Friday, March 21, 2008

Receibales Factoring Financing - How to Self Finance Growth

Do you own a company that is growing quickly? If your company were a car, do you feel like you are pressing on the accelerator while at the same time stepping on the brake? Or worse, that your growth is stuck in neutral?

Slow cash flow is the biggest challenge to company growth. And business owners, like you, know that the biggest cash flow problem is having to wait up to 90 days to get paid by your commercial and government customers.

Going to the bank for a business loan won't help much, unless your company has a great past history. This is because banks give business loans based on past performance. What you need is a financing product that can finance your company based on its future potential. And who better to evaluate your future potential than yourself? This is where receivables factoring can help you. This is because receivables factoring is self-financing.

Receivables factoring, also known as invoice factoring, works by eliminating the 30 to 60 days it takes for commercial clients to pay you. It enables you to get a substantial portion of the money owed to you within a day or two of invoicing, providing you with funds to pay rent, meet payroll and more importantly - expand your business.

Imagine if you could get paid consistently, just two days after invoicing. How fast could your business grow? And without debt. This is how receivables factoring works:

1. You invoice your customers as you always do
2. You send a copy of your invoice to the receivables factoring company for financing
3. The factoring company advances you up to 80% of your invoice (20% is not advanced to cover potential disputes, etc.)
4. You get your money right away. The factoring company waits to get paid by your customer
5. Once your customer pays, the factoring company rebates you the 20% reserve, less a small fee

Factoring can be a very cost effective way of financing your business. The factoring fee is based on three factors:

1. The credit quality of your customer, 2. Your monthly volume and, 3. How long it takes customers to pay your invoices.

As a rule of thumb, monthly costs can go from 1.5% to 6% per month depending on these criteria. If you own a company that has a lot of capital tied in slow paying receivables and if you need financing right away, you should consider factoring your invoices.

About Commercial Capital LLC We can provide you with a no obligation factoring, invoice factoring or receivables factoring quote. For more information, please call Marco Terry at (866) 730 1922

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Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Can Medical Factoring Help Boost You Healthcare Business Finances?

There are few bigger pains for healthcare industry professionals than having to wait 30, 60 or even 120 days to collect payments from insurance companies, HMOs and Medicare/Medicaid. The healthcare industry is riddled with complex billing, coding and processing rules that create very long payment cycles. This can be very difficult for medical offices, testing and diagnostic centers, medical supply companies, or any healthcare related business, for that matter. There are always many ongoing expenses that can't wait. There is rent that needs to be paid, offices expenses that need to be covered, and payroll that must be met.

This situation creates a problem for most healthcare businesses. On paper, the business may look very profitable and seem to be doing well. But in reality, most of the money is tied up in slow paying invoices (also known as accounts receivable) with little cash to show for it in the bank.

When faced with tight cash flow, most healthcare professionals turn to their bankers. Medical doctors can usually qualify for signature loans or lines of credit. Other business professionals are not so lucky. In reality, a loan or line of credit may help you in the short term, but will not solve the main problem. Why? Well, loans are good for buying equipment or large capital expenditures, but not for covering recurring and ongoing expenses. A line of credit is a better solution, but they usually have fixed limits. What happens if the business grows past the limits of the line of credit? Many healthcare professionals usually find out, the hard way, that the bankers that were quite happy to extend the first loan or line of credit will not be so helpful at increasing it. Unfortunately, bankers absolutely hate it when businesses came back to the well for more money.

If you look at the problem at hand, you will soon realize that the perfect solution should have the following characteristics. First, it should be able to accelerate your insurance payments so that you can get them quickly rather than slowly. Second, the solution should be able to grow with your business. So, if your business grows its billings, the solution should be able to adapt the financing it delivers, seamlessly. Third, the solution should allow you to finance significant growth. Maybe three to five times your current revenues - or more.

There is a solution that meets these criteria and is available to the healthcare industry. The solution is to factor your medical receivables using a financing tool called medical factoring. Medical factoring allows you to accelerate your payments from insurance companies, HMO's or Medicare/Medicaid. It enables you to receive a substantial amount of your net collectables within days of billing, streamlining your cash flow dramatically.

Medical factoring, a specialty form of general factoring, allows you to sell your claims and receivables to a factoring financing company. The factoring company buys them - at a small discount - and pays you with immediate funds. The factoring company waits to be paid while you get to use the funds to meet business expenses. As opposed to traditional banking financial products, medical factoring has no arbitrary limits. You can factor or sell as much revenue as you can generate, making it the ideal financing tool for growth.

However, factoring is not the best solution for every situation. It works best in instances where your main challenge is that you cannot afford to wait to get paid in 60 to 120 days. It helps you meet ongoing and recurring expenses such as rent, payroll and lease payments. Medical factoring is an ideal solution for medical offices, rehabilitation centers, medical testing and diagnostic centers, medical supply companies and small to mid sized hospitals.

Invoice Factoring Group

Invoice Factoring Group can provide you with a medical factoring and medical receivables factoring quote for free. Marco Terry, the president, can be reached at (866) 730 1922

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Saturday, February 9, 2008

Why Try Factoring?

When you engage in factoring or selling your accounts receivable, you're accepting less money for an asset than you might expect to get for it. But there are great reasons for factoring and here are 10 of them:

1. The ready cash you'll get by factoring will help your company to grow. If you have $2000 ready cash in the bank, but you've invoiced for $100,000 down the line this will lead to $75,000. Think about it: the ability to hire more necessary staff, buy needed equipment, and have stock on hand could make a real difference to your business.

2. Ready cash can help you pay your suppliers sooner, helping you negotiate discounts and have a larger credit line than you had before.

3. Factoring your current invoices gives you the capital to take on large, deadline-oriented contracts and orders that you'd otherwise have to pass up because of slow cash flow.

4. Those large accounts are worth money. Having cash on hand now allows you to offer longer payment terms to the new large accounts.

5. Out of marketing comes business. With ready cash you can get from factoring, you can buy billboards, newspaper and radio ads, and even have direct mail campaigns for those timely marketing campaigns.

6. If you've invoiced too much and now are finding yourself in a cash crunch, factoring will help you to meet your current expenses right away, reducing the chance of not being able to pay your bills. Nothing is worse for your company than not meeting payroll; you lose your best employees, and the ones who stay are probably going to be seeking other employment.

7. You can improve your balance sheet with working capital without incurring debt.

8. Pay off limited lines of credit, or lines of credit that are costing you too much in interest and fees.

9. Factoring out slow debts allows you to skip the unpleasantness of making payment collection calls; instead, the factoring company does this for you.

10. If you factor out part of your accounts receivable, the factoring company will give you a free analysis and comparison of what payment terms and credit amounts your customers really qualify for. This is invaluable information for conducting business in the future.

In addition to these ten great reasons to try factoring your accounts, there are a few reasons never to factor your accounts. If you're concerned about late and slow payments without a good reason such as; you've given a thirty-day due date to someone and they take forty days to pay, then factoring is not a good idea. Instead, you should change your business practices to give a shorter due date. If you think your customer won't pay, factoring their invoice out is dishonest, and will win you no points with a factoring company. Do you really want to ensure you have a bad reputation with people who trust you with a large amount of their capital?

If you're in a dispute with a customer and you decide factoring out your invoice is a way out, you're wrong. The customer could simply refuse to pay the factoring company and then sue you, or worse, tell everyone else what a horrible company you run. Face your disputes head on. If you are dissatisfied with the customer, don't do business with them again.

Factoring to sustain a non-profitable business without some hope of profitability in the future is a sure way to drive your self into bankruptcy. Instead, you should let your business die a dignified death. Factoring so that you can remove cash from your business is a bad idea, akin to taking out a dozen credit cards so you'll have money now. When you engage in factoring, you're essentially agreeing to a profit loss; you should only do this if you stand to make more money in the long run.Henry Byers, Factoring advisor - focusing on Receivable Factoring and Invoice Discounting

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Sunday, December 9, 2007

Factoring vs. Bank Loans

Is factoring a type of loan?

No. Even though invoice factoring is commonly referred to as “ factoring loans”, it is a financial practice involving a B2B transaction, but no bank. To further explain, account factoring, it is when a company, like Peacock Capital, purchases your accounts receivable invoices at a discount and provides you with immediate cash. A traditional bank loan uses your company’s accounts receivable as collateral, where account receivables factoring looks primarily at the financial soundness of your customers, not your company. Banks are regulated heavily; large finance companies generally are public and driven by pressures in the financial markets. When times are tough, banks and finance companies limit lending. A small business, too new to have a track record, with a weak balance sheet, with a history of financial problems, in turnaround mode or undergoing big changes, often cannot find a willing lender at any price. That is why factoring is best for small to mid-sized businesses.

Does a bank loan make more sense for my small business than invoice factoring?

No. Banks often have restrictive lending requirements relating to cash flow, profitability, equity, and years in business, which prohibit them from making loans to small to mid-sized businesses. Since factoring companies are not in the lending business and there is really no such thing as “ factoring loans”, the decision to purchase invoices is influenced primarily by the quality of your customer base and their financial stability, and not the financial fundamentals of your company.

Do I have to jump through the same hoops for account receivables Factoring as with bank financing?

No. All Peacock Capital needs to produce a proposal is a completed pre-approval form, summary of accounts receivable aging, summary accounts payable aging and some other basic financial information.

Do I have to be an established business operating a minimum number of years to start an account factoring relationship with Peacock Capital?

No. Peacock Capital prides itself on working with companies in all stages of business, including recently developed small to mid-size businesses. Even pure start-ups are usually not a problem for Peacock Capital. If your company has verifiable invoices and creditworthy customers, Peacock Capital will happily speak with you about an account receivables factoring relationship.

Are my receivables held as collateral while my company is factoring?

Yes. Peacock Capital requires a first position on all accounts receivable while you are factoring with us.

Does Peacock Capital require additional collateral when my company is factoring?

No. Within our traditional account factoring programs, a first position on accounts receivable is all that Peacock Capital requires while you are factoring. In some situations, Peacock Capital may take an available security interest in other company’s assets.

Afra AmirSanjari is the Principal for Peacock Capital. Peacock Capital specializes in solving the cash flow challenges of Small/Medium Businesses, Government Vendors and Individuals with innovative financial solutions by providing a network for securing operating capital.

http://www.peacockcapital.com; info@peacockcapital.com

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