Need working capital but dont want your customers knowing that you are factoring? Confidential factoring provides the best of both worlds. For businesses which are not eligible for full undisclosed invoice discounting but need some form of credit control confidential factoring could provide the perfect funding solution. The finance company will provide a dedicated credit controller phoning in your company name. This provides the funder more comfort and control and will enable them to provide the confidential facility that you require that otherwise may not have been available. XL Business Finance has been providing factoring advise and solutions for over 10 years. Call Mark  Redman on 07748 635206 to find out how we can help your business.

The new alternative to a bank overdraft!

A social care and staffing agency had traded successfully for 10 years however a change in the way  local authorities and PCTs pay their invoices caused a gap in working capital. With up to 70 staff paid weekly they could not wait for up to 6 weeks for their invoices to be paid. They approached their bank who could only offer limited options. XL Business Finance were able to recommend a flexible overdraft facility. This facility was arranged in a timely and efficient manner at a costing comparable to a bank overdraft, all without the business having to move their existing banking arrangements

Directors of companies that use HMRC as one of their bankers should take note of a recent tribunal known as ” Roberts”, about their potential personal liability for unpaid PAYE /NIC contributions

In short the finance director was served with a personal liability notice for PAYE and NIC which were deducted from wages but not paid. More details available if required. This need not happen with the correct advice and funding possibilities. There are many alternative business finance  to bank funding such as flexible invoice finance, EFG funding asset refinance and sale and lease back of intangible assets using directors pension pots.

XL Business Finance has been providing alternative funding solutions for over 12 years

With banks continuing to squeeze customers we believe XL Business Finance is well placed to relieve the pressure! Refinancing plant and machinery  is  one of our key services and areas of expertise. Currently this is being used to great effect in a number of sectors. Printing, engineering, transport and any other industry sectors  that uses plant and machinery can benefit.  We are convinced that many of our customers if asked , would benefit from a £25k, £50k, £100k, £250k or even more capital injection without having to go back to the bank cap in hand to their bank!

Need an overdraft but don’t want to move banks. It is now possible to obtain flexible stand alone business overdraft. XL Business Finance now has access to a very unique business finance facility that allows you to withdraw up to 50% of your average sale ledger in the form of an overaft facility which runs alongside your current banking arrangements. It is a new and simple funding solution designed to help your business access cash it needs to run, develop and grow.  Click here for further information or contact us direct.

It is now possible to provide your business with a lump sum of cash based on your future credit card/debit card  sales. Advances vary depending on the level of monthly takings via your PDQ machine and are usually repayable over 6 months. Because this lump sum is paid back at variable amounts linked to your monthly sales, it can help you manage your cash flow and deal with any fluctuations with your business. Funds can be used for just about any purpose and provides an alternative form of business finance for any type of business which uses a PDQ machine. I need a quote

XL Business Finance has recently been involved with the refinancing of a Bentley Continental GT. A local businessman struggling with his bank needed cash to fund his growing business. It transpires that in doing this deal the finance company has an expertise in the luxury car market and has recently transacted a £0.5m refinance sale and hire purchase back for a very special Ferrari. Specialist funders use top experts to asses value and title to vehicles ensuring the very best funding is provided.

We normally think of sale and leaseback or sale and HP back facilities only being available for heavy plant and machinery such as engineering and printing equipment. For the right reasons it is possible to refinance rare and valuable antiques. A half million pound refinance facility has been transacted against antiquities and a hundred thousand pounds has been raised against Andy Warhol paintings. Not all finance companies are able to provide such facilities but it is worth knowing if the need arises.  XL Business Finance has access to many bespoke finance products

Sugar CRM. Ever heard of it? It’s like candy for your customers…thus the name entails. It’s a great way to boost sales for your business, retain customers, and actually save money while doing so.

Here are the top 5 features that might make you consider using Sugar:

1. It’s affordable. Their most popular plan – the ‘professional version’ is only $540 per year per user. That’s equivalent to only $45 per month. It has a lower cost of entry and its open platform is cloud-based allowing for it to be cheaper than most on-premise solutions. Needless to say, it’s a cost-effective way to stay engaged with your customers and give them what they love – a little sugar.
2. Options and flexibility. SugarCRM offers customizations galore! It integrates fluidly with many of the current CRM products you may be using. Sugar uses common language, utilizes SOAP and REST API and there’s no hidden fees or limitations which gives you greater control. There’s also a myriad of add-ons that can be used with Sugar. Not to mention…SugarCRM also works in an open environment, giving you more control of your company’s future and saving you money while doing so.
3. It’s social! There’s an Activity Streams dashlet that allows you to see Facebook friends’/fans’ news feeds, see who you should get connected with on LinkedIn, and read tweets of all the people you follow in the dashlet. The platform also lets you add a Twitter handle to a contact or lead and read their tweets directly in the contact or lead record. Lastly, Sugar also has great e-mail integration, letting you sync contacts, calendars and tasks from Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Lotus Notes and pretty much any IMAP mail server.
4. Collaboration and Project Management. Sugar delivers a full project management solution combined with the sales management, marketing automation, and customer support used by employees to manage customer-centric activities. These capabilities allow users to deploy projects across all customer-facing tasks, including campaigns, opportunities, accounts, and customer cases. Since project management is integrated with Sugar’s customer information, users no longer need to be concerned with redundant or inaccurate information, lost customer data, poor information sharing, or lack of user adoption.
5. It’s Mobile! Sales teams surely love this feature as they’re often on-the-go. Sugar allows you to access client information from your tablet or Smartphone and also lets you add info in real time. This means that if you’re at an event and encounter a lead, you can seamlessly add their information to Sugar mobile and your sales team can have an e-mail to them in minutes!

For further business improvement ideas please contact Roger Brown from nuOrder Limited, a leading business consultancy working with many award winning clients.
See www.nuOrder.co.uk

Business doesn’t happen, you make it!

BACS, the payment company states that UK SMEs are  were owed £3bn in late payments which is a record since records began and 10% up from last year. Invoice finance and in particular factoring maybe a valuable tool in helping combat late payers. Not only will a full factoring service provide  cash against up paid invoices but it will also provide a full credit control facility leaving you free to go and run your business.

Small firms are owed an average of £39k and have to wait two months to be paid. The worst payers are large firms responsible for 48% of all late payments and the best payers are the government and not for profit organisations. If you feel that late payers are restricting your business factoring could be the perfect solution