Archive for the ‘Accounts Receivable Factoring’ Category
July 11th, 2011 | 
Author: 
Marco Terry asked:
Do you own a growing business that needs financing? If you are like most business owners, whenever your business needs money you head over to the bank. Unfortunately, as most small business owners soon find out, most banks do not lend money to businesses unless they have significant collateral and a history of successful operations. This presents quite a challenge for business owners.
When banks are not an option, small business owners turn to what is known as the alternative financing funding market. Although the financing options discussed in this article fall under the alternative financing category, they are actually quite widely used and should be considered mainstream. Most major companies (including public companies) have used this alternative financing at one time or another during their growth history.
Most of the tools described in this article can only be used by businesses that are already in operation, and whose main requirement is working capital. Although startups can benefit from these tools, the companies will need to be in operation for a little while and have a growing list of clients.
General Invoice Factoring
Invoice factoring (also known as accounts receivable factoring) is ideal for business owners who cannot afford to wait 30 to 90 days to get paid by their clients. It allows a business to sell invoices from commercial customers to a financing company for immediate payment. The financing company buys the invoices at a discount and waits for the customer to pay.
The main advantage of factoring your invoices is that the financing company makes its decision using the credit of the payer, rather than yours. That means that if you own a small company that is doing business with a large credit worthy company, you are almost certain to have the transaction approved. Another advantage of factoring is that it does not have set limits like lines of credit.. The level of financing is limited only by the amount you sell to credit worthy clients. General factors can work with most industries, although there are two main industry subspecialties – freight bill factoring and medical factoring.
Freight Bill Invoice Factoring
Trucking companies tend to be very cash hungry businesses. The owners need money to pay their drivers, pay gasoline and pay suppliers. However, most trucking companies also work with a high volume of freight invoices from credit worthy clients. That makes freight bill factoring an ideal solution for their cash flow issues. Just like in general factoring, the factoring company buys the freight invoices from the trucking company for immediate cash.. Furthermore, the risk for these types of transactions is lower than in general factoring. This means that trucking companies can qualify for preferential financing terms.
Medical Factoring
Most medical industry businesses (doctor’s offices, hospitals, medical testing centers and medical supply companies) make the bulk of their earnings by billing 3rd party insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid. Unfortunately, insurance companies are notorious for paying their invoices in 30 to 90 days, creating cash flow problems at the medical office. Factoring medical offices is a subspecialty of general factoring. Given the complexities of the insurance industry, it usually requires the participation of a factoring company with extensive industry experience.
Generally speaking, the medical factoring company will provide you with financing based on your NET collectables rather then your gross collectables. They will also need to be part of the billing process, to ensure that they finance the right amounts. Due to its complexity, medical factoring is only accessible to medical businesses making at least $100,000 a month. However, if your business qualifies for it, you will find that it is a great tool to streamline your cash flow and grow.
Purchase Order Funding
Most distributors and import/export companies tend to be very cash hungry businesses, in part because of how the sales process works. Usually, the process starts when the distributor gets a purchase order (PO) from a client. They then purchase the items from their supplier, who then drop ships it to the end customer. This works well as long as the company has enough money to pay the suppliers and wait for their clients to pay for the product. However, sometimes a payment can take up to 60 or 90 days to arrive, creating a big cash flow challenge for the distributor. Other times, the company may become too successful and get a purchase order that is too big for them to finance. In these instances, the company should consider purchase order funding financing. With PO financing, a finance company handles your supplier payments and ensures that the goods are properly delivered. Once the client pays for the product, the transaction is settled and all parties are paid. PO funding is a product that truly allows you to grow your company – sometimes exponentially – while using someone else’s money.
Business Factoring Companies
Do you own a growing business that needs financing? If you are like most business owners, whenever your business needs money you head over to the bank. Unfortunately, as most small business owners soon find out, most banks do not lend money to businesses unless they have significant collateral and a history of successful operations. This presents quite a challenge for business owners.
When banks are not an option, small business owners turn to what is known as the alternative financing funding market. Although the financing options discussed in this article fall under the alternative financing category, they are actually quite widely used and should be considered mainstream. Most major companies (including public companies) have used this alternative financing at one time or another during their growth history.
Most of the tools described in this article can only be used by businesses that are already in operation, and whose main requirement is working capital. Although startups can benefit from these tools, the companies will need to be in operation for a little while and have a growing list of clients.
General Invoice Factoring
Invoice factoring (also known as accounts receivable factoring) is ideal for business owners who cannot afford to wait 30 to 90 days to get paid by their clients. It allows a business to sell invoices from commercial customers to a financing company for immediate payment. The financing company buys the invoices at a discount and waits for the customer to pay.
The main advantage of factoring your invoices is that the financing company makes its decision using the credit of the payer, rather than yours. That means that if you own a small company that is doing business with a large credit worthy company, you are almost certain to have the transaction approved. Another advantage of factoring is that it does not have set limits like lines of credit.. The level of financing is limited only by the amount you sell to credit worthy clients. General factors can work with most industries, although there are two main industry subspecialties – freight bill factoring and medical factoring.
Freight Bill Invoice Factoring
Trucking companies tend to be very cash hungry businesses. The owners need money to pay their drivers, pay gasoline and pay suppliers. However, most trucking companies also work with a high volume of freight invoices from credit worthy clients. That makes freight bill factoring an ideal solution for their cash flow issues. Just like in general factoring, the factoring company buys the freight invoices from the trucking company for immediate cash.. Furthermore, the risk for these types of transactions is lower than in general factoring. This means that trucking companies can qualify for preferential financing terms.
Medical Factoring
Most medical industry businesses (doctor’s offices, hospitals, medical testing centers and medical supply companies) make the bulk of their earnings by billing 3rd party insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid. Unfortunately, insurance companies are notorious for paying their invoices in 30 to 90 days, creating cash flow problems at the medical office. Factoring medical offices is a subspecialty of general factoring. Given the complexities of the insurance industry, it usually requires the participation of a factoring company with extensive industry experience.
Generally speaking, the medical factoring company will provide you with financing based on your NET collectables rather then your gross collectables. They will also need to be part of the billing process, to ensure that they finance the right amounts. Due to its complexity, medical factoring is only accessible to medical businesses making at least $100,000 a month. However, if your business qualifies for it, you will find that it is a great tool to streamline your cash flow and grow.
Purchase Order Funding
Most distributors and import/export companies tend to be very cash hungry businesses, in part because of how the sales process works. Usually, the process starts when the distributor gets a purchase order (PO) from a client. They then purchase the items from their supplier, who then drop ships it to the end customer. This works well as long as the company has enough money to pay the suppliers and wait for their clients to pay for the product. However, sometimes a payment can take up to 60 or 90 days to arrive, creating a big cash flow challenge for the distributor. Other times, the company may become too successful and get a purchase order that is too big for them to finance. In these instances, the company should consider purchase order funding financing. With PO financing, a finance company handles your supplier payments and ensures that the goods are properly delivered. Once the client pays for the product, the transaction is settled and all parties are paid. PO funding is a product that truly allows you to grow your company – sometimes exponentially – while using someone else’s money.
Business Factoring Companies
Posted in 
Marco Terry asked:
Invoice factoring is a form of business financing that has been gaining a lot of notoriety in recent years. It is a specialized form of business financing that is designed to help companies that offer net 30 to net 60 terms to their customers, but can’t afford to wait that long to get paid. Factoring invoices solves this problem by advancing funds to companies based on their slow paying invoices. This improves their cash flow and helps them stabilize operations, allowing them to grow.
Most factoring transactions are structured as the purchase of an invoice by a factoring company. The purchase is done in two installments. The first installment is called the advance, and is provided as soon as you sell the invoice to the factoring company. The percentage that is advanced is based on your industry, your track record, the payment record of your customer and market risk conditions. Most advances average 80% of the invoice. However, transportation companies using freight factoring can get advances as high as 90%. Likewise, staffing companies can get factoring advances that go as high as 90%.
The second installment, called the factoring rebate, is paid to you once the customer pays the invoice in full. The rebate will include the remaining amount that was not advanced, less any fees. For example, if the advance was 80%, the rebate will be 20%, less any factoring fees.
When a factoring company purchases an invoice from your company, it can do so with recourse or without recourse. In a recourse factoring transaction , the factoring company has the right to sell back to you any invoices that have not been paid within 90 days, regardless of the reason for nonpayment. A non recourse transaction is a little bit different. The factoring company will absorb the loss of a non paid invoice if (and only if) your customer does not pay the invoice due to a declared insolvency (such as a bankruptcy) during the purchase period. Each factoring company engineers transactions in their own way, so you should familiarize yourself with the terms of your contract.
One very important aspect of a factoring transaction is the notice of assignment. Before you start factoring invoices for a particular customer, the factoring company will need to setup the customer. This is usually a fairly quick process where the factoring company checks your customers commercial credit, and then notifies them that their invoices will be factored. The notification letter, commonly referred to as a notice of assignment, informs your customer that you are working with a factoring company, who is helping you with your receivables. It also contains a new payment address. Many times the payment can continue to be made in your company’s name, provided it goes to the new address. The notice of assignment is fairly standard in the factoring industry but each factoring company has its own version of it.
Although factoring transactions appear to have many moving parts, they are fairly simple to implement and can be easily integrated into most companies. One of its most important benefits is that factoring is flexible. The line is dynamic and tied directly to your sales. You can easily grow your financing – as necessary – provided you sell good products or services to a diverse number of credit worthy customers.
Factoring Business
Invoice factoring is a form of business financing that has been gaining a lot of notoriety in recent years. It is a specialized form of business financing that is designed to help companies that offer net 30 to net 60 terms to their customers, but can’t afford to wait that long to get paid. Factoring invoices solves this problem by advancing funds to companies based on their slow paying invoices. This improves their cash flow and helps them stabilize operations, allowing them to grow.
Most factoring transactions are structured as the purchase of an invoice by a factoring company. The purchase is done in two installments. The first installment is called the advance, and is provided as soon as you sell the invoice to the factoring company. The percentage that is advanced is based on your industry, your track record, the payment record of your customer and market risk conditions. Most advances average 80% of the invoice. However, transportation companies using freight factoring can get advances as high as 90%. Likewise, staffing companies can get factoring advances that go as high as 90%.
The second installment, called the factoring rebate, is paid to you once the customer pays the invoice in full. The rebate will include the remaining amount that was not advanced, less any fees. For example, if the advance was 80%, the rebate will be 20%, less any factoring fees.
When a factoring company purchases an invoice from your company, it can do so with recourse or without recourse. In a recourse factoring transaction , the factoring company has the right to sell back to you any invoices that have not been paid within 90 days, regardless of the reason for nonpayment. A non recourse transaction is a little bit different. The factoring company will absorb the loss of a non paid invoice if (and only if) your customer does not pay the invoice due to a declared insolvency (such as a bankruptcy) during the purchase period. Each factoring company engineers transactions in their own way, so you should familiarize yourself with the terms of your contract.
One very important aspect of a factoring transaction is the notice of assignment. Before you start factoring invoices for a particular customer, the factoring company will need to setup the customer. This is usually a fairly quick process where the factoring company checks your customers commercial credit, and then notifies them that their invoices will be factored. The notification letter, commonly referred to as a notice of assignment, informs your customer that you are working with a factoring company, who is helping you with your receivables. It also contains a new payment address. Many times the payment can continue to be made in your company’s name, provided it goes to the new address. The notice of assignment is fairly standard in the factoring industry but each factoring company has its own version of it.
Although factoring transactions appear to have many moving parts, they are fairly simple to implement and can be easily integrated into most companies. One of its most important benefits is that factoring is flexible. The line is dynamic and tied directly to your sales. You can easily grow your financing – as necessary – provided you sell good products or services to a diverse number of credit worthy customers.
Factoring Business
Tracy Rewey asked:
Moneymaking opportunities abound for factoring brokers and cash flow consultants. Why? It’s a worn out news story, but banks are still holding tight to their lending dollars in the struggling economy. As businesses look for alternative financing the demand for invoice factoring is on the rise.
Think of the factoring broker as a marketing division that only gets paid when deals are closed. The broker locates a business in need of accounts receivable funding and earns a commission for matching this business with a Factoring Company.
Commissions are paid to the Broker by the Factoring Investor for closed transactions. While commission rates and structures vary, a broker can typically earn a commission between 5 and 15 percent of the Factor’s discount.
For example, if a business factors $25,000 worth of invoices and the Factoring Company charges a 5 percent discount the Factor earns $1,250 ($25,000 x .05). If a commission rate of 10 percent is paid to the Factoring Broker then they earn a finder’s fee of $125.00 ($1,250 x .10). This type of commission is generally paid when the Factor receives payment on the invoices.
Another method of calculating commissions is based on the face value of the invoices rather than the discount. The Factoring Broker would earn an average of one-half percent to 1.5 percent of the invoice amounts. For example, if the commission rate were 1 percent and $25,000 worth of invoices were assigned; the commission to the Broker would be $250.00 ($25,000 x .01). This type of commission is usually paid when the business receives their advance.
A Factoring Investor typically honors the payment of commissions to the Broker on all future advances with the same business client. This is a great source of future residual income since many businesses use factoring on a regular ongoing basis.
Most factoring brokers operate as a home based business. They market factoring services to the small and mid-sized businesses that the large banking operations often overlook. The key is to target companies that generate accounts receivables with creditworthy customers or debtors.
Factoring is one of several cash flow areas where brokers can earn fees by acting as a financial matchmaker between the customer and the investor. The cash flow industry is based on providing cash now for future payment streams.
Factoring Credit Line
Moneymaking opportunities abound for factoring brokers and cash flow consultants. Why? It’s a worn out news story, but banks are still holding tight to their lending dollars in the struggling economy. As businesses look for alternative financing the demand for invoice factoring is on the rise.
Think of the factoring broker as a marketing division that only gets paid when deals are closed. The broker locates a business in need of accounts receivable funding and earns a commission for matching this business with a Factoring Company.
Commissions are paid to the Broker by the Factoring Investor for closed transactions. While commission rates and structures vary, a broker can typically earn a commission between 5 and 15 percent of the Factor’s discount.
For example, if a business factors $25,000 worth of invoices and the Factoring Company charges a 5 percent discount the Factor earns $1,250 ($25,000 x .05). If a commission rate of 10 percent is paid to the Factoring Broker then they earn a finder’s fee of $125.00 ($1,250 x .10). This type of commission is generally paid when the Factor receives payment on the invoices.
Another method of calculating commissions is based on the face value of the invoices rather than the discount. The Factoring Broker would earn an average of one-half percent to 1.5 percent of the invoice amounts. For example, if the commission rate were 1 percent and $25,000 worth of invoices were assigned; the commission to the Broker would be $250.00 ($25,000 x .01). This type of commission is usually paid when the business receives their advance.
A Factoring Investor typically honors the payment of commissions to the Broker on all future advances with the same business client. This is a great source of future residual income since many businesses use factoring on a regular ongoing basis.
Most factoring brokers operate as a home based business. They market factoring services to the small and mid-sized businesses that the large banking operations often overlook. The key is to target companies that generate accounts receivables with creditworthy customers or debtors.
Factoring is one of several cash flow areas where brokers can earn fees by acting as a financial matchmaker between the customer and the investor. The cash flow industry is based on providing cash now for future payment streams.
Factoring Credit Line
