Factoring is a type of business transaction whereby a firm gets to sell its invoices to a factor (a third party). The main reason that companies take this step is so that they can acquire funding at a more convenient time than wait for months awaiting payments from debtors. A/R financing may also be used to refer to accounts receivable factoring.
The nature and terms involved in factoring is quite different among various industries as well as financial services providers. Most financing firms tend to buy invoices and provide you with the required money within a short duration of time. Based on credit history of your customers, industry, among other criteria, the rate advanced lies between 80% and 95%.
A factor is likely to provide you with back-office support. Upon making collections from your debtors, a factor will provide you with payment of the reserve invoice balances and deduct a fee for taking a collection risk. What makes financing beneficial is that you will not have to wait long for payments from customers as you can get cash to run and grow your business. This funding method is quite different from bank loans and it does not assume debts. Funds are not restricted and will provide flexibility to a company.
There are various reasons as to why factoring stands out as a valuable financial tool for most businesses. The main benefit is that it provides a quicker boost to cash flows. Majority of the financing firms provide cash within a 24-hour duration. Through this, short-term cash flow hitches are easily solved and the growth of the business is ensured.
Factoring is a type of funding that has been existences over millenniums. It is believed to have originated from early international trades. The method was adopted in England in the early 1400s. The pilgrims later introduced it to the US in the 1600s. Financing continues to evolve just like other financial tools.
Companies irrespective of type or size can opt this financing method in order to boost up their cash flow. The funds generated by financing are used by companies to settle inventory costs, employ new staffs, add new equipment, widen their operations and cater for all operational costs.
The total amount that factoring provides is normally dependent on the uniqueness of a business needs. There are firms that are known to factor all the invoices, while other are known to factor only invoices that are to take long. The amount receivable ranges from few thousands to several millions monthly.
Connor G. Schiffman has 27 years of experience in commercial lending including factoring, asset based lending, and banking. Connor helps readers manuver through all the account receivable options providing practical and useful knowledge to better understand all your lending options. If you want to learn more about Invoice Discounting he recommends you check out www.receivablefactoring.net.