August 2009 - XL Business Finance XL Business Finance

Archive for August, 2009

Finance in a recession

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

The difference between this recession and the last one is that businesses have a much wider option of finance products than they previously had. In particular there are dozens of factoring and invoice discounting businesses providing bespoke funding options.

Not only has factoring continued to thrive in the recession many Managing Directors and Finance Directors are turning to the Crown to obtain payment holidays with PAYE and VAT. Any additioanl cash flow benefit will greatly enhance chances of survival in these difficult times.

In some cases it may be necessary to restructure the business via a pr-packaged administration. Again there are so many options available to directors than there were 10 or 20 years ago.

Six months the finance market was in turmoil as many funders were reluctant to extend finance and some funders particularly the foreign owned funders pulled out of the market completely.

On a positive note providing the deal stacks up there are many business financing options available to businesses. There are still adequately funded factoring and invoice discounting business still open for business. Many of these lessor known funders can still provide support for businesses which are basically sound but have come up against financial difficulties not previously experienced. These are the businesses which the banks have been struggling to assist.

The sooner a we are advised of a problem the sooner we can explore the options and provide a recovery solution.

Tags: business financing, Factoring
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Financing A Prepack

Monday, August 10th, 2009

A prepack other wise known as a phoenix is whereby a business goes into administration with the intention of the directors purchasing the assets ofthe business in a newly formed limited company. Not all finance companies will fund prepacks so it is important that all ones ducks are in line before a business pushes the button.

It is important to have the right factoring or invoice discounting company in place. As banks more often than not will not finance prepacks it may be advisable to replace the bank owned finance company with a friendlier and more accommodating finance company. This may only work when there are no other bank borrowings. If an overdraft is in place consideration must be taken into account if notice is given to quit a factring facility as undoubtedly the bank will call in the overdraft facility.

If there are no other facilities complicating proceedings the new factoring company will replace the inflexible factoring company. AS they wll be the main debentyre holder they can appoint the administrator of your choice, fund the new co and collect in full the debtors of the old co. Seamless!

Perhaps not. Any hire purchase and finance lease deals must be taken into condsideration. It may be possible to rewrite any hire purchase or finance lease deals into the new co however not all finance companies will novate the agreements into the new. XL Business Finance has experince of helping customers replace such finance agreemnts.

Tags: Factoring, invoice discounting
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Financing A Prepack

Monday, August 10th, 2009

A prepack is otherwise known as a phoenix. A business goes into administration and the directors purchase the assets off the administrator in a prearranged agreement. Not all finance companies will finance a prepack so it is important to get the best possible advice and have all the new finance facilities in place. A good corporate insolvency firm will provide experience and guidance as to the best way forward however when it comes to arranging the new finance facilities XL Business Finance can provide some help and experience of our own.

Depending on the factoring or invoice discounting company it may be advisable to replace the existing factoring company with a more flexible funder. As it is the factoring company that more often than not appoint the administrator it is important that the factoring company appoints the administrator which will assist with the prepack. A bank appointed administrator may lead to events not going the correct way. It is also important to take into consideration any other bank facilities which may be called in if a customer tries to change factoring companies. This will have an affect on personal guarantees. We have seen instances where procedure were carried out against the advice of the administrator, notice was given to the existing bank owned factoring company and the bank called in a substantial overdraft . As you can imagine things got a bit messy.

Tags: Factoring, invoice discounting
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Guide to Refinancing

Friday, August 7th, 2009

XL Business Finance is one of the leading specialists in refinancing plant machinery and existing equipment. Refinancing existing equipment is completely different from traditional equipment finance and here are a few tips to explain and make the process a lot easier.

1. Identify why there is a need to raise additional cash

2. Provide a list of equipment and machinery to be refinanced. The age , manufacturer, model will be required as a minimum. Provide any other information which may help to increase the refinance value such as any extras, original cost, condition and usage.

3. If the equipment is the equipment subject to any finance agreements settlement figures will be required.

4. Are the existing finance agreements hire purchase or finance lease as it will make a difference to the settlement procedure and VAT treatment?

5. Are there any debenture holders? If a business has a bank overdraft or uses factoring or invoice discounting they will have a charge over the book debts and a floating charge over the assets. A debenture waiver will be required to release the assets and it is important to that the relevant funder is approached early in the decision making process.

6. Is there a Landlord? If there is a landlords waiver will be required before the equipment is refinanced. A landlords waiver will prevent the landlord from distraining against the equipment in the event of non payment of rent. It will also give the finance company a period of time to sell the equipment. A landlords waiver is usually 90 or 180 days and the longer the period the bigger the valuation.

7. WE will obtain a desk valuation. This gives us an indication of the value of all the equipment to be refinanced. XL business finance will use our expertise to get the best possible valuation. Depending on the type of equipment we will obtain different valuations from professional valuers, dealers and various finance companies.

8. Personal guarantees. These are not always essential although it will help obtain a higher loan to value. Sometimes a limited personal guarantee can be taken

9. Directors warranty. A warranty confirms the goods are free from encumbrance and ensures the goods are returned to finance company in the event of any default situation

10. Collating paperwork . Coordinating the paperwork is important to ensure the transaction is seamless from start to finish and ensures funds are drawn down as quickly as possible.

Tags: equipment finance, refinancing plant machinery
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Payroll Finance

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Word on the street is that payroll finance is going to make a comeback. Payroll finance was the short lived funding solution that provided the equivalent of two months gross payroll on a revolving credit facility.

Until recently there were two funders in the market providing payroll finance. Wageroller was the first company to stop trading and more recently Smartflow went into administration. Payroll finance albeit an expensive finance solution providing a working capital solution for businesses which maybe couldn’t obtain working capital via the more traditional funding facilities such as overdrafts, invoice discounting or factoring. The facility was ideal for businesses which worked on a contract basis such as construction companies. It was also very popular with private schools and also PLCs.

The advantages to the customer of payroll funding was that the facility was totally unsecured and no personal guarantees were required. In addition the funders were providing a finance product which was deemed to be a service and as such it was classed as a trade creditor. This would have been of particular benefit to PLCs or businesses with onerous banking covenants because the facility would not have affected any banking facilities.

If the product does make a come back it will be interesting in what guise it will take and what will be different that will make it succeed where it did not do before.

Tags: Factoring, invoice discounting, Payroll Finance
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Financing Digital Equipment

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Digital Equipment can be described as being a soft asset. In the view of any finance company wrongly or rightly digital equipment is perceived as having very little value from a security point of view. Therefore most finance companies will take a very different approach when underwriting a deal. Unless a business has a very strong balance sheet , has been long established and is very profitable most high street banks and finance companies will not finance digital equipment. In other words they view it as unsecured lending and in the current economic climate it is difficult to get finance agreed on this basis.

However there are a couple of specialist funders that as a rule of thumb will advance to the business £10,000 for every director that is a home owner. In most cases personal guarantees will be required from eack of the directors. The finance companies are calling all the shots at the moment and due to the lack of funds available in the market for every potential customer saying they will not provide personal guarantees there are probably a dozen or so saying they will give personal guarantees.

Alternatively it may be possible to refinance existing equipment to provide additional security to the finance company. XL business Finance is a speacilist in this area and asset secure deals can be structured to purchase high tech equipment. If there is still a shortfall in finance it is possible to do a deal by taking a charge over property. Specialist funders can do these deals very quickly. They don’t need business plans and projections as the banks will do. A deal can be put together as quick as it takes to obtain an authority from the first mortgagor.

Tags: refinancing existing equipment
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Stocking Finance

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Enquiries regarding stocking finance seem to be on the up. As businesses find the high street funders more and more difficult to deal with, managing directors and finance directors are continually looking for innovative ways to help with cash flow. Stocking finance is a facility normally used in conjunction with a factoring or invoice discounting facility however in cirtain circumstances it can also be funded on a stand alone basis. Not all funders do proper stocking agreements and here’s why!

Most factoring or invoice discounting companies will tell you they can fund stock. They will only do it in conjunction with a factoring or invoice discounting facility. In addition these finance companies will only fund stock as an overpayment up to amount equal to 100% of the debtor book. For example if a business is obtaining prepayments at 80% and the debtor book is at £100k a typical factoring or invoice discounting facility will generate £80k against the value of the invoices. The maximum amount they will be able to generate from stock is therefore £20k being the difference between the total debtor book and the prepayment amount. More often than not stocking finance can not be obtained on a revolving credit basis and the intitial loan is normally clawed back over 12 months from when the advance was made. A factoring company will use this overpayment secured against the stock to win new business or help the business with a one off project.

There are however a few funders that provide a true revolving credit facility secure against stock. These funders are few and far between but they doexist. Depending on the turnover, profitability and length of time the business has been trading will determine which funder we will recommended.

We also know of one funder that can potentially finance stock on a stand alone basis however as you can imagine the business would need to be well established and profitable. It may be possible to get 30p in the pound however as min facilities would be in the region of £300k a stock value of around £1m would be required.

Tags: Factoring, invoice discounting, stocking finance
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Obtaining a Commercial Mortagage in a Prepack

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Obtaining a commercial mortgage in a prepack could be an opportunity to purchase your own business premises for a significantly reduced amount. A prepack is effectively a pre organised administration. The day after a business goes into administration the directors purchase the old business off the administrator via a new company in a prearranged deal.

Although high street banks and finance companies often take a dim view of such transactions in our view it is provides the business with a clean break and the opportunity to to clear out the dead wood. Unfortunately there will always be casualties however surely a new business trading has got to be better than no business trading at all.

It is certainly possible for a the phoenix company to trade without doing an immediate deal on the property. In fact we have seen deals negotiated with the former bankers whereby the business pays a monthly rent at a much reduced amount compared to the monthly mortgage. In these difficult times commercial properties are being valued much lower than they were 12-18 months ago. Most of the lenders are keen to get some cash in the door so the situation enables the new phoenix company to make a cheeky offer. We are currently seeing businesses purchasing their own commercial property from the administrator for a much reduced amount. Although the high street banks are unlikely to finance the property in the new co there are still one or two building societies and second tier funders providing commercial mortgages. No mortgage lender will provide a facility against the value of the property. In all cases serviceability and cash flow must be proven.

Tags: commercial mortgages
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VAT & PAYE Arrears?

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

It appears more and more businesses are falling into arrears with PAYE and VAT. Although the majority of customers we help appear to be busy in terms of a full order book and reasonable sales the biggest problem is with cash flow.

Their customers are telling them they can’t pay because their customers can’t pay and so on and so forth. The lucky businesses might be able to go to their bank and obtain an increase in overdraft facility, however we are seeing more and more cases where the bank has promised an increase in overdraft and failed to deliver. Factoring or invoice discounting may release much needed working capital and it is even possible to refinance existing equipment to release equity to provide cash injection.

So what happens if there are no further means to release cash? If there is a significant amount of PAYE and VAT arrears it might be possible to obtain an arrangement with the Inland Revenue and Customs. It can be argued that a corporate recovery specialist will do a better job and can act as an intermediary between your business and the relevant authorities. In extreme cases a creditor’s voluntary arrangement or an administration might be more beneficial to the business going forward.

XL Business Finance has a great deal of expertise in providing funding in the event of an administration. The most important aspect is to appoint a friendly factoring or invoice discounting company before the administration. Even if this means taking out your existing factoring or invoice discounting company. The new factoring company will then appoint a friendly administrator to ensure the directors of the business are in the best possible position to buy the business off the administrator.

These deals are known as pre packs and are growing in popularity. In the current economic climate there are obvious advantages and businesses are using the recession as an excuse to clear out the rot and give the business a new lease of life.

Tags: Factoring, invoice discounting
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Archive for August, 2009

Finance in a recession

Financing A Prepack

Financing A Prepack

Guide to Refinancing

Payroll Finance

Financing Digital Equipment

Stocking Finance

Obtaining a Commercial Mortagage in a Prepack

VAT & PAYE Arrears?

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