Monday, March 24, 2008

Invoice Factoring: A Tool To Revitalize Your Business

Imagine a situation where your company is unable to strike a good deal owing to late payment to be made by its customers. You find yourself to be really missing out on "that big deal." But now, you don't really need to face the guilt of missing out such an opportunity. Thanks to the boom of factoring into the financial field! All that you need to do is approach a suitable factor and see yourself getting out of every dilemma.

Compared to loans and lines of credit, which require the clients to have tangible assets and strong financials, invoice factoring helps one to attain cash easily. Besides, most of the business enterprises today do not qualify for the criterion set by the traditional lending institutions. As such, invoice factoring offers them an excellent opportunity to gear up their business. Factoring allows them to avail immediate capital only at a nominal cost.

Invoice factoring is a blessing for business enterprises that are preparing to grow significantly because the factor takes up a part of the client's credit risk for the end customers. It involves the factor's bearing up of the loss in case the debtor fails to pay the invoice. This, therefore, is one of the critical services lent by factors to ambitious business enterprises.

One essential thing to know about factoring is that one doesn't need to owe anything to the factor. The factor does not advance loans but buys invoices from the client. Since invoice factoring is not a loan, it is easy to qualify for it. All you need is a well-run business along with good customers. These are the only two potential prerequisites needed to avail the benefit of factoring. Many factors, infact, do not even demand high credibility on part of the customers. This makes factoring even more alluring to small business enterprises.

Besides, one of the primary objectives of any enterprise is steady cash flow. If cash flow freezes all of a sudden, there arises an immediate need to convert the receivables into ready cash. Invoice factoring thus offers the unique prospect to regenerate a dying business as it provides certain ancillary services as well as frees up internal resources.

Suzanne is an Internet marketing professional with expertise in content development and technical writing in a variety of industries. Small Business Cash Advance

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Invoice Factoring

Factoring is selling invoices to receive your money at the moment, instead of waiting for say, two to three months. That's why it is one of the most important finance management tools - especially for a small company that does not create debt. Factoring does not require you to give up any ownership in your company.

For carrying out any operation, finance is required. So, necessary finance is to be raised, allocated and controlled for the effective execution of any function. Success or failure of the firm as such depends on how effectively the finance part is undertaken.

The finance function is comprised of the determining and raising of necessary funds from appropriate sources and their proper allocation and control. The aim is to attain the enterprise objective of wealth maximization. The wealth or the value of the firm is at the maximum when the return or profit is also at the maximum. But with the increase in return the risk also increases. For example, holding less inventory may increase profit because a lesser amount is locked up in inventory, but this may increase the risk as the chance of running out of inventory is higher.

According to experts, factoring process has some distinct advantages. For example, unlike a loan, collateral is not required in the factoring process, there is no interest, and no debt shows up on your balance sheet. What's more, fees are paid in the form of a percentage discount, deducted after all of the invoices have been paid to the Factor. The discount amount depends on the length of time it takes to collect on the invoices.

Always keep capital budgeting and working capital on mind while understanding the finance management. Capital budgeting is the evaluation and ranking of investment projects with the aim of finding out the most suitable project from among alternative courses. On the other hand, working capital is the amount of capital required for the day-to-day running of the enterprise.

Factoring provides detailed information on factoring, credit card factoring, loan factoring, invoice factoring and more. Factoring is affliated with Invoice Factoring Discounting

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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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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Learn How To Finance Your Healthcare Business With Medical Factoring

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 can provide you with a medical factoring and medical receivables factoring quote for free at http://factoring.qlfs.com/html/medical_offices.html . Marco Terry, the president, can be reached at (866) 730 1922

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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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