Factoring Company Guide
First Step: Filling Out the Application
Embark on improving your cash flow with an easy-to-complete application. Simply provide us with your business details – a straightforward process aimed at enhancing your financial management.
Required documentation, like an accounts receivable aging report, is crucial in evaluating your customers' financial reliability. This step is about understanding the entire financial landscape of your business relationships.
In this stage, you’ll discuss the specifics of your financial needs. How much do you plan to factor? What rates are you looking for? The terms depend on factors like your industry, business history, and customer credit risk.
The volume of invoices you factor is important. Generally, the higher the volume, the more favorable the terms you can negotiate.
Based on your application, we determine the suitability of factoring for your business. Post-
Factoring Company Benefits
Factoring Advantages: Catalyze Your Business Success
- Shift your attention from cash flow stress to strategic business growth.
- Relieve yourself from the constraints of loan repayments with rapid cash access.
- Keep complete control over your business’s trajectory.
- Slash or completely avoid the costs involved in payment collection.
- Exercise superior control over your cash flow by selecting invoices to sell wisely.
- Overcome the challenges posed by late-paying clients.
- Use a reliable cash flow to increase your production and sales.
- Leverage expert services for efficient payment collections and credit checks.
- Ensure timely payroll management, securing employee satisfaction.
- Always be prepared for payroll tax obligations.
- Seize the opportunity for discounts through bulk purchases.
- Amplify your buying power for more economical purchases and early payment discounts.
- Consistently pay your bills on time, enhancing your credit rating.
- Generate the capital you need for business expansion.
- Invest in marketing your business effectively with a solid financial foundation.
- Witness significant improvements in your financial statements.
- Receive detailed reports providing valuable insights into your accounts receivable.
Is Factoring For You
The Importance of Factoring
"Remember, a sale is incomplete without payment." Ask yourself, are you inadvertently offering free banking services to your customers? Let's examine the reality.
Take a moment to review your overdue accounts. Each one represents an interest-free loan you've extended. This arrangement is far from what you envisioned for your business, isn't it?
Consider this: when customers borrow from banks, they pay interest. Yet, in your case, you're not earning interest on these funds. Worse still, you're missing the chance to use this capital for growing your business. The cost of this missed opportunity can be substantial.
By allowing extended payment terms, you're essentially financing your customers' operations. It's crucial to understand the true impact of this on your business's growth and financial health.
Factoring History
Factoring: Unlocking Financial Opportunities for Businesses
Welcome to the world of factoring, where businesses discover a gateway to financial opportunities. Whether you're a business owner, an aspiring entrepreneur, or seeking innovative financing solutions, factoring can be a game-changer in helping you seize growth and success.
Surprisingly, factoring often operates under the radar and remains unfamiliar to many in the business realm. Yet, it serves as a secret weapon for countless thriving enterprises, unlocking vast financial potential year after year.
So, what exactly is factoring? It's a dynamic financial tool that involves selling your accounts receivable (invoices) at a discounted rate. In today's competitive landscape, offering credit terms to customers is a common practice to attract and retain business. However, this can create cash flow challenges, especially for small or emerging businesses that rely on consistent cash flow.
Factoring has a fascinating history that spans centuries. It traces back to ancient civilizations, where innovative minds recognized the value of turning unpaid invoices into immediate funds. Over time, this practice evolved and adapted to meet the changing needs of businesses.
In the modern context, factoring acts as a catalyst for business growth and expansion. By leveraging factoring, businesses can gain quick access to much-needed funds. This infusion of cash enables them to cover operational costs, invest in new initiatives, manage inventory, and seize growth opportunities.
Factoring is not limited to specific industries. Its versatility allows businesses across various sectors, such as manufacturing, services, and wholesale, to leverage its benefits. Whether you're a supplier, a contractor, or a service provider, factoring can provide the financial boost you need to propel your business forward.
Factors, the key players in the factoring process, come in different forms. They can be specialized financial institutions or independent firms dedicated to providing factoring services. These experts understand the unique financial challenges businesses face and tailor their solutions accordingly.
Beyond providing immediate cash flow, factors offer additional value. They assist in credit checks, manage collections, and assume the risks associated with unpaid invoices. This comprehensive approach allows businesses to focus on their core operations while leaving the financial intricacies to the experts.
With factoring, businesses can break free from the constraints of traditional financing options. It offers a flexible alternative that adapts to your specific needs. Say goodbye to lengthy loan applications and rigid repayment terms. Factoring puts you in control, allowing you to unlock the capital tied up in your accounts receivable and utilize it to drive your business forward.
Join the ranks of businesses that have harnessed the power of factoring and experience the transformation it brings. Embrace the financial opportunities it presents, strengthen your cash flow, and unlock the full potential of your business. Factoring is your key to unlocking a world of financial possibilities.
Credit Risk
Boost Your Business with Quick Cash and Expert Credit Risk Assessment
Get the Edge Without Extra Fees
Accurately evaluating credit risk is a critical component of our factoring services. We excel at this function, providing an objective perspective that few clients can match.
As part of our comprehensive offering, we act as your dedicated credit department for both new and existing customers. This arrangement gives you a distinct advantage over managing these processes internally, without any additional charges.
Consider a scenario where a salesperson pursues a new account with the potential for significant sales. In their eagerness to secure the business, they may overlook warning signs of credit difficulties and bypass your internal credit checks. While this approach may result in a quick sale, it offers no guarantee of timely payment, which is essential for sustained success.
With us, you won't encounter such issues. We make credit decisions based on a comprehensive understanding of the new customer's credit situation. We avoid purchasing invoices from customers with poor credit ratings, minimizing the risk of nonpayment. It's important to note that our involvement doesn't imply a tightening of credit that could adversely affect your business beyond your control.
Ultimately, the decision to do business with a new customer of questionable creditworthiness remains in your hands. (However, we reserve the right to say, "We told you so!")
While we may not purchase those invoices, you retain the freedom to extend credit terms as you see fit. You maintain full control. Regardless of the decisions you make, our participation ensures you have access to comprehensive, objective, and high-quality information to make informed credit decisions, surpassing your previous practices.
We conduct thorough research on new clients and regularly monitor the credit ratings of your existing customers. This stands in stark contrast to the common practice of neglecting routine credit updates for established customers. Such neglect can lead to costly oversights.
Most businesses conduct credit checks only when problems have already spiraled out of control. In contrast, we promptly inform you of any changes in the credit status of your existing customers, allowing you to take proactive measures.
In addition to providing specific customer credit information, we offer comprehensive reports on your accounts receivables. These reports include accounting details, transactional insights, aging reports, and financial management reports. This data empowers you to analyze sales performance, track account history, and make well-informed decisions.
With over 70 years of successful experience managing cash flow and credit, we are eager to leverage our expertise for your benefit. Let us put our knowledge to work, helping you achieve your financial goals and giving your business the competitive edge it needs. Experience the benefits of quick cash and expert credit risk assessment without any extra fees.
How To Change Factoring Companies
Changing Your Invoice Factoring Service Provider
Need-to-know info about switching invoice factoring firms.
Are you considering a different invoice factoring firm?
Are you dissatisfied with your current one?
Planning on ditching your current factoring firm?
What should I know before I switch factoring companies?
Here's a guide answering all these queries and more:
Understanding UCC and its role in switching factoring firms:
Usually, factoring companies file a general Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) to secure their claim over the invoices they've funded.
The UCC helps factoring companies, banks, and lenders know who's lent money on which assets. As invoices change daily, factoring companies need to file a 'blanket' UCC that secures all your receivables, even if you're only factoring a part of your sales. This 'blanket' UCC acts as a signal to other lenders, showing a Security Agreement exists between you and the factoring company.
Your specific factoring details, like rates and which accounts are factored, are laid out in the Security Agreement, which is not publicly accessible. Essentially, a UCC works like a first mortgage on your business.
The Process of Switching Companies
The lender with the earliest UCC filing gets 'First Position' on the promised collateral. For instance, a factoring firm has first rights to collect payments on your invoices.
To switch factoring firms, the new factoring firm has to pay off the old one. At the same time, the old factoring company's claim is released, and the new company's claim is filed, similar to refinancing a house.
A 'buyout' is when the new factoring firm pays off the old one using funds from your first financing.
The Buyout Agreement details the transition process and is signed by the old factoring firm, new factoring firm, and your company. In this agreement, you agree to the 'buyout figure' provided by the old factoring company.
How is the Buyout Figure Determined:
The buyout figure is usually the total outstanding receivables minus any reserves and then plus any fees owed to the old factoring firm. It's a good idea to ask for a detailed breakdown of your figure to ensure you understand if there are any early termination fees or additional charges.
What does the buyout cost?
If you can provide new invoices to the new factoring company, which they can use to pay off the outstanding invoices at your old firm, then you wouldn't incur additional costs for the switch. However, most companies need to resubmit some of the invoices already factored with the old company to the new one. In this case, the 'overlap' invoices will incur fees from both factoring firms.
How long does a buyout take?
When you're switching factoring firms, plan for the first funding to take two to three more days than the normal setup process. The extra days will be used to verify the invoices and calculate buyout figures for your approval.
What if my situation is more complex?
Although it's not usual, the old and new factoring firms can collaborate via an Intercreditor or Subordination Agreement until the old firm is paid off. Depending on the situation, factoring firms have managed to 'draw a line in the sand,' where the old firm has rights to invoices up to a certain date, and the new firm has rights to all invoices after that date.
Questions you should have asked before signing up with your current factoring firm:
- Can I use multiple factoring firms at once? The universal answer is one, according to the Uniform Commercial Code/UCC.
- If I decide to switch factoring firms, how much notice do I need to give?
- What is the penalty for leaving without giving the required notice and can you provide an example of how the fees are calculated? Beware of 13-month contracts that require a certain monthly factoring volume.
For example, a 13-month contract where you've agreed to factor $100,000 per month at a rate of 3% means you promise to pay them $3,000 per month in factoring fees or $34,000 in total over the next year. If you want to leave after 6 months, they will charge you the fees for the remaining 6 months, which equals $13,000. This can be too expensive for most companies, especially those with low profit margins. You're stuck!