0845 643 9485
Call now for expert advice

Non Recourse Factoring

Trade finance is a great product for importers of goods to the UK. When combined with an invoice factoring facility trade finance can help to finance the whole trade cycle. This means finance can be provided right the way from the confirmed order from your customer right the way through to your customer settling the invoice.

Read Full Article

Invoice finance quotes can differ dramatically.

They can differ in different ways and for different reasons and it is important to compare like with like. We have touched on this elsewhere on this forum and this article is worth a read – http://www.invoicefactoringforum.com/invoice-factoring-quotes-comparison/

However, when considering any invoice finance quote is is important to understand the following:

  • what service is actually being offered. Please remember that a full factoring offer that includes a credit control service and bad debt protection will cost less than a finance only facility.
  • have you considered total costs? different companies charge different fees beyond the headline rates of the service fee and the discounting fee. Some service fees are all inclusive while other companies charge for nearly everything on top of the service fee.
  • What is the quality of the service? Remember you get what you pay for.
  • Is the structure of the facility right for your company? If not then no matter how cheap it is you are wasting your money.

I feel it is important to find the right structure and then properly evaluate total costs to allow a genuine comparison.

 

I see a lot of clients who insist from the outset that they want an invoice discounting facility but most of them don’t actually know why.

Invoice discounting is available and importantly it is more readilily available than it used to be. However, factoring is the easier facility to obtain is it represents lower risk to the lender.

So what can invoice discounting offer?

Confidentiality – yes invoice discounting can be confidential but some companies insist on a disclosed facility. Factoring, however, can also be a confidential facility or a disclosed facility.

Control – some companies prefer to keep the credit control in-house rather than outsourcing to a factoring company. So invoice discounting allows a business to maintain control over the credit control function. However, so does a CHOCS facility which is a type of factoring facility.

Cost – many feel that invoice discounting is cheaper. Certainly for larger businesses I would agree. However, at lower levels of turnover there is probably not a lot in it.

Rather than deciding that invoice discounting is what you want I think it is important to consider the structure of your facility, the characteristics you want and then the costs of such a facility.

We were recently approached by a haulage business based in Glasgow who wanted to review their facility. It was a very nice business and they advised that they had only ever reviewed their facility with the Scottish banks. Given the recent well publicised problems they wanted to look at other alternatives. It should also be stated that they are a Scottish registered company.

While we knew the companies that could provide factoring Glasgow to a Scottish registered company we decided to go back to the market to see if anyone new had this capability. We were delighted to see that a few new lenders now had the capability to help businesses based in Scotland and were very keen to do so.

In short we were able to source a very competitive facility for our client.

If you are a business based in Glasgow or anywhere else in Scotland it really is worth exploring what opportunities are available to you.

Debt factoring is not the best of terms when speaking about invoice factoring or factoring. However, it is a commonly used term.

In essence debt factoring, factoring and invoice factoring are all the same thing.

If you have invoices or debts outstanding from your customers then you can release valuable cash by debt factoring. factoring companies will pay you up to 90% of the gross invoice value and they will give you the balance when your customer pays.

I am quite often approached by clients who insist on using confidential facilities. The reasons for this can be varied and I always try to accomodate their requirement.

Traditionally confidential invoice finance has been hard to obtain as the only product available was confidential invoice discounting. The criteria for this were quite rigid and it was reserved for large, profitable business with a good finance and administration function.

The good news is that confidential facilities are now more readily available than ever. This makes the life of an invoice finance broker much easier as it means we have a wider range of products to offer clients based on their unique requirements.

Confidential facilities now include confidential factoring, confidential CHOCS there is a new confidential product due to be launched in January 2012 which we are quite excited about.

Invoice Finance is available in Newcastle from a large selection of lenders.

The challenge is to find the best lender to meet the needs of your Newcastle based business.

This will depend on a large number of factors including your financial status, turnover, sector, how you raise invoices and who your customers are. Each invoice finance company has their own individual criteria and characteristics and because of this there will be on particular lender who is best suited to meet your needs.

Smart Factoring Quotes understand each lenders criteria and capabilities. This allows us to source the best possible facility for your business.

We have recently been approach by several businesses in and around Birmingham who are looking for factoring facilities. Being based in Birmingham has some serious advantages as it means that virtually every factoring company in the UK can service businesses there as they are so central in terms of location.

The challenge for any business based in Birmingham is choosing the right lender. Not all factoring facilities are the same – far from it. As most require a contract to be signed it is important you choose the right factoring facility and lender.

Invoice finance companies each have their own target market and this will be based on business turnover, sector, geography, debtor profile, etc.