Business First Family Business, Accounting, Finance, Investing, Marketing And Management
Following some tried and tested factoring rules can ensure positive cash flow for your business. Due to difficulty in collecting accounts receivables, small businesses often resort to invoice factoring. Choosing a well-reputed factoring company saves businesses from running short of working capital. Moreover, this method saves time, enabling business owners focus on other core functions. In this post, you will find five helpful rules to make the most of invoice factoring.
Determine If Factoring Is A Good Fit
Before learning how to make the most of invoice factoring rules for business, you should consider some specifics about your business. First, you should ask yourself if your financial issues can even be fixed by this solution. Invoice factoring really only helps to fix one type of cash flow problem – poor enterprise resource planning. That is, when you simply cannot wait a month or two to receive payment for invoices because that money is needed to pay bills or employee salaries. If that is your issue, these factoring rules will certainly help you to fix the cash flow problems at your business.
Know Your Customers
To get the most out of invoice factoring, you have to know your customers. Are your customers the type to make payments late? Do they have good credit scores? These are all things that an invoice factoring company will consider before extending business credit. Keep that in mind before you get excited about an option that you may not get approved for.
Maintain Invoice Accuracy
Factoring success depends largely on maintaining invoicing accuracy. Make sure that each invoice includes the exact due amount and repayment terms. Moreover, establish best practices regarding immediate issuance of invoices after selling products or services. This will help the factoring companies easily process invoices, collecting money quickly from your customers. This way, you do not have to wait until you have finances in the 50s before you finally have another payment received. Surely, accurate invoicing will support factoring activities, improving cash flow.
Select A Factoring Company Carefully
Thoroughly compare terms, benefits and charges of different factoring companies to select the right one. Since every business has specific needs, choose a factoring company that specializes in serving your industrial segment. Next, find out if the factoring company is big enough to accommodate business growth beyond basic small business valuation. Finally, conduct a background check to see whether it is operating legitimately or not. Certainly, selecting the right factoring company improves overall factoring efficiency.
Keep Invoice Proof On Record
Another important factoring rule is backing up invoices. To provide sufficient evidence, you should keep both document receipts and electronic entries of sales. If necessary, the factoring company can use these documents to take legal bank reconciliation action against defaulters. Of course, adequate invoice proof helps recover money owed to your business and avoid potential losses.
Evaluate Factoring Contract Agreements
Signing a long term contract with the wrong factoring company can put your business under stressful conditions. Always evaluate the factoring contracts carefully. While reviewing them, focus on details like fees, length and collateral requirements. Also, find out if there is any penalty for cancelling the agreement mid-way. By thoroughly reviewing agreements, the business is protected from getting into unprofitable factoring contract agreements.
Update Your Balance Sheet
To get best factoring deals, the company balance sheet should be updated regularly. Usually, factoring companies check balance sheets to determine the financial condition of businesses. Entering fresh details about assets and liabilities proves your business’s solvency, but leave the intangible assets off of the form. Obviously, having an updated balance sheet can impress factoring companies, leading to better terms and offers.
Establishing some effective factoring rules supports cash flow requirements. First off, ensure that each invoice contains correct details. Then, support these invoices with digital entries and receipts. Once your invoices are managed, keep the balance sheet updated and review factoring contracts. Above all, select a credible factoring company that meets your business’s requirements. This way, you will never have to worry about being unable to pay an employee’s workplace pension. Using these rules, your factoring deal will help improve the company’s cash flow.
Image from http://www.factoringservices.com/bank-loans-vs-factoring/
