Factoring Company Guide
First Step: Filling Out the Application
Initiate your venture into smarter financial management with our straightforward application. Simply provide essential details about your business, including your company's name, address, what you do, and information about your customers. This step is your gateway to improved cash flow and financial stability.
Part of this process may include submitting key financial documents, such as an accounts receivable aging report. This is crucial for us to assess the likelihood of your customers fulfilling their payment obligations, offering us a comprehensive view of their overall financial health.
During this initial stage, you'll have the opportunity to discuss the specifics of your financial needs with our experts. This discussion includes deciding on the volume of invoices you wish to factor, understanding the advance and discount rates, and how swiftly you can expect to receive the funds. The specifics of these arrangements often vary based on factors such as the financial strength of your customers, your monthly sales volume, and industry-specific risks.
It's important to note that the amount of money you choose to factor plays a significant role in determining your terms. Generally, a higher volume of factored invoices leads to more favorable rates, enhancing the financial benefits for your business.
Based on your application, we will meticulously evaluate if factoring is a suitable and beneficial service for your business's unique situation. Following this assessment and approval, we will proceed to negotiate the terms of the factoring agreement. In these negotiations, factors such as the amount you wish to factor will heavily influence the terms, with larger amounts typically resulting in more favorable conditions.
Throughout the negotiation process, we ensure full transparency regarding all costs and fees involved. Once the terms are agreed upon, our team efficiently moves forward with the funding process. This includes conducting due diligence on your customers' creditworthiness and verifying the legitimacy of your invoices, culminating in the provision of the cash advance to your business in a timely manner.
Factoring Company Benefits
Unleash the Power of Factoring:
- Transform your focus from cash flow concerns to scaling your business.
- Banish the stress of loan repayments. Experience the freedom of quick cash within days.
- Retain absolute control of your business destiny.
- Say goodbye to the financial drain of chasing down payments.
- Master your cash flow by strategically selecting invoices to factor.
- Outpace clients who lag in payments and protect your financial health.
- Accelerate your production and sales with consistent cash flow.
- Utilize expert services for hassle-free payment collections and credit assessments.
- Never worry about meeting payroll again.
- Ensure you're always prepared for payroll taxes.
- Unlock discounts on bulk purchases to reduce costs.
- Enhance your purchasing leverage for early payment and bulk order discounts.
- Improve your credit rating by consistently covering your bills.
- Secure the cash needed for ambitious business expansion.
- Invest confidently in marketing your business.
- Witness a transformation in your financial statements.
- Gain insightful, comprehensive reports on your receivables for smarter decision-making.
Is Factoring For You
The Importance of Factoring
"A sale isn't real until you see the money." Do you find yourself unknowingly acting as a banker for your customers? Time to rethink that role.
Dive into your accounts receivable. Those invoices over 30 days late? Congratulations, you're in the lending business now – and you're not even charging interest. That's not why you got into this game, right?
Think about it: if your customers needed cash from a bank, they'd be paying interest. But with you? They're getting a free ride. And that's costing you – big time. Opportunities, growth, cash flow – all on hold while you wait for them to pay up.
You need to be in charge of your cash, not your customers. Let’s get serious about what those unpaid invoices are really costing you.
Factoring History
Factoring History
Welcome to the world of factoring. Whether you're a business owner, aspiring entrepreneur, or seeking new financial tools for your current employer, factoring can help you achieve your financial goals. Surprisingly, factoring serves as the financial backbone for many successful American businesses.
The irony lies in the fact that factoring is rarely taught in business colleges, seldom mentioned in business plans, and remains relatively unknown to the majority of American businesspeople. However, it plays a crucial role in freeing up billions of dollars every year, enabling thousands of businesses to thrive and prosper.
So, what exactly is factoring? It is the process of purchasing commercial accounts receivable (invoices) from a business at a discount. In today's business landscape, offering credit terms to customers has become a common practice in order to secure business. However, these terms can strain the financial health of new or struggling companies, as cash flow is the lifeblood of any business.
Factoring has a rich and ancient tradition, dating back 4,000 years to the days of Hammurabi, the king of Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia, often called the "cradle of civilization," contributed numerous advancements including writing, structured business codes, government regulations, and the concept of factoring.
Over time, various civilizations embraced factoring. The Romans, for example, were the first to sell promissory notes at a discount. In the American colonies before the revolution, factoring gained widespread documented use. The colonists relied on merchant bankers in London and Europe who provided funds in advance for shipping cotton, furs, and timber before they reached the continent. This allowed the colonists to continue their operations without waiting for payment from European customers.
It's important to note that these arrangements differed from modern banking relationships. If the colonists had relied on traditional banking services in eighteenth-century England, the process would have been much slower. Banks would have awaited payment from the European buyers before paying the colonists. This impractical process led to the emergence of factors in colonial times, who advanced funds against accounts receivable, enabling clients to continue their operations before receiving payment.
During the Industrial Revolution, factoring evolved to focus more on credit issues while preserving its core principle. Factors assisted clients in assessing the creditworthiness of their customers and establishing credit limits, thus guaranteeing payment for approved customers. This practice, known as non-recourse factoring, is common in today's business landscape.
Prior to the 1930s, factoring primarily occurred in the textile and garment industries, as these industries directly inherited the colonial economy's reliance on factoring. After the war years, factors recognized the potential to extend factoring to other industries that relied on invoices, leading to its expansion.
Today, factors come in various forms and sizes. They exist as divisions within large financial institutions, but more frequently as privately owned entrepreneurial endeavors. The rise of private factors surged in the 1960s and 1970s when interest rates soared to unprecedented heights. This trend continued in the 1980s due to increasing interest rates and changes in the banking industry. With banks becoming costly and inflexible due to heavy regulations (recall the Savings and Loan crisis), small business owners sought alternative sources of financing for their expansion and growth. As more banks distanced themselves from small business owners, factoring emerged as a popular option.
Each year, thousands of businesses sell billions of dollars in accounts receivable through factoring. They do so to achieve profitability, fuel growth, and, in some cases, ensure their very survival.
Credit Risk
Boost Your Business with Quick Cash and Expert Credit Risk Assessment
Get the Edge Without Extra Fees
Accurately evaluating credit risk is a critical component of our factoring services. We excel at this function, providing an objective perspective that few clients can match.
As part of our comprehensive offering, we act as your dedicated credit department for both new and existing customers. This arrangement gives you a distinct advantage over managing these processes internally, without any additional charges.
Consider a scenario where a salesperson pursues a new account with the potential for significant sales. In their eagerness to secure the business, they may overlook warning signs of credit difficulties and bypass your internal credit checks. While this approach may result in a quick sale, it offers no guarantee of timely payment, which is essential for sustained success.
With us, you won't encounter such issues. We make credit decisions based on a comprehensive understanding of the new customer's credit situation. We avoid purchasing invoices from customers with poor credit ratings, minimizing the risk of nonpayment. It's important to note that our involvement doesn't imply a tightening of credit that could adversely affect your business beyond your control.
Ultimately, the decision to do business with a new customer of questionable creditworthiness remains in your hands. (However, we reserve the right to say, "We told you so!")
While we may not purchase those invoices, you retain the freedom to extend credit terms as you see fit. You maintain full control. Regardless of the decisions you make, our participation ensures you have access to comprehensive, objective, and high-quality information to make informed credit decisions, surpassing your previous practices.
We conduct thorough research on new clients and regularly monitor the credit ratings of your existing customers. This stands in stark contrast to the common practice of neglecting routine credit updates for established customers. Such neglect can lead to costly oversights.
Most businesses conduct credit checks only when problems have already spiraled out of control. In contrast, we promptly inform you of any changes in the credit status of your existing customers, allowing you to take proactive measures.
In addition to providing specific customer credit information, we offer comprehensive reports on your accounts receivables. These reports include accounting details, transactional insights, aging reports, and financial management reports. This data empowers you to analyze sales performance, track account history, and make well-informed decisions.
With over 70 years of successful experience managing cash flow and credit, we are eager to leverage our expertise for your benefit. Let us put our knowledge to work, helping you achieve your financial goals and giving your business the competitive edge it needs. Experience the benefits of quick cash and expert credit risk assessment without any extra fees.
How To Change Factoring Companies
Changing Invoice Financing Providers
Want to switch your invoice financing provider? Not satisfied with your current one? Planning to bid goodbye to your present provider? Not sure what to know before making the switch? Here's a simple guide with all the answers.
Understanding UCC and its role in changing providers
Typically, an invoice financing company (also called a factor) will file a Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). This is like staking a claim on the invoices they've funded. This helps to keep track of who's got a claim on what assets, especially because invoices change every day - some are paid, some are collected, and some new ones are created.
So, the factor files a 'blanket' UCC covering all your invoices, even though you might not be getting funding for all your sales. It's just not practical to file a new UCC for every single invoice. The UCC is like a warning sign for other lenders that there's a deal between your business and the factor.
The specifics of your agreement with the factor, like rates and which accounts are factored, are outlined in a private Security Agreement. A UCC is kind of like having a first mortgage on your business.
The process of changing factors
The factor with the oldest UCC is said to be in the 'First Position' on the collateral. This means they have the first right to collect payments on your invoices and any related items.
If you want to change factors, the old one must be paid off by the new one. This is similar to refinancing your house. The old factor's claim is released and the new one's claim is filed.
The process where the new factor pays off the old one using money from your first funding is called a 'buyout'. The Buyout Agreement, which outlines the transition process, is signed by the old factor, new factor, and your company. In this agreement, you approve the 'buyout figure' provided by the old factor.
How is the Buyout Figure Calculated:
The buyout figure is usually calculated by subtracting any reserves from the Gross Receivables Outstanding and adding in fees due to the old factor. It's good to ask for a breakdown of this figure so you can understand if there are any early termination fees or other charges added to your usual factoring fees.
Once the old factor is paid off, you only have to deal with the new factor. If you're changing from an 80% advance rate to a 90% advance rate, you might have enough money to pay off the old factor without needing more invoices.
How much does the buyout cost?
If you can give the new factor new invoices to pay off the old ones, there's no additional cost for the switch. As payments come in on the old invoices, those payments are forwarded to the new factor who then sends them to you.
However, if you need to resubmit some invoices already factored with the old factor to the new one, those invoices will incur fees from both factors. As a result, your factoring fees for the first month after the change could be higher than normal. If the new factor's rate is lower, you can calculate how long it will take to recover this cost and make a cost-benefit analysis.
How long does a buyout take?
When changing factors, expect the first funding to take a couple of days more than the usual setup process. This extra time is needed for invoice verification and for calculating the buyout figures.
What if my situation is not that easy?
In some cases, the old factor and the new one can work together via an Intercreditor or Subordination Agreement until the old factor is paid off. The old factor has rights to invoices up to a certain date and the new one has rights to all invoices after that date.
Questions you might have wished you asked before signing up with your current factor:
- How many factors can I use at one time? (The universal answer is one, according to the UCC.)
- If I want to change factors, how much notice do I need to give?
- What is the penalty if I leave without giving the required notice?
- Do you use a bank lock box to post my customer payments? If so, how long does it take for a customer's payment to post to my account from the date the bank receives it?
- How long do you hold my original invoices before sending them to my customers?
- How many different people will I work with at your company?
- Do I need to pay for postage for you to mail my invoices?
- Do you charge me every time I have a new customer to check or set up?
- Do you start holding reserves once a customer hits 60 days even though I have 90 day recourse?
