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Debtor Factoring Helps Small Businesses

By Kristin Gabriel

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 29Feb2012
Word count: 461
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Recently many of the bank shares have declined as the global volatility has impacted the key drivers within the banking sector. This is why many analysts are predicting an increase in the cost of funds for banks to borrow in offshore markets. This would then impact margins, coupled with a slowdown in the demand for lending from both businesses as well as consumers.

In addition, what seems to be lost in the research data is that there is a sector of the market - the small and medium sized enterprises (SME's) - that does always have a demand for credit, but cannot usually obtain it because they are perceived by the banking sector as too risky for conventional loans. SME owners typically do not own property which can be used as collateral. The other factor is that the business itself, usually a startup, will not have the hard assets or demonstrated trading history to warrant being given a loan by a bank or traditional financial institution.

These are the main reasons why SME's need to look further afield to find solutions for obtaining credit. But these days, smart SMEs and beginning to discover the merits of factoring invoices. This financial service involves the use of their accounts receivable as the source of credit, as opposed to typical 'hard' assets such as property. The invoices have value (i.e., credit worthiness) because they represent an obligation from a substantive company who has received the goods or services already. There is merely a timing issue with respect to when the invoice will be paid.

By financing these invoices through a factoring facility, SME's can raise the working capital they require to meet their own commercial obligations. SME's simply do not have a large enough balance sheet to continue waiting the (on average) sixty days that it takes to get paid by a large corporate in today's challenging environment. By using factoring, the SME's can leverage the credit-worthiness of their customer base and obtain the credit they need to keep their businesses growing in a healthy way.

Debtor factoring is a mature and accepted financial service that is well known to many large companies who have been usng it for centuries. It is no longer seen as a sign of financial weakness, but rather a prudent way of managing cash flow in a market where the customer is setting the terms of payment today.

For more information about invoice discounting, search using these keywords, the choose one of the top companies listed on page one of the search engines.

Kristin Gabriel is a marketer who writes for The Interface Financial Group (IFG) in Australia. (www.ifgnetwork.com.au) IFG provides short-term financial resources to 30 industries including invoice discounting. IFG offers expertise in construction factoring, accounting, finance, law, banking and marketing.

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