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Factoring Financing: How to grow your business
without debt or loans
by: Marco Terry
What is factoring?
Accounts receivable financing, also known as factoring, is a powerful financial tool that has
fueled the growth and success of a number of companies.
Factoring enables companies to capitalize on their unpaid receivables by selling them to a
factoring company for immediate payment. With factoring, companies
immediately get paid for their invoiced work from the factoring finance company, while the
factoring company waits to be paid by the customers. Factoring
strengthens a business' cash position by shortening the time to get invoices paid to 48 hours
and providing the needed funds to meet current expenses and
target new opportunities.
Factoring Benefits
As opposed to loans and lines of credit that require that the client have tangible assets and
strong financials, factoring relies more heavily on the
financial strength of the clients' customer. This is a critical feature,since many new and small
businesses do not meet the financial criteria of traditional
lending institutions. However, many small businesses have a roster of financially strong
customers that can be leveraged. Factoring empowers businesses to
capitalize on their customer list, and provides them with a tool to transform outstanding
receivables into immediate cash, without generating debt. Since
Factoring is not a loan, it is an ideal financial product for the following:
o New and emerging businesses including small and home businesses, consultants and solo-
preneurs.
o Businesses with financially strong customers
o Businesses that are preparing to grow significantly
o Business with intangible assets (e.g. consultants)
o Businesses that do not want to take a loan
An additional benefit of factoring is that the factor usually assumes part of the clients' credit
risk for the customer. This means that if the customer
becomes financially insolvent due to bankruptcy and does not pay the invoice, the factor will
assume the loss. This is a critical service for small companies
who may not be able to afford the bankruptcy of a customer.
Costs
The costs of a factoring transaction - also known as the discount - vary based on a number of
variables such as the financial strength of the customer and
the amount being factored. Generally, the discount is a percentage of the invoice's face value
that increases with time until the invoice gets paid. Small
businesses, those that have between $20,000 and $300,000 in yearly revenues, can expect to
pay a discount rate of about 2% for every ten (10) days that the
invoice remains unpaid. Businesses with factorable revenues in excess of $300,000 can
expect lower discount rates.

Factoring at Work: Business Services and Products, Inc. Case Study

Business Services and Products, Inc. (BSP, Inc.) is a small fictional company, which provides
business consulting and equipment to local companies. It has

$300,000 of annual revenues and during the past year BSP Inc. has enjoyed significant sales
growth. Although most business owners would be very happy to

manage such a company, Jane Sullivan, BSP Inc's president, is very worried about her
company's financial position.

Most of BSP Inc.'s customers are large companies with a good reputation for always paying
their invoices. However they always take between 30 to 45 days to

pay them. BSP Inc., however, needs to pay their employees every two weeks and their
vendors every four weeks. This discrepancy between the time that

customers pay their bills and the time BSP Inc. needs to pay their employees and vendors has
created cash flow problems in the past. Furthermore, these cash

flow problems have already caused Jane to delay payroll twice this year and have placed her
trade (vendor) credit in jeopardy multiple times. This has also

caused her to pass on a number of significant business opportunities because she was unsure
of the company's financial ability to hire and pay for additional

staffers. Unfortunately, BSP Inc. did not have a large enough financial cushion in the bank to
afford paying employees while waiting for 45 days new clients

to pay their invoices.

The following table provides an overview of BSP, Inc's current financial position.

Business Services and Products, Inc (without financing)

Yearly sales: $300,000

Lost new sales opportunities: Unknown
Total Sales: $300,000

Variable Costs (60% of Sales): $180,000

Fixed Costs (Rent, phones, etc): $20,000
Total Costs: $200,000

Profit (Sales - Costs): $100,000

Although the company's prospects appear great, Jane may have to stall her company's growth
until she builds a large enough cash cushion at the bank to

finance her company's growth. After careful consideration, Jane decided that a factoring line of
working capital could help strengthen her company's

financial position. Furthermore, factoring her invoices would enable BSP Inc. to take on new
customers and continue growing, knowing that she could

capitalize on her slow paying customers. BSP Inc.'s financing agreement will provide the
company with an advance of 70% of her invoiced services. This means

that the company can get 70% of the face value of the factored invoices within 24 to 48 hours
of submitting them to the factor. The remaining 30% of the

funds, less the factoring fees, will be quickly rebated as soon as the customer pays their
invoice.This line of working capital strengthened the company's

financial position and bank account, enabling Jane to pay for new employees to service new
contracts. Jane also decided to use the extra capital to pay her

vendors early, obtaining quick payment discounts and helping to reduce the cost of factoring.

BSP Inc. customers pay their invoices within 30 days of receipt. The discount (factoring fee)
for these invoices is 6%. Every time an invoice is paid, the

factor rebates BSP Inc. the remaining 30% that was not advanced less the factoring fee. This
means that once the transaction is completed, the factor rebates

24% (30% - 6%) to BSP Inc. Thanks to the factoring line of working capital, Jane was also to
secure an additional $120,000 worth of business, bringing her

annual revenues to $420,000.

The following table shows BSP Inc.'s financial position a year after using factoring.
 Business Services and Products (with factoring)

Existing Sales: $300,000

New Sales: $120,000 (factored)
Total Sales: $420,000

Variable Costs (60% of Sales): $252,000

Fixed Costs (Rent, phones, etc.): $20,000
Cost of Factoring (6% of $120,000): $7,200
Total Costs: $279,200

Net Profit (Sales - Costs): $140,800

As can be seen from the above table, factoring helped BSP Inc. increase profits substantially
from $100,000 to $140,800 - a 40% increase. It placed BSP Inc.

on a more stable financial footing, priming it for growth. Furthermore, the cost impact of
factoring on the bottom line was minimal, as it was easily

absorbed by the additional business, showing that factoring was paid for directly by the
growth.

About the author:

About Commercial Capital, LLC and Marco Terry

Commercial Capital, LLC is a leading commercial finance company that specializes in

providing working capital through factoring to small businesses. For more information or a free
consultation, please visit our web sites at http://www.ccapital.net or http://factoring.qlfs.com or
call us at (786) 206 4722.

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