Factoring For The Small Business

Cash flow is critical to all businesses, but it can be of particular importance to small to medium-sized businesses that have been only been established for a few years. They often find themselves in the working capital 'trap' of having plenty of potential business opportunities, but not enough cash available to exploit them. Factoring can be the perfect answer in this situation.

Factoring provides cash for the business as soon as an invoice is issued. It also has substantial benefits in terms of reducing management time spent on accounts receivables. There are two other important aspects of factoring that are useful to the growing business:

- They do not require personal guarantees

- They work with your customers' creditworthiness, not your own

How does factoring work?

After the initial setting up of your account with a factoring company, you will issue invoices in the normal manner, but they will be stamped to show that they are payable to the factor. The factor will then provide you with immediate access to funds, typically about 80% of the face value of the invoice. The balance will be credited to your account (less a small service charge) when the cash is actually collected.

From that point on, the factor will take over responsibility for managing your sales ledger and accounts receivable. The very fact that they are involved will usually bring about a reduction the time taken to pay invoices, as supplier know that factors often report delinquent payment performance to the major credit reporting agencies, whereas companies supplying the services do not.

Factoring companies are very careful about selecting and training people to handle collections professionally, as they are acutely aware that the task must be handled sensitively but firmly. They understand that customers are the lifeblood of your business, and that they need to maintain their goodwill toward you.

A good partnership with a factoring company can be one of the most valuable assets of a developing business, particularly in the early years, when there can be a danger of over-trading if adequate working capital is not available.

Andrea Lucas is CEO of Celera Financial, LLC, and has over 20 years? financial experience working with small and medium-sized businesses, both internationally and in the USA. Andrea can be reached by email at info@accountsfactoring.com or call (703) 651-3168. Website: http://www.celerafinancial.com

Invoice Factoring: An Effective Alternative for Small Businesses

?Cash is the king? is an undebatable truth. The vital importance of cash to the growth and day-to-day management of modern small businesses is very much evident. Even though profit, turnover and market shares are indicators of success, there is no replacement for cash. If there is no cash in the bank to meet monthly bills, wage runs and loan payments then any business can succumb to the crunch. Cash flow is generally acknowledged as the only pressing concern of the small and medium sized business enterprises. Small businesses typically enter into factoring arrangements to solve cash flow problems.

The lack of access to capital has prevented many small businesses from growing and capitalizing on the many opportunities that are available to them. Small companies do have to forgo large deals or opportunities because they do not have the necessary capital to obtain the resources to service the account. Inadequate capital resources along with the necessity to offer commercial credit to clients, often makes business owners victims of their own ventures. Factoring is a relatively unknown financial solution that has become available for smaller companies in such crisis situations.

Factoring, by definition, is the purchase of accounts receivable without recourse. Factoring is one of the oldest forms of commercial finance. The term factor comes from the Latin verb ?facio?, which means ?he who does things.? The history of factoring is the history of agents doing things for others. The colonists started widespread usage of factoring in the 1600s in Northern America.

Factoring accounts receivable is a form of short-term borrowing. Typically, the small business owner transfers all or a portion of your accounts receivable to a bank or other lender known as a factor. This factor immediately gives him a percentage of the accounts receivable. The percentage the lender is willing to advance is known as the discount rate that is typically 60 to 80 percent. This money allows the business owner to fund current business operations and generate new accounts receivable. The factor, usually takes responsibility for collecting all the accounts receivable.

Accounts receivable factoring is the sale of part or all of a debt that someone owes to the company. When companies provide financing through accounts receivable factoring, they essentially pay for the invoices as soon as the business owner generates them at a small discount of the invoice amount. They also provide accounts receivable management services by collecting the debt directly, monitoring credit of your clients and providing aging reports. Factoring allows a company to obtain financing without selling part of the company. It should be viewed as a bridge to growing a company, an interim step to obtaining a traditional credit facility or an equity capital.

Factoring is prefect for companies that are fast growing or those that seek to seize market opportunities. By using factoring, the entrepreneur can meet increasing sales demands. Today, it is estimated that factoring is a ?$100-billion-a-year? industry in the United States. Accounts receivable factoring makes up about a third of all financing secured by American companies using accounts receivable and inventory as collateral. Wholesalers, distributors, transportation, staffing companies, manufacturing and business services are some of the more common industries.

Christine is an expert Internet marketing professional with years of experience in various industries such as: Business, Finance, Real Estate, Web-Design, Health & Medicine and many more. Business Cash Advance

Factoring is Not Always About Cash Flow Problems, For Many It's About Growth

Even though Factoring is an extremely common business practice in Europe, many American business people have never heard of it or used it. Factoring has been practiced for centuries; the Romans sold promissory notes at a discount and the Pilgrims journeys to America were financed by advances from a Factor who provided the funds to pay for the journey. The Pilgrims repaid the money with earnings from America. The word "factor" comes from Latin, the language of Rome. It means "to do" or "to make."

Even the United State Congress acknowledges and supports factoring with the passing of the Assignment of Claims Act, (31 U.S.C.3727) which states that ?Contractor or its assignee may assign its rights to receive payment due as a result of performance? to a financing institution. This is the assignment of invoices, know as factoring.

Factoring is the selling of your accounts receivables for cash versus waiting 30, 60 or 90 days, to be paid by your customers. Its a flexible financial tool that when used properly can help increase a companies growth without incurring new or additional debt.

Factoring is not always about cash flow problems, for many its about growth with a reliable foundation. Factoring has allowed thousands of small businesses to bid on and wind contracts worth millions of dollar in the Government and Corporate sector

Industries that use Factoring as a normal course of business are Temporary Employment Agencies, Distributors, Manufacturers, Government Contractors, Freight Companies (BOL) and Importers for the Purchase Order Funding. It does not matter if the business is a start-up, high-growth business, under-capitalized, or companies with cash flow problems. Most factoring companies do not even require financial statements; something like the ?no docs? real estate loans!

Factoring differs from the banks mainly because, a bank makes credit decisions based upon a company?s financial history, cash flow and collateral. Factoring bases its decision on the credit-worthiness of your clients. Because factoring is not a loan, no liability appears on your balance sheet.

Factoring can take as little as 48 hours and take up to 3 to 4 weeks for Government Contracts. The good part is, once you have your factoring in place, it takes only a couple of days, or less, to wire monies into your business account once the Factoring company has received your invoices.

Factoring companies do not leave your growth up to chance. They actively participate in screening new vendors for your company as well as collecting your invoices and handling accounts receivables that relate to them. And IRS subsidizes the cost of this because all cost involved with factoring is tax deductible.

Cassandra Ingraham is a Tax Accountant in the San Francisco Bay Area. She can be found at http://www.taxeswilltravel.com providing Formal Introductions to Lenders for Accounts Receivable Funding (Factoring) and Purchase Order Funding.

Funding Your Business With Factoring Financing

Factoring financing is one of those business financing tools that is not well known by the general public but widely used in the business community. It is widely used, because it?s easy to implement, can be set up in a few days and can provide the working capital that a business owner need to grow their business.

When a business owner needs working capital, the first thing they do is to visit their banker. However, they soon learn that getting funding from a bank is very hard. As an owner, the bank will demand that they have great personal credit. The bank will also want to see three years worth of audited financial statements ? showing a profit.

If your business is new, it?s close to impossible to qualify for bank financing. However, factoring may be an alternative that is better for your business, and easier to get.

If you have clients that take 30, 45 or even 60 days to pay their invoices, and if this is hurting your business, invoice factoring can help. Factoring can provide you with a substantial advance on your invoices, providing the working capital you need to pay suppliers and employees. And, as opposed to conventional business loans, receivables factoring is easy to obtain.

Factoring is also easy to integrate to all businesses. This is how a transaction looks:

1. You deliver the goods or services

2. You invoice your client

3. The factoring company advances you up to 85% of your invoice as a 1st installment. You can use these funds to pay suppliers and employees

4. Once the invoice is paid for, you receive the remaining 15% less the factoring fees.

Most factoring fees range between 1.5% to 3.5% based on certain criteria, but different factoring companies assess their fees differently. The biggest criteria to qualify for factoring is that you should do business with customers that pay their invoices reliably, such as government agencies or large corporations.

One of the biggest advantages of factoring financing is that it is tied to your sales. So as your sales grow, your financing also grows. This makes it an ideal tool for companies that are expanding.

About Commercial Capital LLC
Looking for a factoring company? We can provide you with factoring and accounts receivable factoring at competitive rates. Please call (866) 730 1922

Benefits of Factoring Receivables

If you sell goods or services to commercial or government accounts you are very familiar with the fact that you have to offer your clients 30 to 60 days to pay their invoices. However, offering 30 day payment terms can be very challenging for business owners who must cover all the business?s expenses while they wait to get paid. This quickly eats up any cash reserves and puts the business in a challenging position. Unfortunately, when it comes to getting paid, hurry up and wait seems to be the name of the game.

But there is a solution to this problem that you won?t find at your local bank. It?s called accounts receivable factoring. It has the following benefits:

1. It gets your invoices paid in 24 hours, eliminating long payment waits

2. Factoring is easy to obtain

3. Setting up an account takes just a couple of days

Although factoring provides your business with working capital, it is not a business loan. It is an advance on your outstanding invoices. Because of this, factoring invoices is easy to obtain provided that you do business with reliable customers. Furthermore, invoice factoring easily integrates into your company. It works as follows:

1. You deliver the goods or services and invoice your client

2. You send the invoice to the factoring company, who advances you up to 85% of your invoice as a first installment

3. You get to use the funds to pay business expenses, while the factoring company waits to get paid by your client

4. Once the factoring company gets paid, it rebates the remaining 15% as a second installment, less a small service fee

Factoring service fees vary based on a number of variables, such as monthly factored volume and how long it takes for an invoice to get paid. Based on these, fees can range from 1.5% to 6%. Generally speaking, factoring is very affordable if your clients pay their in 45 days or less.

Factoring invoices is a great alternative for startups and established companies that have exhausted their bank resources. It?s a flexible product that is tied to your sales performance, this means that you will not get a fixed line. If your sales increase, so does your financing. This makes receivables factoring, an ideal product for growing companies.

About Commercial Capital LLC

Are you interested in working with a factoring company? We can provide you with accounts receivable factoring and receivable factoring at competitive rates. Please call (866) 730 1922 for more information.

 

 

Invoice Factoring - How To Get Paid Promptly By Every Single Customer

What happens if you are taken seriously ill while on holiday? Not just a bout of food poisoning, but in hospital, either as the result of an accident or a stroke.

When you are too ill to take a regular airline seat you will need to be brought home by air ambulance. Make sure that your vacation insurance covers this, because it will make a big hole in your bank account otherwise. Read the small print to see under exactly what circumstances an air ambulance will be provided by the insurance company.

If one of your party dies while abroad an air ambulance company can be hired to bring the body home for burial, even if it is not provided by your insurance company.

Long-range air ambulances are usually small business jet type aircraft. These business jets provide the fastest and most comfortable transport, where speed can be of the utmost importance.

Smaller fixed wing aircraft are used where the distance involved is smaller. They are faster than a helicopter and can sometimes be landed on a road near to an accident. Where poor weather would ground a helicopter, a twin or single engined, fixed wing air ambulance can still operate.

Rural parts of the United States, Europe and Australia depend on air ambulances to transport patients to hospitals in the shortest possible time.

In urban locations helicopter air ambulances are often most useful. They can dodge traffic and land on rooftops, sports grounds or roads, carrying EMT personnel to the scene of a traffic accident and rapidly taking injured patients to nearby hospitals.

Helicopters may be the only way that emergency personnel can reach a climbing or shooting accident in mountainous regions. They are small though, and only carry the minimum of supplies to enable the crew to stabilize a patient long enough to reach a nearby hospital.

Pearl Deloria has an SME management background. If you want more information on business factoring and how it can help your company then visit business factoring.

 

Factoring Companies

After the products have been selected and the systems for producing them have been designed and built, the next major step is to operate the system. This requires setting up a company structure, staffing the positions and training people. In factoring companies, managers are needed who can provide the supervision and leadership to carry out activities necessary to produce desired products or provide services. Other activities, such as purchasing and maintaining the inventory, are also required in maintaining the factoring companies. The aim is to obtain the best productivity ratio within a time period with due consideration to quality.

Controlling operations, as in any case of managerial control, requires setting performance criteria, measuring performance against them, and taking actions to correct undesirable deviations. Thus, one can control production, product quality and reliability levels, inventory levels and work force performance in factoring companies.

A number of tools and techniques have been developed to do this. With the development of computer hardware and software, it is now possible for virtually any measurable data to be reported as events occur. Systems are available for quickly and systematically collecting data bearing on total operation, for keeping these data readily available, and for reporting without delay the status of any of a large number of projects at any instant. They are thus primarily information systems playing a pivotal part in factoring companies to provide effective planning and control.

These and other systems that use the technology of fast computation clearly promise to hasten the day when planning all the areas of production can be more precise and controlling more effective. The drawback is not cost; rather it is the failure of managers to spend time and mental effort on conceptualizing the system and its relationships or to see that someone else in the company does so.

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

Growing 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.

Invoice Factoring Group - http://factoring.qlfs.com - is a factoring company that can provide you with a free accounts receivable factoring or receivables factoring quote. Marco Terry, the president, can be reached at (866) 730 1922 or at http://factoring.qlfs.com/html/accounts_receivable_financing.html

Factoring Basics

Most sales to commercial clients usually carry 30 to 60 day payment terms. This means that as a supplier, you must deliver your products or services now. However, your client has between 30 to 60 days to pay you.

This creates a significant challenge for owners of small and midsize businesses. The problem is simple. Your clients want to pay you in 30 to 60 days, but you must pay rent, payroll and your suppliers now. As you can see, the math does not work. Unless you have a substantial bank account, this leads to an almost impossible situation.

If you are in this situation, it is also very likely that the bank will not be able to help you. As you well know, banks only lend to businesses that have three years of profitable operations and significant hard collateral. If you do not qualify for bank financing, your best bet may be to consider factoring.

Factoring is a business financing tool that helps business owners who cannot afford to wait 30 to 60 days to get paid by their commercial customers. Factoring provides you with the necessary funds to meet payroll, make rent and pay your suppliers on time.

As opposed to bank financing, factoring is easy to qualify for. The main requirements are that you have a profitable business with a strong roster of commercial clients. For the factoring company, your best collateral is the invoices from your strong customers.

Factoring is also easy to use. It enables you receive a substantial portion of your billings within a day of invoicing. It reduces the time you wait to get paid from 60 days to 2 days. The transaction is usually structured as a two installment sale of an invoice. The first installment, called the advance, is paid to you immediately. The advance can be anywhere between 70% and 90% of the gross value of the invoice. The remaining portion (10% - 30%) is held as a reserve to cover disputes and charge backs. The reserve is rebated as soon as the invoice is paid in full. The factoring company will charge a small fee for this service.

Factoring financing is an ideal tool for companies that are growing and that cannot afford to wait to get paid by the clients. It helps you to stabilize your financial situation and positions you for growth.

Commercial Capital LLC We can provide you with a factoring, invoice factoring or accounts receivables factoring quote for free. Marco Terry, the president, can be reached at 866 730 1922.