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Stories Tagged ‘Smart factoring Quotes’

We have recently assisted a company in Manchester arrange a factoring facility.

Our client is a security company with a single debtor. While paying wages weekly they were only getting paid monthly at best by their customer who was a larger security company based in Birmingham.

We used a Manchester factoring company because the requirement was urgent so they could react quickly. We knew which local lenders could assist a security company with a single debtor.

The solution was implemented quickly to the satisfaction of our client.

 

Factoring agreements are typically for 12 month periods with either a 3 month or 6 month notice period.

However, there are companies offering factoring with no minimum contract.

You could opt for a trial period, a rolling 28 contract or a rolling 3 month contract. Smart Factoring Quotes can help you access all these types of agreements.We will also explain in full the fee structure so you have a full understanding of what you will be paying.

We understand the invoice factoring market and all that it can offer. We also understand the frustrations that businesses face when looking to set up these agreements. We understand how to get you the invoice finance facility that you want.

Cash flow problems within your business can be solved by looking at several solutions.

Some of those solutions for cash flow problems are financial solutions and involve borrowing money or restructuring existing facilities. The others are operational changes in terms of how you operate your business. Let’s look at each of them briefly:

Working capital facilities

You could look at an overdraft, invoice discounting or factoring facility. If one of these is already in place you could look to restructure to ensure the maximum amount of cash is generated for the minimum cost.

Asset Refinance

If you have any assets within the business you can look at refinancing these assets. This will mean an injection of cash however it can prove costly in terms of interest costs and you should consider the cash flow implications of the monthly repayments. If you already have asset finance facilities in place it may be worth refinancing to reduce the monthly repayments.

Remortgage

If you have a mortgage or an unencumbered property you could look to refinance this to raise money or reduce the monthly repayments.

Collect in money owed

If you have a debtor book it is important to ensure that debts are collected in on a timely basis. Your credit control skills could vastly improve your cashflow. Can you offer a settlement discount to get paid quicker?

Supplier Terms

Can you negotiate better terms from your existing suppliers or can you approach alternative suppliers with a view to obtaining extended terms?

Cost Cutting

Can you cut costs within the business by cutting out unnecessary services, insurances, staff members? You may need to make some tough decisions but you have to protect your business.

Cheap factoring for small businesses is now available. Typically the minimum fees levied by lenders made factoring particularly expensive for small businesses with a turnover less than £500,000. Some may argue that there is no such thing as cheap factoring no matter how big your business is but I believe that a cost effective solution now exists.

At Smart Factoring Quotes we have a bundled fee solution which means that you pay one simple fee as opposed to a seperate service fee and discounting fee. For a recourse factoring facility this fee is 1.95% of the each invoice. If you wish to include credit protection to protect you against bad debts this fee increases to 2.95%.

This has been well received by virtually all small businesses that I have spoken to. The benefits include:

  • up to 85% prepayment against your invoices providing valuable working capital for your business
  • no minimum fees which can prove expensive when turnover dips
  • easy to calculate fees which can easily be priced into your product or service price
  • optional credit protection to protect you from bad debts

Typically my advice also includes an explanation about hidden costs as detailed in other posts on this forum but with this facility it is easy to use, transparent and easy to understand.

I quite often speak to businesses who are considering whether to use invoice finance or an overdraft. They will usually ask which is the cheapest.

In short an overdraft is almost always cheaper than an invoice finance facility. I have read on other websites that the interest rates are lower for an invoice finance facility than they are for an overdraft and I would agree. However, the interest or discounting fees on an invoice finance facility is dwarfed by the service fee costs. By way of a simple comparison an overdraft may attract a 1% arrangement fee so for a £100,000 overdraft the arrangement fee is £1,000. This is compared to a £100,000 invoice finance facility where a 1% service fee could be levied against the gross turnover of the business. If the VAT inclusive turnover is £1m then the annual service fee is £10,000.

So is an overdraft cheaper? Typically yes.

So why would a business use an invoice finance facility? In short because an overdraft is not available. Banks no longer secure overdrafts by way  debenture where the major asset is the debtor book.

Therefore for many businesses an invoice finance facility is the only option. If you are one of these businesses looking for a working capital facility to ease cash flow pressures it is important to consider your options. Whether you are factoring or invoice discounting it is important to remember that the lenders are not the same. They all have very different capabilities, criteria and pricing structures.

Factoring in London is available from several companies. The London office of Smart Factoring Quotes based in York Street is well placed to advise any company on the invoice factoring and invoice discounting options available to them.

As a London based company looking for factoring you have access to the factoring arms of the major banks along with the London based independent invoice finance companies. This includes most of the major players. Importantly you also have access to the independent factoring companies from outside London. There are some great offerings from companies based in the North such as Manchester and Leeds but also from independents based in the South East and the South West such as Bristol.

The geography of your provider should not be a major consideration. Far more important is the ability of that lender to meet the unique requirements of your business. With any type of invoice finance facility, whether it be invoice discounting or factoring the structure of the facility is everything. It will determine how well it will work for you. Pricing is obviously important but should always be second to structure.

Settlement discounts can make a very valuable contribution to the bottom line of a company. I have recently looked at 2 invoice finance requirements where the companies were looking to access cash with a view to taking advantage of settlement discounts from suppliers.

One company was able to negotiate a discount of 5% and the other was able to negotiate a discount of 3%. Given their turnover this discount made a considerable contribution to their profits. This has to be compared to this costs of an invoice finance facility but in both these instances it was a viable model for increasing profits.

It could be worth exploring what settlement discounts are available to your business from it’s suppliers. Remember to explore what invoice finance options are open to your business and be sure to understand the full costs involved.

Easy Invoice Finance are a small independent factoring company based in the North West.

My understanding is that they are part owned by Regency Factors and part owned by Rob Mercer who fronts the business.

They are commercial in terms of their underwriting and aim to be quick in their decision making.

If you would like to speak with Easy Invoice Finance or you are looking for a factoring facility it is worth speaking to Smart Factoring Quotes first for some independent and impartial advice.