Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Are you a Freight Broker? Learn if Factoring your Freight Bills can Help you Grow your Business

Running a freight brokerage can be very profitable. Although being a freight broker can be very rewarding, financially speaking, it can also be very challenging. Especially since drivers depend on you to pay them quickly. And many times, your clients make you wait 30 to 60 days before they pay you.

So you have a challenge. Your drivers want to get paid quickly but your clients want to pay slowly. The math doesn't work. Unless you have a nice cash cushion in the bank, paying your drivers will be a problem. And trying to get bank financing will get you nowhere. Banks always provide financing based on your past history. What if you are a new or expanding freight broker?

A better solution is to finance your freight bills through freight broker factoring. Freight factoring provides you with immediate money for your freight bills, giving you the necessary funds to pay your business expenses and most importantly - your drivers. And, as opposed to business loans, freight factoring is easy to obtain. While banks usually look at your past history to make their credit decisions, factoring companies look at your future potential. The main qualification requirement is that you do business with credit worthy clients that pay on time.

If you are a freight broker, factoring your freight bills may be a little bit different from traditional factoring. Most factors will team up with you to find a solution to pay your drivers on time, since this is essential. Others may even pay your drivers on your behalf, helping you handle back office tasks.

Freight broker factoring works as follows:

1. Once the freight has been delivered, you send copies of the documents to the factor 2. The factor advances you up to 100% (less fee) of the freight bill 3. You get immediate use of funds, while the factor waits to get paid 4. Once the client has paid, the transaction is settled

One of the big advantages of factoring is that it is easier to get than a business loan. And, as opposed to business loans, factoring financing grows with your business. The more you invoice, the more financing you qualify for.

About Commercial Capital LLC
Do you know how to find truck loads? Are you moving truck loads of cargo? We help finance freight brokers through our freight broker factoring program. For more information call Marco Terry at (866) 730 1922.

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Friday, February 29, 2008

Growing Your Trucking Company With Freight Factoring

Trucking companies are one of the most cash hungry businesses in the transportation industry. There are driver expenses, equipment expenses and fuel expenses. However, trucking companies can also be very profitable, if cash flow is managed properly.

One of the main challenges that trucking company owners face is that freight bills can take as long as 60 days to get paid. This puts them in a tough spot, because unless the company has a significant amount of cash in the bank, it usually cannot afford to wait to get paid.

Usually, the owner will try to go to the bank to obtain financing hoping that a loan or line of credit might solve the problem. Unfortunately, banks will seldom finance businesses that have less than three years of audited financials that show consistent profits. Of course, if the trucking company could provide three years of financials that show profits, it would not need financing.

A better solution is to use freight factoring. Freight bill factoring enables you to convert your slow paying freight bills into cash by selling them to a factoring company. This provides you with immediate financing and allows you to cover all your ongoing business expenses. Also, as opposed to bank lines of finance, freight bill factoring automatically grows as your sales grow, providing you with flexible financing.

The process is simple. The factoring company buys your invoices and pays for them up front. The transaction is typically done in two installments. The first installment is called the advance and the invoice factoring company provides you with up to 90% of the invoiced amount. The remaining 10% is held as a reserve to cover disputes or charge backs. The remaining 10% (less a fee) is rebated as a second installment, once the invoice is actually paid.

The factoring fee is based on how long the invoice is factored for and the monthly volume of factored invoices. Discount rates average between 1.8% and 4% per month based on these parameters.

Most factoring companies buy invoices using a non-recourse factoring. Under a non-recourse agreement, the factoring company bears the risk of non-payment if your client becomes insolvent or goes out of business. This is a nice benefit of factoring and increases the peace of mind of business owners.

Freight bill factoring is an ideal solution for a new and emerging trucking company, and provides you with the necessary financing to operate and grow your business.


About Invoice Factoring Group - http://factoring.qlfs.com We are a factoring company that can provide you with a freight factoring, freight bill factoring and accounts receivable factoring quote at no cost. Marco Terry, the president, can be reached at (866) 730 1922 or at http://factoring.qlfs.com/html/freight_bill_factoring_for_tru.html Commercial Capital LLC.

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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Financing your Business with Accounts Receivable Factoring

Having to wait up to 60 days for commercial customers to pay their invoices can be one of the biggest challenges that owners of small to mid size companies have to face. Waiting to get paid is not usually an issue for well-established companies that have a significant cash cushion in the bank. However, it can seriously affect smaller companies or companies that are going through a significant growth phase.

Most owners react to this cash flow problem by going to the bank, hoping to obtain a loan or a line of credit. However, banks have strict lending guidelines and seldom lend money to businesses that cannot demonstrate three years of profitable operations and cannot provide audited financial statements. Furthermore, most bank financing products tend to have arbitrary limits, which are based on your existing financial capacity, rather than your projected growth.

What growing businesses need is a form of financing that is tied to sales, allowing you to get more working capital, as your company grows. Furthermore, the solution should work for small and mid size businesses that may not have established credit histories, but that have great paying customers. Is there such a solution?

If you are in a situation where your business is growing and selling products or services to great credit worthy customers, you should consider factoring your invoices as a possible solution. Accounts receivable factoring allows you to convert your slow paying receivables into cash, by financing them through an accounts receivable factoring company. Accounts receivable factoring is a flexible line of financing that is directly tied to your sales. Basically, the more you sell to good customers the more financing you can obtain.

The process is fairly simple. Once an accounts receivable factoring agreement has been established, you send copies of your invoices to the factoring company, who in turn advances you a significant portion of their value. A small percentage is usually not advanced and kept as a reserve to cover disputes/etc. You obtain immediate funding to pay for company expenses and grow the business, while the factoring company waits to be paid by your customers. Once they get paid, they will rebate the funds that were kept in reserve and charge a small fee for the service.

Accounts receivable factoring is an ideal product for companies that are growing quickly and cannot afford to wait 30 to 60 days to receive payment from their customers. It provides you with the necessary financing to operate and grow your business, and as opposed to bank products; it's easy to qualify for this service.

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Friday, January 18, 2008

Factoring is Good for Business

It seems you can never have enough money, and factoring is just one more way to meet that goal. The basic premise behind the business idea of factoring is that an owner sells his accounts receivable to get a quick influx of cash. The buyer gets the accounts receivable at less than their actual value. The pay off comes when the accounts are paid in full.

Factoring can be good for the business owner. The sell gives the owner some immediate working capital that would have trickled in otherwise. It also takes the hassle of collecting outstanding accounts out of the hands of the owner. The down side to factoring is that the owner will get less money for the accounts than they show on paper.

Most owners who look to factoring are trying to find a way to smooth out the cash flow and free up time. It basically comes down to a need for having the money now instead of later. The money is guaranteed at the sell of the accounts, and the business owner doesn’t have to spend time and resources trying to collect on accounts. Factoring also relieves the owner of concerns about bad debts. Collection is strictly in the hands of the buyer.

The buyer side of the factoring benefits because the accounts are purchased as much as 25% below their face value. This is a nice profit on a short term investment. It is also likely that a company interested in factoring has streamlined the collection process – making the process much more cost effective.

Factoring is not for every company, nor every investor. The best route for factoring is to find a company that specializes in this investment process and develop a relationship with it. It would also be wise to consult with an accountant to see if the process of factoring could be a money saving tool for your business.

Kathryn is a freelance journalist covering business and finance issues, specializing in subjects such as factoring and ecommerce.

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Sunday, December 9, 2007

Invoice Factoring Companies

Invoice factoring companies are companies that fully manage a business’s sales ledger, and ensure collection of all the debts due. Invoice factoring companies buy invoices or receivables from a business and advances 80 to 90 percent of the invoice amount. The remaining amount minus the charges will be paid when the customer clears the debt. The invoice factoring company takes the responsibility of informing the customer about the service. The seller receives the amount within 24 hours in most cases.

Invoice factoring companies are advantageous to businesses in that they provide the working capital needed when the clients fail to pay on time. They demand no collaterals and are therefore hassle free.

Invoice factoring companies gain from the service charge and the interest charge for the cash advanced to the business. The service charge is usually a certain percentage of the sales factored and the service charge is calculated usually depending on the annual turnover of the company, the number of invoices and the number of customers. The interest charges are along the lines of normal secured bank overdraft rates. Some invoice factoring companies provide bad debt protection whereas some do not. While this is termed non-recourse factoring, recourse factoring is the policy when the bad debts remain with the business.

Invoice factoring companies are a large group, existing as units within many commercial banks, as sections of large financial institutions, as companies, and as services offered by individuals. When choosing a factoring company, extreme care is to be taken regarding its terms and conditions, reputation, service, bad debt protection, service and interest charges. It is also best to verify whether the company chosen provides Internet access to one’s account so that the sales ledger and customer details can be constantly monitored. It is also crucial to ensure that they promote a good customer relationship.

Invoice Factoring provides detailed information on Invoice Factoring, Invoice Factoring Companies, Invoice Factoring Discounting, Invoice Factoring Rates and more. Invoice Factoring is affiliated with Loan Factoring.

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