Invoice Factoring: A Complete Guide for Small Businesses

This would result in a difficult and expensive collections process involving both the bank and the business doing invoice financing with the bank. Instead of selling your invoices to a factoring company, you use the invoices as collateral to get a cash advance and you remain responsible for collecting payment on the invoices. Did you know that you can allow customers to pay What is invoice factoring you back directly on a Wave invoice through Wave Payments? Accepting online payments through Wave Payments helps you get paid faster, with customers typically paying you back in as little as one or two business days. Invoice factoring is a saving grace for many industries, from transportation and staffing to small and mid-size businesses as well as government contractors.

Greater security – Banks are more secure and provide a sense of financial stability for the business. A business’s clients are very valuable relationships and a bank offers a level of comfort not found in independent alternative financing companies like BlueVine or Fundbox. Clients feel better about interacting with a bank than an unfamiliar or unknown business entity. Most companies need to be profitable to stay in business — i.e., their revenues must exceed their expenses. If a company has customers with extended payment terms it can make it difficult for them to meet their financial obligations.

Once you are approved to work with the factor, you can sell your outstanding receivables in order to boost working capital and avoid the delay of long payment terms. The factoring company verifies your invoices, funds up to 90% of the invoice face value, then collects on those invoices directly from your customers (via a notice of assignment). Once the factor collects from the end customer on the standard payment terms, they release the remainder of the invoice value to you, minus a small factoring fee – typically one to five percent. Because it’s a sale, not a loan, it doesn’t impact your credit like traditional bank financing. To prevent any confusion, the term “factoring” is often used interchangeably with “accounts receivable financing”.

Pros and cons of factoring

In this way, invoice factoring helps you get cash quickly by eliminating the need to wait for your customers to pay. Invoice discounting is a type of invoice financing in which a business owner secures a loan using invoices as collateral. Now, even though you’ve sold a lot of goods, you don’t have the immediate cash flow to pay your employees, because you haven’t received your payments yet. When ABC raises an invoice for $15,000, XYZ advances the company 80% of the value of the invoice, i.e., $12,000. XYZ then chases in payment from the original customer, after which it sends the remaining invoice value to ABC with the factoring fee deducted. Buyers, for example, can use different methods to support their suppliers by offering early payment for their invoices.

• Invoice factoring can give you a chance to save valuable time and jump on unexpected opportunities that require cash in hand, fast.
• While factoring offers greater flexibility, A/R financing has more strictness around the credit profile.
• In the early 1300s & 1400s, traders lent money against the delivery of trade goods.

The factoring company then advances your business a portion of the money you’re owed on the invoice (typically 80% to 90%). After your business is approved to work with a factoring company, you identify the individual invoices you want to borrow against. The factoring company then vets the client to make sure they have a strong history of paying their invoices.

The Disadvantages of Invoice Financing

These distinct types have been developed and tailored to serve the needs of specific purposes or industries. Consider invoice factoring if you invoice your customers but need cash to tide you over until they pay. It’s a quick and easy way to get paid faster and speed up your cash flow, so you have more money on hand for expenses and the investments that help your business grow. But it’s also important to evaluate if invoice factoring is right for you, and weigh other strategies you can explore to get paid faster. Invoice financing is a popular funding option for businesses globally.

Once the customer pays the invoice to the factoring company, the factoring company will then pay the business owner the rest of the invoice balance, minus the agreed upon fee of 1% to 4%. Invoice factoring may be provided either with recourse or without recourse. With recourse factoring, the company remains liable if customers fail to pay their invoices, meaning that cash would need to be returned to the factor.

Cash flow and liquidity can be an issue for many recruitment agencies. Invoice factoring lenders can advance recruitment agencies with the money they need to bankroll their contractors in a timely fashion. As a contractor, you benefit from invoice factoring because you can count on getting paid on time, every time. Yes, invoice factoring is a great solution for startups that are beginning to establish themselves in their sector. To be eligible for invoice factoring, you must be a business invoicing other businesses with a minimum turnover of £50,000. Invoice factoring is relatively quick and easy to set up, especially in comparison to other forms of financing in the UK.

How to work with an invoice factoring company

A lack of cash could also keep a business from paying its own vendors on time or from seizing an opportunity such as working with a major new retailer in time for the holidays or expanding internationally. Cash-strapped companies have little choice but to make short-term decisions that may cut off or limit long-term opportunities. This last point is worth highlighting, because when you factor an invoice, you effectively sell that invoice to the factoring company and give up any right to collect payment yourself. Even though you can’t ensure the collection of the invoice, the interest you pay is based on how long it takes your client to pay the invoice. Invoice factoring is best used to cover very short-term capital needs. With weekly factor fees and target collection periods of 90 days and under, invoice factoring is ideal for covering operational costs.

Once the customer has paid, the company pays back the invoice discounting company, plus interest. Invoice factoring is the purchase of accounts receivable for immediate cash. Invoice factoring gives businesses the power to ensure growth without diluting equity or incurring debt.

Recourse vs non-recourse factoring

Invoice factoring is different from a loan because you aren’t accumulating more debt and you don’t need to fulfil a multitude of requirements. Traditional financing institutions will typically ask for more security and collateral than factoring companies. Sonovate offers its clients bad debt protection on 95% of their net invoice value. This means your cash flow can remain unaffected and healthy even if a debtor fails to finance their invoice.

Nevertheless, if a client doesn’t pay an invoice, either you or the factoring company takes responsibility for the outstanding payment. Credit insurance will only pay out your unpaid invoices if the debtor cannot pay due to insolvency. It’s more of a guarantee against customer risk than a financing route. Debt factoring allows you to cover your expenses and helps fuel growth in a sustainable manner. This type of financing offers recruitment agencies a more flexible solution to short-term cash flow problems.

This speed of funding provides immediate financial relief to businesses in financial distress, increased cash flow for businesses in growth mode, and flexibility to support a transition or expansion. But the overall advantages of factoring invoices are far greater than the speed of funding. Non-recourse factoring is a no-risk option to protect the client business should a customer (the debtor) fail to pay their invoice for reasons of insolvency or bankruptcy. In this circumstance, the client company retains the advanced funds and is free and clear of encumbrances. Meanwhile, the factoring company is responsible for absorbing the loss of the unpaid invoice. For this reason, non-recourse factoring costs more than recourse factoring.

By leveraging our invoice factoring services, you receive up to 100% of your invoice value almost instantly, whilst we take over the hassle of chasing your payments. Once your debtor pays the outstanding amount, we release all remaining payments. To assess whether invoice factoring is right for your business, make sure to consider your business goals, financing needs, and the value of your unpaid invoices.

It's possible this would be the last time this would need to be done too. With invoice factoring, it is common practice for businesses to receive only a portion of the full value of the invoice. After the client has paid the invoice in full, minus the fees, the factor then sends the remaining advancement back to you. Some businesses might need their funds soon and be willing to sacrifice part of the invoice value, but losing out on a percentage of high value invoices can really hurt in the long run. Contract factoring is common, but less beneficial for small businesses because they have a variety of clients who pay using different terms or may have changes in financing.

You must sell to customers on credit so that you have outstanding invoices to factor. By enabling access to cash earlier than the invoice due dates, invoice factoring is helpful for businesses that need a quick injection of cash. ‍Let’s say you have an outstanding invoice worth $15,000, which you decide to sell to a factoring company. The factor rate is 4% and initial advance is 85% of invoice value after fee. Invoice financing refers to the use of invoices to provide capital to businesses. Your business need cash flow in order to build and grow your business.

Factoring Period

After your client has paid on the invoice, the factoring company gives you the remainder of what it agrees to pay you. Well-known factoring companies include altLINE, RTS Financial, and FundThrough. Some banks provide factoring services—you can check if your local bank does.

The best invoice factoring companies work directly with your customers to collect payments on your invoices. You’ll need to ensure that the factoring company you choose is ethical, fair, and respectful. Triumph Business Capital is a proud member of the International Factoring Association (IFA), and strictly adheres to the IFA’s code of ethics. With non-recourse factoring, the factor assumes all the risk of collecting the debt. That’s a lower-risk option for small businesses that can’t absorb the cost of unpaid invoices, but it does cost slightly more than recourse factoring.

With invoice factoring, you sell your unpaid invoices to the factoring company and they collect payment directly from your customers. You also likely will receive 60-95% of the invoice value, not the entire amount. Both invoice factoring and invoice financing use unpaid invoices to secure immediate cash.