assets $5000.

And let’s also say that your invoices are supposed to be paid within 60 days. So theoretically, you will have $5000 in hand in about two months.

What are your expenses during that time? How much do they add up to be? Is it more or less than $5000? What would happen if your largest customer decided to postpone payment for another month? Would you be temporarily insolvent?

It’s in such circumstances that factoring those invoices can be helpful.

When you fail the acid test, you don’t want to a loan. You probably don’t want to tell your bank that you’re temporarily insolvent, and you’d like their help. J

And even if you could get a loan, it would be the last thing you would want because the added debt would increase your liabilities, making the ratio worse; not better.

So by factoring some of your invoices at least, you could prevent the unthinkable from happening to you.

Factoring Company Benefits: Stabilizing Business Cash Flow

By: Chris Lanchech

 

Some businesses refuse to turn to a factoring company because they believe that doing so means they could incur more debts. But this is very far from the truth. There are many reasons why factoring your accounts receivable can be beneficial for you. Simply take the following into consideration:

factoring companies, company factoring
Neebo Capital specializes in the Factoring of invoice receivables for companies who maintain commercial accounts receivables.

 

Benefit #1: You Will Have a Starting Capital

If your client gave you a huge project, you can expect that the first few months will be quite difficult.

You won’t have any immediate funds to start with. You won’t have cash for orders, employee benefits and incentives, and production expenses. Most of the time, businesses take out a loan just so they can get started with work. But with the help of a factoring company, you’re getting paid for your work quickly. In a way, it’s like the client has already paid you 80% in advance.

 

Benefit #2: You Get Your Money Fast

Have you ever tried getting a business loan from a bank or a credit union? It could take two months for a loan of $60,000-$100,000. When you turn to invoice discounting the procedure usually takes no more than five days. In just five days you’ll have your invoice purchased and the money deposited to your bank account.

 

Benefit #3: Credit History is Not a Factor

A new business will not have good credit standing. This is because it has little to no credit history to show. A business starting to fall off the grid will have weak credit scores to provide. In both cases, getting approved for a loan can be tough. However, factoring businesses do not look into credit history. Instead, the company will assess the value of the open invoice and of the client that is going to pay for it. This means that a small or new business that is still thriving or a company already leaning towards debt can still get money up-front to regulate cash-flow and stabilize its finances.

 

Benefit #4: Having a Wealth of Funds in Preparation for Seasonal Demands

As months go by your business will see a flux in demands. If you put out several or all of your open invoices for account receivable factoring you will have a steady supply of cash right from the start to prepare you for these issues. You never want to be caught off-guard and factoring invoices is a sure-fire means of being prepared, financially.

 

If you need immediate cash without suffering from the downfalls of a bank loan, approaching a factoring company is a very smart – and in many ways the best – option you can turn to. Check out the various factoring companies online and decide which among them will offer you the best deal.

Factoring Business vs Bank Loans

By: Chris Lanchech

The factoring business has been around for centuries, starting all the way back to the Renaissance era in Europe. To this date it is one of the key essentials that any growing business should utilize if they intend on staying afloat and to eventually expand. So what is invoice factoring and why is it essential for a business’s survival? In order to help you understand and get a firm grasp of how this process can indeed help your business, here is a quick dive at the definition and individual aspects of factoring business

Is It a Loan?

First and foremost, factoring invoices are not a type of loan. A loan is where an individual or business borrows money and then pay it back with interest. In factoring, the company is simply buying your assets; in this case, they purchased the amount listed in your invoice.

 

For example, a client gave you a project, which takes 6 months to complete and your current invoice indicates that the fee they’ll pay you at the end of the term is roughly $100,000. Unfortunately, since your business is not paid at the onset, you could possibly face financial setbacks until such time the project is completed. To solve this problem, you may approach a factoring company.

 

How Does It Work?

The factoring company will assess your invoice and this can usually take three to five days until they approve and deposit the amount to your bank account. What happens is that the company will buy your assets (invoices). Usually the company will pay you 80% first and then the remaining 20% when the client pays the full amount.

 

This means that you have roughly $80,000 right at the very beginning. This is money that you can use for raw materials and funding the project to its completion. By the end of the term you won’t be getting the full $100,000; the factoring company will charge you certain fees (usually no more than 2%) in return.

 

Collecting the Invoice

Now there are two options. You can either notify your client about the factoring agreement and then when the job is complete they will directly pay the factoring company instead of handing the payment to you. Most companies do not choose this route. Instead, they usually just let the client pay them and then hand the money over to the factoring company. This makes their agreement private and kept only between the two parties involved.

 

Bank Loans

A factoring company purchases your accounts receivable and will then collect the actual payment from your client later on. A loan, on the other hand, is where you borrow money from a lender with the intention to pay them back, usually with interest. The problem is that a loan can carry high interest rates, high penalties, and the process can take too long. A factoring business is like getting paid cash and it is really necessary in order for a business to be able to fund its daily operational costs.

Temp Staffing companies Can Help Small Businesses Develop

August 15, 2012

Think of this, the national employment rate in June was 8.2%. That means that there are a lot of GOOD people out of work. If your business is seeking a qualified individual but do not want to higher for the long-term I highly recommend looking into a temp Staffing company.

Temp Staffing companies Can Help Small Businesses Develop
Another benefit using a temp Staffing company to find short-term employees is you are able to expand your reach to highly experienced workers qualified in special areas. According to The Wall Street Journal after surveying 811 business owners found that 31% reported “they had unfilled job openings in July because they couldn’t identify applicants with the right skills or experience.”

Additionally, 41% of 154 small manufacturing firms surveyed reported they were un-able to find skilled and experienced workers.

Why?

Most business owners get applications from their websites, and walk-ins. Sure they get tons of applications, but a lot of the applicants have similar skills. By leveraging the databases Temp Staffing companies have you can narrow down your search. Business owners told The Wall Street Journal “We could grow a lot faster if we could find the right people.”

In the past it would make sense to train employees. However with the high turns in technology there may be a steep learning curve. Or maybe you’re looking for an applicant with a skill you don’t possess like PHP coding.

We recommend looking to Temp Staffing companies for new talent. We also recommend looking to Neebo capital to help you with your cash flow so you can put on new workers in the most efficient way possible. Maybe you have cash flow tied up in your accounts receivable or you have tried working with Temp Staffing companies in the past but they pay too slow. Either way give us a call and we will gladly help.

Good Luck
Chris

What is Factoring?

By: Chris Lanchech
What is Factoring?
What is Factoring?
What is factoring is a good question, because most business owners can not define factoring. If you own a business selling goods or services on credit terms then odds are your business can benefit greatly from a finical tool called factoring.

Factoring is a method of selling your accounts receivable or invoices. Factoring companies advance your business 70-90% of your invoice amounts. When your customer pays the invoice in the future the factoring company pays you the remaining 10% minus a small factoring fee. This fee is typically 1.5% to 2.5% depending on industry and other variables.

Why is factoring a popular finical too for business owners?

good question, to answer this lets use a trucking company as an example. Generally a trucking company bills its customers on credit terms such as net 30. However the trucking company has weekly expenses like tires, tolls, gasoline and beef jerky. Okay maybe they don’t spend a lot of cash on beef jerky but you get the point.

Now the trucking company will turn to a factoring company for an advance on their invoices. For example a $10,000 invoice > factoring company advances 90% ($9,000) > the customer pays the invoices in 60 days > the factoring company sends the trucking company the remaining 10% minus a factoring fee 1.5% > The trucking company paid $150 ($10,000 x 1.5%) and got their cash without waiting.

This small factoring fee is well worth it for many businesses that sell on credit because they greatly benefit from having cash in their hands without waiting. Business owners also save money by having cash in hand faster without waiting to get paid. How?

They can pay their suppliers faster and take advantage of discounts, they have cash on hand to handle marketing and new projects ect.

To see the pro’s and con’s of factoring click here or visit neebocapital.com and check out the free ebook about the pros and cons of factoring.

Good Luck!

Factoring VS Bank Loans

Just about the most common statement I hear individuals make is that factoring is far more expensive than a loan from the bank. This comparison is like comparing apples & oranges but most business owners still believe it. The reason is because factoring is a financial tool that few business owners fully understand.

banking vs factoring

First, lets make it clear that when a company can qualify for sufficient financing from a traditional bank and that is the very best financial option for the business then factoring need not to be considered.

However if a company is unable to obtain adequate financing from a bank then factoring may be a better option for small businesses.

first- Factoring is not debt financing, you don’t receive money like you will from a traditional bank. A factoring company actually purchases the invoice from your business, therefore the invoice is an asset you’re selling. These invoices must be purchased at a discount so it should not be compared to an interest rate from a line of credit.

2nd- Turnaround time for authorization for funding from your traditional bank is often longer than 2 months with alot of unnecessary pain and paperwork. Your banker has to get approvals and the underwriting team has many hurdles for you to jump over in order to get funded. With factoring you can get an account and get funded in as fast as a week and then on future invoices you can receive funding in 24 hours. Plus if you acquire additional customers the factoring company will fund you for them in 24 hours.

third- A traditional bank generally needs to see a minimum of 2 years of financial for your business as well as requires you to have collateral together with your invoices EVEN a personal guarantee. On the other hand, A factoring company can provide funding to start-up companies so long as their customers are creditworthy and all that is required is the accounts receivable and many factoring companies don’t demand a personal guarantee.

fourth- A factoring company in addition offers even more services. As opposed to a traditional bank, a factoring company constantly monitors your accounts receivable and collections. They offer credit screening for potential new clients for your company and they provide up to date aging reports to help you in getting a better handle on your receivables aging. A factoring company is also constantly advancing new funds as well as collecting outstanding invoices and your credit facility continues to grow with your new accounts.

To sum it up the big issue is not if factoring is more costly than a bank loan, because it is obvious that the two cannot be compared. As a business owner you should consider advantages of factoring vs. a bank loan.

With factoring you never be worried about out-growing your credit line or quickly spend your loan and get into debt with the bank. With factoring you can get additional capital easily when needed so your credit line grows as your business grows.

Plus if you are unable to meet orders due to insufficient working capital, then factoring offers you the cash-flow needed to complete the order. If you find your business in this situation give us a call 1-888-382-3766 or visit us online by clicking here.

Factoring Websites Claim Unreal 1% rates?

 A quick online search shows that you will find a number of factoring companies that offer what appears to be very cheap factoring rates. Based upon what you search online, you will find claims saying you can factor your invoices for only 1%. Sometimes, the rates are even lower. How can this be? And in some advertised websites, the rates appear to be cheaper than traditional bank financing.
cheap factoring rates
Just how can factoring be cheaper compared to a conventional business loan that’s only reserved for prime customers with plenty of assets?

Let us explain this for you:

The key is to recognize how nearly all factoring rates work. Even though the rates might seem to be cheaper than bank financing, often they will not be.

Why?

Well first we need to evaluate how factoring fees are commonly evaluated. Factoring company’s commonly charge you a fee that will increase the longer that a invoice remains un-paid. This is sensible, the more time an invoice goes unpaid = the greater the cost.

Below are 2 popular techniques for determining factoring fees:

1. Ten Day Fee: This is certainly the most popular factoring fee structure. In this case, the factoring company prices a fee for a 10-day period. For instance, 1.00% for every 10 days the invoice remains unpaid, this fee adds up until the customers pay the invoice in full. The fee for the first 10 days is 1.00%. The fee for the second ten days is 2.00% and etc.

2. Daily fee: This is the most basic factoring fee model you are charged a daily fee for each day that the invoice is unpaid by the customer. An example of this would be a 0.30% fee per day. This equals about 1.00% for ten days and about 3.00% for every 30 days the invoice remains unpaid.

These illustrations have got one thing in common = the cost of factoring a invoice for ten days is 1.00%. Using this information, you could say factoring is provided at rates “as low as 1%” Definitely, just make sure your invoice are paid very quickly and in ten days or less.

in the event that you are evaluating factoring proposals, you should contemplate looking at the fee structure carefully to recognize what the total cost of factoring is going to be for you. The best way to find out – check with your factoring company for the cost of factoring invoices for thirty or sixty days. That will provide you with a good measure of the actual factoring fee cost.

If your business is experiencing cash flow issues and is in need of funding, give us a call 1-888-382-3766 or visit us online by clicking here