What Is Factoring and How Can It Help Your Business?

In the world of business, one of the biggest challenges that entrepreneurs often have is figuring out how to handle cash flow. They have surpluses at one time and deficiencies at another. If you're having a hard time handling your business cash flow, one option that you may want to look at is factoring. What exactly is factoring and how can it help your business operate more smoothly?

Factoring Basics

The basic idea behind factoring is pretty simple and straightforward. When you write an invoice and a customer commits to pay for that invoice at some point in the future, you have an item that can be borrowed against. Factoring is an arrangement that involves you turning over that invoice to a financing company. They give you a certain amount of money for the invoice and then they collect the money from the customer. The amount that you receive for the invoice is less than the total. The factoring company gets to keep the rest as their profit for fronting the money.

How it Impacts Your Business

The nice thing about this particular form of financing is that it can increase your cash flow substantially. Instead of having to worry about how you're going to make ends meet, you get the money that you need right away. You can use that money to buy materials, pay wages, and take care of other overhead.

Instead of having to wait around on slow paying customers, you can instead get the cash that you need to make your business operate. This makes it much easier to handle the day to day responsibilities that come with running a business.

Using Factoring

Once you are set up with a factoring company, getting your hands on the money you need is simple. You simply write an invoice for a customer and get them to agree to pay it. The customer has to sign the invoice and agree to pay the debt. You then turn this invoice over to your factoring company. They take over the invoice and then give you your portion of the money. In some cases, you get all of your payment at once. In other cases, the factoring company will give you an initial advance and then will pay you the rest after the customer pays their bill.

Finding a Factoring Company

If you are interested in improving your business cash flow with factoring, you'll need to be able to find a good company to work with. Not all factoring companies provide reasonable terms and shopping around a bit can help tremendously. When you take the time to shop around, you'll be able to save money and get access to the money you need from a reputable company.

Look for a company that offers a low interest rate on the factoring arrangement. This way, you can maximize the amount of money that you get to keep out of the payment from the customer. Once you find a good factoring company, apply for an account with the and get your first deal started.

at 6:22 PM
Back to Top