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Factoring: an alternative way to finance your business

Guest post by: Fiona Mati

Article Overview: Commonly businesses have to extend credit to their customers which in turn become accounts receivable in their cash flow. Factoring bridges this credit gap by enabling a business to get a percentage of their accounts receivable instead of having to wait the 30, 60 or 90 days indicated on their invoice.

Factoring: an alternative way to finance your business

Factoring is a way to raise additional working capital quickly in order to fulfil orders from your customers. Commonly businesses have to extend credit to their customers which in turn become accounts receivable in their cash flow. Factoring bridges this credit gap by enabling a business to get a percentage of their accounts receivable instead of having to wait the 30, 60 or 90 days indicated on their invoice.

Factoring is increasingly becoming more popular amongst small businesses as they overcome the obstacles faced in accessing traditional credit facilities. For instance, as long as a purchase order from a reputable business (customer) is available along with an invoice that has been stamped received by the customer, traditional lending requirements are not the basis for approval.

In this scenario, the factoring company pays the business with the accounts receivable upfront upto an agreed percentage and then collects on the invoice.

In this way the credit history of your customer and reputation are of prime importance; unlike traditional lending where YOUR credit history determines the success of your loan application.

When searching for a suitable factoring company make sure you note the fees, commission and interest they charge. Factoring is not a cheap option, but for small businesses challenged with supplying big orders beyond the scope of their cash flow, this alternative finance method bridges financial gaps and grows markets.

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Article Tags: bridging, business financing, cash flow, factoring, invoice



Related Forum Posts
Proper planning to get investors - Investment is very easy to get once you have the complete idea show it to the local finance company, they can get you investors with a basic fee, since they know your business and status etc, also local presence of finance firm will help investors feel easy to check on growth of you business. It will be difficult to get direct investors for your business without proper planning and reports.
Finance is the basic requirement - Without finance no one is going to stand next to you, your employees join your company looking at your financial situation and growth, if you don't have enough finance then better do a job.
Collateral security required - You will have to use your home and anything else you own for collateral on a business loan. The SBA will require you have at least 2 years in the same industry as the business you want to open. Banks will want more money down (30%) and real property as collateral, and will probably charge higher rates and require a 5 year baloon. More and more credit unions are getting into commercial lending and tend to be a little more friendly than banks. Non-bank lenders can offer a nice alternative. They typically require less money down (10% in many cases), rates are usually variable (tied to prime like 2 to 3% above), are more willing to accept equipment as collateral, but expect a shorter term as a trade off for the risk (ie. 5 to 7 year term). This can make it difficult for some to afford the loan payment. Yet another option is a leasing company. There are many leasing companies that will finance franchise purchases and expansions by writing the whole thing up as an equipment lease. (200K) is not out of the question. They might require 10% down, but as long as they have a first position on all the business assets they are quite willing to set you up with a lease. The downside is that your cost of financing (the leasing co. won't call it interest) will be higher than any type of loan. When figuring you cost remember that many states require you to pay sales tax on the amount of your monthly lease payment. Also consider the buy out terms at the end of the lease period. You'll want to stay away from market value buy outs. Go for the $1 buy out. If you have enough equity in your home, you might be better off taking out a home equity loan and using that to finance your business.
Who's best for first time commercial loan? - You will have to use your home and anything else you own for collateral on a business loan. The SBA will require you have at least 2 years in the same industry as the business you want to open. Banks will want more money down (30%) and real property as collateral, and will probably charge higher rates and require a 5 year balloon. More and more credit unions are getting into commercial lending and tend to be a little more friendly than banks. Non-bank lenders can offer a nice alternative. They typically require less money down (10% in many cases), rates are usually variable (tied to prime like 2 to 3% above), are more willing to accept equipment as collateral, but expect a shorter term as a trade off for the risk (i.e. 5 to 7 year term). This can make it difficult for some to afford the loan payment. Yet another option is a leasing company. There are many leasing companies that will finance franchise purchases and expansions by writing the whole thing up as an equipment lease. (200K) Is not out of the question. They might require 10% down, but as long as they have a first position on all the business assets they are quite willing to set you up with a lease. The downside is that your cost of financing (the leasing co. won't call it interest) will be higher than any type of loan. When figuring you cost remember that many states require you to pay sales tax on the amount of your monthly lease payment. Also consider the buy out terms at the end of the lease period. You'll want to stay away from market value buyouts. Go for the $1 buy out. If you have enough equity in your home, you might be better off taking out a home equity loan and using that to finance your business. I hope this helps.
Using your home for collateral is one thing, but... - Putting up your home for collateral is one thing, but utilizing the equity in it to finance a business is a whole other ball game and could be damaging in the long run. Do you know that if you completely finance your business with home equity instead of a busienss loan you will not be able to obtain a working capital loan later down the road? should you run into some financial troubles or wish to expand or remodel with working capital loan, you won't be able to get it if you finaced by personal means. It's always best to build a track record with a lender for future use and it's always better to be in business debt rather than personal debt. I always say: "You wouldn't hire a Plumber to do the Electrical in your home, so why would you finance a business using your home equity? Equity loans are for your home, business loans are for your business. You may however, utilize some of the equity in your home for loan down payment (depending upon your qualifications) and we can help determine whether that would be more helpful or damaging to your loan by pre-qualifying you for free. when using your home for collateral, it doesn't necessarily mean you will lose your home (in the event you cannot pay your loan payments). Lenders are always willing to work with you once you have a loan with them and they have already taken on the risk. they typically only utilize what they lien if nothing else can be resoloved (so it's basically a last resort) to go after what they lien.


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