If you need money for your small business and you don't have the corporate credit
rating or assets to acquire other loans, your best option is to consider accounts receivable loans. Your sales may be growing rapidly but id you don't have the money coming into your business in a timely manner, you will find that it may be impossible to pay your bills, order supplies, and simply run your business.
Customers that have time to pay their bills due to being invoiced almost always wait 90 days to pay their bills. Can you afford to wait 90 days to acquire the money you need from your customers. Having the money from those invoices in a timely manner allows you to expand your working capital. If you have the money quickly you can actually afford to take on larger orders from your customers as you will have the money to pay for the supplies.
Accounts receivable factoring is one option you have. This involves selling your invoices for an 80% down payment and acquiring the rest when the customer pays their bill. You will need to pay a fee for the service the factoring company provides.
Accounts receivables loans are a little different. Instead of acquiring the money from an order, you can ask for a lump sum and use your accounts receivables to secure the loan. The lender will take a look at your accounts receivables to see how timely your customers are paying their bills and if you have a strong enough cash flow and customer base to support the loan amount you are asking for.
Before considering a loan against your accounts receivables, you need to take a look at the following:
- How much are the fees for accounts receivables loans versus factoring. Which one will save you more money. Check for miscellaneous costs that may come with the loan.
-If you are collecting your own invoices, make sure you set up a good system. You need to ask for money up front from the customers and you need to invoice them as soon as possible in order to get your money from them in a timely manner.
-Does the lender have the capital requirements to lend you the money you need for your accounts receivables. This is a big question to ask as you need to make sure you are working with a company that has the money and has a solid reputation.
