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Invoice Finance

Recruitment finance can be used by temporary recruitment companies to finance the growth of their business. It also allows the outsourcing of various back office functions. This form of recruitment finance allows recruitment companies to expand with the confidence that they can pay wages and the confidence that their administration will be done efficiently and professionally.

Recruitment finance will pay up to 100% of the invoice value the day after invoices are raised. This means that weekly wage demands can easily be met without having to worry if your clients are going to pay on time.

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Smart Factoring Quotes have updated their new website to include a new and improved quotation tool.

As an independent and impartial invoice finance broker, Smart Factoring Quotes are keen to attract businesses looking for a new finance facility or a business looking to review their existing facility.

The new improved quotation tool takes into account the criteria of your business and provides a quotation that is bespoke to your business.

The quotation tool is also now accessible from each and every page on the website.

We often get asked to recommend the best invoice finance company. I thought I would look at what makes a good invoice finance company.

In part it is a case of horses for courses. Some lenders are well suited to small businesses while others are better suited to larger businesses. The same goes for different sectors, different geographic locations and different scenarios.

Common complaints with lenders surround poor service levels. I must admit in some cases it is simply because the lender has said no to a client. Sometimes this is justified and in other instances it just seems like a lazy answer rather than doing some work to solve a problem.

Some lenders genuinely pride themselves on top quality service levels and customer satisfaction. This however can be a double edged sword as the same lenders can be described as expensive in comparison to lenders who cut corners and provide a poor service.

Communication is a key factor. As an invoice finance broker I can fully appreciate this. It seems like the most basic concept in any business relationship but I am often left amazed at how many lenders simply fail to return calls or e-mails both with myself and clients.

They say that service is inseparable from the people that provide it. This means that staff within invoice finance companies need to be engaged and happy. This comes as a result of fair remuneration, good training, clear goals and a good environment to work in. Some lenders clearly provide this while I know that others simply don’t. It may be a bit of a generalisation but the lenders that treat their staff properly also seem to be the 0ones that treat their clients properly.

It is interesting to see certain invoice finance providers now using specialist departments to deal with businesses that operate in the construction sector.

In part this is really good news for businesses that are definitely a part of the construction sector. If they are very much entrenched in contractual debt, applications for payment and stage payments then a lot of businesses would not have a suitable cash flow solution. Now they at least have an option albeit an expensive one with low prepayments. That said it is probably structured and priced according to risk although part of me feels in some instances lenders are taking advantage where they feel they are the only lender willing to assist.

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Confidential invoice discounting is the ideal invoice finance product for businesses that want to do their own credit control and do not want their customers to know that invoices are being funded. Confidential invoice discounting provides businesses with working capital and will prepay up to 90% of the gross invoice value.

Confidential invoice discounting can however be very hard to come by due to the criteria invoice finance companies put in place.

Lenders look beyond the basic invoice finance criteria of selling to other businesses on credit terms and invoicing in arrears of delivery. Lenders will look more carefully at a businesses financial performance and they expect a robust balance sheet. Equally important are the processes that a business employs to collect in outstanding invoices.

 

Recruitment Finance is a new site that has been launched by the Cash Flow Solutions group.

While it is still under development it will provide an in depth guide on what facilities are available for recruitment companies.

Recruitment companies typically access recruitment finance to allow them to pay wages of their temps. This can take the form of a simple invoice discounting facility, a factoring facility with the added benefit of a credit control service or a full back office solution that provides a full back office service.

Import finance is used to facilitate the import of goods and their subsequent sale.

We typically use a combination of trade finance and invoice factoring to structure a finance facility that funds the entire trade cycle.

On the back of a confirmed order we can provide a finance facility that will pay your supplier and will finance the transaction right up to your customer settling your invoice.

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.