News on the high street today is that we are finally out of the recession. This is great news however don’t expect the banks to suddenly ease up on their underwriting criteria. We believe that it will be many months possibly years before the banks get back to where we were before all this kicked off.
It is now possible for certain new start businesses to offered full confidential invoice discounting. As we know confidential invoice discounting will release up to 85% of any unpaid invoices. As invoice finance can grow with the business it is much more preferable than any bank overdraft which tends to stay at a fixed level. In addition a bank overdraft is repayable at any time therefore invoice discounting provides a much safer option in terms of stability.
We are seeing many businesses being forced by their banks to use factoring as opposed to more risky invoice discounting. This is usually following some adverse trading conditions where the bank wish to keep a tighter grip on the business. The good news is that there are still one or two independent based finance companies that would rather fund via confidential invoice discounting rather than factoring.
Invoice discounting is the ability to raise up to 85-90% of a businesses unpaid invoices. There are approximately fifty or so providers based in the UK all offering a similar service. As explained in other posts not all finance companies are the same and as such great care should be taken when choosing a finance company. Most invoice discounting facilities can be run on line and at the end of the day the client will send a copy of their sales day book to the discounter. The discounter will then make available 85% of the invoices available for draw down by the client. The client runs the sales ledger and collection and makes telephone calls to chase the debt. The client collects payments from their customer and pays the money into a trust account. The discounter collects the funds from the trust account and pays back the remaining fiftenn percent less the charges for running the facility.
Invoice discounting is only one of several invoice finance products available in the market place. Invoice discounting is mainly provided on a confidential basis and as such is commonly known as confidential invoice discounting. How it works is that a customers will raise an invoice in the usual manner and post a copy to the finance company. the finance company will then make a percentage of the invoice available to the business typically 80%. All this can be viewed on line and different finance companies have slightly different systems and procedures when your customer pays you the finance company is repaid and a small fee is paid to the funder.
Imagine the financial flexibility of invoice discounting combined with the added benefit of bad debt protection. It is no wonder that seventy five percent of the enquiries we get are from customers wishing to insure their debts. However as with any factoring or invoice discounting, there is so many different financial institutions to choose from. XL Business Finance has been helping customers choose the most suitable funding partner for over ten years.
Not all invoice discounting companies are the same. This is especially true if there is a certain amount of contractual debt within your invoicing procedure. Contractual debt is most relevant in the construction sector whereby invoice are produced at certain stages within a project. There are only two invoice finance companies that are capable of handling contractual debt and both are very different finance companies indeed
Invoice discounting are two completely different funding products. Although most finance companies will offer both facilities not all finance companies are great at doing both. Altough both funding products will release cash against unpaid invoices and potentially give you the financial freedom to grow or develop or indeed just survive in the current economic climate. Factoring is traditionally provided with full credit control whereas invoice discounting is provided on a confidential basis.
A question that we get asked most regularly. The simple answer is that it depends on the particular needs of each customer. It also depends on the length of time the business has been trading , is it profitable and the quantity and quality of the ledger. If it is a very clean ledger ( or debtor book ) in that it is not difficult to collect payments then in theory there should be many finance companies to choose from.
Hardly no surprises that any business currently using a factoring or invoice discounting facility with LLoyds bank may be having their credit lines severely restricted. XL Business Finance has seen three customers this week all wishing to move from LLoyds due to a restriction in cash availability. On Tuesday this week LLoyds bank announced the loss of 4500 jobs some of which will go in the collections department. We are unclear if itis from their cash flow arm LLoyds TSB Commercial Finance however the bank is obviously under pressure and as such we are starting to see businesses being affected by their noncommercial view.
XL Business Finance Ltd is a privately owned and independent business financing company with established links to many of the UK's leading finance houses. XL Business Finance provides a viable alternative to high street banks that lack the flexibility and imagination to provide a solution to most business users requirements. XL Business Finance can provide a full range of business financing solutions and we ensure a high level of customer service and pride ourselves on quick decisions. Our independent status will ensure any offer of funding and asset finance leasing is best suited to our customer’s needs.
XL Business Finance, Eaton Place Business Centre, 114 Washway Road, Sale, Cheshire M33 7RF UK.
