Is Invoice Factoring Right for Your Small Business?

Are you a business owner waiting for customers to pay their outstanding invoices? You are not alone. Finding alternatives to aid this is very common, and invoice factoring can help.

As a small business owner, there are a wide variety of financing options for your business. You have probably been looking for different ones to find the one that best suits your needs. Invoice factoring is a very popular business loan alternative option since it’s good for businesses that need to wait longer than desired periods of time for their invoices to be paid.

In this article, we will walk you through the basics of invoice factoring, how it works, and give you the tools to decide whether it is the right business funding option for your business need.

What is Invoice Factoring?

Invoice factoring is a business financing transaction in which a business sells its invoices (or receivables) to a third-party financial company, commonly referred to as a "factor."

First, you receive funds, and then you pay the factoring company back by selling a percentage of your unpaid invoices. This way, since it’s a sale, not a loan, you are not impacting your credit, as you would with traditional bank financing. It allows small businesses to unlock the cash value of their invoices long before their customers pay their bills.

What is a Factor or Factoring Company?

A factoring company (or “factor”) is the financing partner of your choosing that purchases your invoices in exchange for cash.

Once you are approved to work with them, you can sell your outstanding invoices in order to boost working capital, avoiding the delay caused by long payment terms. Normally, the factoring company verifies your invoices, funds up to 90% of the invoice face value, then collects on those invoices directly from your customers.

Afterward, they collect the money on the standard payment terms from your end customer, to then release the remainder of the invoice value to you, minus a small factoring fee – typically one to five percent.

Types of Invoice Factoring

There are two types of invoice factoring - recourse factoring and non-recourse factoring:

Recourse Factoring

This type is the most common type of invoice factoring. With recourse factoring, your company must buy back any invoices the factoring company didn't collect to pay back for funding.

Non-recourse factoring

Alternatively, with this type, the factoring company assumes most of the risk of non-payment by your customers (although, this does not mean that you are not responsible for any pending payments).

How Does Invoice Factoring Work?

The process is very simple.

Your business provides the regular good and services it always has.
You then send the invoices to your customers for those goods or services.
Once you’ve raised several invoices, you “sell” them to the factor.
The factor then verifies these invoices and pays typically around 80-90% of the values.
The factor charges your customers directly.
They then pay your company the remaining amount, discounting their fee.

An Example of Invoice Factoring

Let’s give an example to show you how it works:

Your company has a $10,000 invoice and expects your customer to pay it within the next 30 days. At the moment, your cash flow is not in good standing, and you have some urgent expenses to attend to. So, to resolve this instance, you decide to sell that invoice to a factoring company.

Invoice value	$10,000
Factoring Fee (-10%)	-$1,000
Initial Advance (80%)	$8,000
Remaining Advance (10%)	$1,000
Total Received	$9,000

This means that instead of waiting 30 days to cash in the entire $10,000, you'll get an advance of $8,000 deposited in your bank account. In this instance, you're selling your invoice to a factor with a 10% fee.

Invoice Factoring Advantages and Disadvantages

To find out whether or not invoice factoring is the best choice for your business, let’s look at the pros and cons:

Invoice Factoring Pros	Invoice Factoring Cons
Immediate access to cash for your business. Easier and faster approval than traditional bank lending. No impact on your credit score. More flexibility of payment time for your clients. Limited risk for you, since you won’t need to worry about valuable assets being seized if the customer fails to pay. Helps manage overdrafts. Highly accessible.	There’s a stigma around which companies need this service. Access to funds relies on your customers' credit scores. Reduced profit margins for your business. High costs and interest rates. Possible hidden fees. The collection isn’t guaranteed, as it depends on your customer.

Invoice Factoring vs. Merchant Cash Advances. What's the difference?

Factoring can be a good choice, especially if long receivables are part of your typical business cycle. However, this is just one lending option amongst many, so it's best to reach out to funding providers and see what best suits your needs.

Many people think that Merchant Cash Advances (MCA) is the same as invoice factoring. The truth is that business advances are real advances against a business's expected future revenue. This is an easy way for smaller companies to get a lump sum of cash quickly. The advance is then paid back by an automated withdrawal of a set percentage of your daily bank balance (typically daily or weekly, but terms can vary).

If you're looking for an alternative to invoice factoring, you can check if you pre-qualify through an online form that will only take minutes to complete. Once you get approval, you can access working capital within 72 hours.

You won't need to worry about set-in-stone payback terms because we offer flexible payment terms that can easily align with your business cash flow. This means you'll pay less during slow growth periods and then catch up by delivering a more significant percentage during times of high-volume revenue.