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Archive for the ‘Factoring’ Category

What do I do if my bank withdraws my factoring facility

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Although the high street banks all say that their doors are open for business in reality this couldn’t be further from the truth. What is happening at the moment is that the banks are looking at their portfolios very closely in deed. If a business steps out of line in terms of how they operate their factoring facility , they post a bad set of results the high street banks are proving to be very in flexible. In truth before the recession they were probably taking on too many customers than they should hve done. As a result service levels dropped and now that the economy has taken a turn for the worse they cannot manage their accounts as they should.

The result is that Banks are looking for excuses to clean up their portfolios. At XL Business Finance we are seeing more and more businesses that have been given notice to change to a new factoring company. Although this will be a worry for many businesses the good news is that are plenty of finance companies that are actively looking for the customers that the high street banks do not wish to keep on their books. XL Business Finance has the experience and knowledge of the UK factoring market to help you find a new finance company.

We will make sure that your new company will provide you with the service and flexibility that your business will require. Any independent factoring company will provide a much better service than any high street bank. Depending on your own particular circumstances and geographical location we will ensure that you get talking to the most appropriate finance company.

Tags: Factoring, factoring company
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Invoice discounting or factoring ?

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

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.

Factoring can be provided for businesses with turnover as little as £80,000. In order to be eligible for invoice discounting turnover will need to be at least £250k. Up until a few years ago unless your business had turnover of at least £1.0m then there would be absolutely no chance of obtaining an invoice discounting facility. However when different finance companies were vying for business in the good old days before the credit crunch this minimum turnover became lower and lower.

Invoice discounting is provided on a confidential basis which means your customers are unaware that the finance company is providing funding against yourinvoices. Therefore from the funders point of view the facility is more risky than factoring as potentially the facility is more open to abuse in terms of fraud and raising fictitious invoices. Therefore a business must be profitable ,long established and have well established credit control procedures in order to qualify for invoice discounting.

Factoring is always provided on a disclosed basis and your customers will be aware that the finance company is providing funding against your invoices. More often than not the factoring company will provide a full credit control service. Therefore the finance company has a much greater grasp and control on your finances and as such they are happy to provide funding for new start businesses , businesses which are loss making and businesses which have a relatively small turnover.

Tags: Factoring, invoice discounting
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Factoring Company

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Factoring is simply the means of releasing cash against unpaid invoices and providing the financial freedom to grow your business. Any search of the internet will show hundreds of businesses offering factoring services. So how do you know which one to choose and which ones to avoid? Factoring is not just about providing cash and financial freedom, it is very much about adding value. Credit control is a very important part of the sevice and differnt finance companies are better at it than others. XL Business finance is an independent finance company and has provided impartial advice to many happy clients as to which factoring company will best suit their particular needs.

Factoring can be provided by banks and independent finance companies. The banks factoring service tends to be less personal than a independent factoring company. With a small independent factoring tends to be their core business and as such you are never more than a call away from a decision maker. Therefore an independent can sometimes provide a more hands approach particularly if there have been any trading issues along the way. It is also worth considering factoring provides a credit control service so it is worth discussing how differnt finance companies perform in this area. Banks tend to chase the top few customers by telephone and the rest by letter. Not such a good idea in view of the current post strikes. Certain independent factoring companies chase all their customers by phone. The service fee may be slightly more expensive however as one customer said to us recently ” we should have gone with a smaller more flexible but slightly more expensive factoring company and had more cash in the bank to use for working capital.”

Another consideration is your geographic location as the independents tend to regionalised and such some are stronger than others in certain areas. It is also worth noting that some bank owned factoring companies have their credit control and customer account managers and payment centres in different parts of the country. It is worth discussing these issues with an experienced factoring broker!!!

Tags: Factoring, independent finance company
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Confidential Factoring

Monday, October 26th, 2009

The ability to release 90% of unpaid invoices before they are due can provide a massive cash flow benefit to any business. However for many businesses it is important to obtain a degree of confidentiality to maintain a good client rapport. Traditionally confidential invoice discounting would have been the chosen product however n the credit crunch and recession it is more difficult to obtain a confidential facility. Could confidential factoring be the answer to your problems?

Confidential invoice discounting is traditionally for long established and profitable businesses with turnover over £0.5m. A business can release up to 90% of their unpaid invoices simply by sending copies of their invoices to the finance company. The finance company is in effect trusting the business not to supply and fake invoices hence the business has to be trading well and be profitable.

Whilst traditional factoring can release cash your customers will be aware of the factoring company involvement as you will request on your invoice payment be made direct to the factoring company. This can be unacceptable for some businesses who like to keep their funding affairs private.

Confidential factoring is in effect a half way house. A trust account is set up in the name of the business where customers payments are sent to. In addition the factoring company will have a dedicated phone line in the customers name and all credit control will be made in the customers name. In this way the factoring company maintain control of the account and the customer is happy as confidentiality is maintained. This facility is particular useful for businesses which have been used to confidential invoice discounting but due to a change in circumstances no longer qualify.

Tags: Confidential factoring, confidential invoice discounting
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Factoring in a Prepack

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

In the current economic climate we are faced with the unfortunate fact that many struggling businesses will be forced to go through a pre planned administration or pre pack. In doing so a business may have a fresh start and typically the victims will be the crown , financial institutions and unfortunately some creditors and members of staff. It is a harsh reality of the recession but in our opinion it is better that a business be given a second chance to continue trading rather than the business folding completely. However any business going through a prepackaged administration will have fewer funding options.

Unfortunately most of the high street banks will not finance a prepack or phoenix company. Therefore many businesses are left wondering what finance options are available. There are only a handful of commercial mortgage options available and good luck with any business trying novate hire purchase or finance lease agreements into a new co. XL Business Finance has the expertise and experience in helping phoenix businesses with their asset finance agreements. On a more positive note there is a plethora of factoring companies, usually independent from the high street banks that are willing and able to fund your debtor book.

However the options in terms of products will be fewer and no factoring company will offer a confidential invoice discounting facilities. The options will be factoring facility with full credit control, a factoring whereby the customer can do the credit control themselves and in certain circumstances it may be possible to obtain a confidential factoring facility. To find out which product will be best suit your particular requirements and which factoring company will delver the best service XL Business Finance has over 10 years of advising and helping many satisfied customers.

Tags: Factoring
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Switching Factoring Company

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

The ability to release cash against unpaid invoices undoubtedly can have a positive impact on the cash flow of a business. The extra cash can provide the freedom to grow the business and the added value of having someone chase your debts will also provide a massive bonus and a boost to the business. Typically a factoring facility can release up to 90% of your unpaid invoices with the added benefit of credit control. However if things are not working out how easy or difficult is it to switch factoring companies?

There are so many factoring companies to choose from and not all factoring companies are the same. Some are bank owned, some are independent PLCs and some are small private companies. Which is the best factoring company for you will depend on the turnover, the length of time you have been trading and the profitability for your business. In addition factoring is very much a value added service. Factoring can provide credit control on the back of the funding your invoices. As such there are two elements to the charging. An interest rate at around 1-3 over bank base rate is applied to the money you borrow and there is a service fee for the credit control. For the smaller business this starts at a couple of hundrded pounds per month. The cost of using a factoring company for credit control can be very cost effective compared with the cost of employing a full time credit controller.

However as factoring is not as simple as just borrowing money there are occasions when the relationship between the factoring company and business breaks down to the point that the customer has no option but to seek a new factor. The most difficult part of changing factoring companies is that the charges can be onerous especially if a new contract has been signed. Sometimes with some careful negotiation these amounts can be reduced however it is best timing any move to coincide with the expiry of any contract. It is not unusual for factoring companies to have a 3 months notice period so this must be taken into consideration as well. In addition if you factor with the bank and they have a overdraft as well as a factoring facility the overdraft maybe withdrawn if they are loosing the factoring. A good independent factoring broker may be able to add some value in any transfer as many of us know many of he funders very well and sometimes we can have some influence over the exiting factoring company.

Tags: Factoring, independent factoring broker
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Factoring for a small Business

Friday, October 16th, 2009

There are literally dozens of factoring companies, some bank owned and many others are independent. A well run factoring facility can provide a cash lifeline by providing funding against unpaid invoices. The ability to unlock this cash provides the financial freedom that a business requires to develop and grow. However in these difficult times the choosing the wrong factoring company can be the difference between a business succeeding or failing. It is even more important for the small business because the wrong choice of factoring company can potentially lead to devastating consequences. So how do you select the best factoring company?

Most businesses with turnover of less than £500,000 will be required to factor their debts. Factoring not only provides cash against unpaid invoices it also provides a credit control system for the business. There are two elements to the charge. The cost of borrowing the money which is usually charged at a percentage over bank base rate or libor and a service fee which is usually a percentage of turnover. Depending on the complexity of the business ,the number of invoices and turnover the service fee can start a a couple of hundred pounds a month or from 0.5% -2% of the total turnover.

Not all factoring companies are the same. Factoring is very much a service driven product and some providers are better than others. Other than providing cash sometimes we forget that if the credit control of the factoring company is not up to scratch than there is no point choosing the cheapest provider if they cannot collect the cash. At XL Business Finance we know which factoring companies will telephone all your customers ensuring the cash is collected on time. Many of the bank operated factoring companies will only telephone the top few debtors leaving the rest to be chased by post. Also the number of customers will also impact on service. The geographical location must also be taken into consideration as certain factoring companies are better in certain parts of the country. A good independent factoring broker will be able to guide you through the factoring maize.

Tags: fctoring, independent factoring company
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Why use a Factoring Broker

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

XL Business Finance is one of the UK’s leading independent factoring company. We save our clients time and money choosing the right finance company. The good news is as well is that our service is totally free.

There are literally dozens of UK based factoring and invoice discounting companies so how can you be sure the finance company you choose is the best one to suit your particular needs? During our initial free consultation with our customers we can quickly determine which two or three finance companies will be best suited to our customers. WE use our 10 years experience within the industry and base our decision on the age of a business, its turnover, how profitable the business is or is not, and whether there are any other unique requirements within the facility required. For example there are only one or two finance companies that will fund contractual debt and construction companies. Whether there is any international trade or importing and exporting will also have an influence on the decision.

Therefore we use our experience to make one or two recommendations and we believe that this saves our customers considerable time and expense. Although we don’t charge our clients we will get an introductory commission from the finance company. All factoring companies pay commission so we are not loyal to any one lender. We have to add value to our service and make the best possible recommendations otherwise we don’t get paid!

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Single Debtor Factoring

Friday, September 11th, 2009

Single debtor factoring as would suggest provides debtor finance against one single customer. As with any other factoring factoring facility funding is provided for up to 80% of unpaid invoices for up to a 90 day period. However from the finance companies point of view providing finance against one customer can prove quite risky and as such not all finance companies will be keen to offer a facility.

It is unlikely a high street bank will provide single debtor factoring however one or two of the larger and generally more flexible and commercial factoring companies will offer a facility. However with any tricky finance deal there will be one or two caveats. The debtor must be strong and the credit limit will need to exceed the total facility required. In addition it is recommended that credit insurance is taken out against the debt. Therefore in the event of any this will protect not only the funder but also our customer. I think this is common sense really. A default with a good spread of customers will always be painful but more often than not can be absorbed into the business. Imagine if you had one customer and they go bust and you havnt any credit insurance. Not only will you go bust but any personal guarantees may possibly be called upon [potentially resulting in bankruptcy. Perish the thought.

Tags: Factoring, single debtor factoring
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Confidential Factoring

Friday, July 31st, 2009

A relatively new product to the market Confidential Factoring provides the full benefits of a normalfactoring service together with confidentiality that so many businesses would prefer. There are only a few factoring companies providing this service and as such the facility represents only a small fraction of the whole cashflow market.

A facility will provide full credit control and debt collection. The finance company provide their client with their own unique telephone number and a dedicated credit controller. All telephone calls letters and communication are made in the name of the client so your customers are unaware that a ull factoring facility is being used. Any monies collected are paid into an account in the name of the customer but operated by the particular funder. This provides the cash control that the factoring companies require which under a standard invoice discounting facility they would not obtain.

This facility is suitable for businesses that would prefer invoice discounting which is confidential but unfortunately do not meet the criteria for an invoice discounting facility. Invoice discounting is deemed to be more risky than factoring because the finance companies do not have the same degree of control. In the current economic climate factoring and invoice discounting companies are less likely to grant invoice discounting facilities, especially if the business has been trading less than 3 years or is financially week.

Tags: Confidential factoring, invoice discounting
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Archive for the ‘Factoring’ Category

What do I do if my bank withdraws my factoring facility

Invoice discounting or factoring ?

Factoring Company

Confidential Factoring

Factoring in a Prepack

Switching Factoring Company

Factoring for a small Business

Why use a Factoring Broker

Single Debtor Factoring

Confidential Factoring

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