finance books to read

Debtor finance is a financing tool wherein your business gets a loan against your outstanding receivables. This helps release much needed working capital and facilitates smooth operation of your business. It can get you loans as quick as 24-48 hours. Usually the loan amount ranges between 70% -90% of the total value of the debtor’s ledger. The financer releases the balance amount when your receivables are actually realized.

Why Debtor finance

Businesses are almost always done on credit and at times the payment realization takes as long as 60-90 days. Such credit terms compromise the working capital and affect the cash flow, ultimately affecting business operations. Debtor finance can come to the rescue in such situations and help you free up your working capital and keep your expansion plans in line. The good part about debtor finance is that real estate security is not needed like in conventional financing.

Different Types

Debtor finance can broadly be classified into the following categories:

Confidential: In this case, the business finances are not notified to your customers. They do not know about the deal happening between the lending company and your business and they make their outstanding payments to your company only. Disclosed: in this case a notification is sent to your customer clarifying that you have lent out the debtor’s ledger and your customers make their outstanding payments to the financier.

Different Terms

The typical time line is 90 days. Also financers do not usually accept invoices that are more than 90 days old. If the customer does not pay within 90 days, the financer usually recourses such invoice, which means the credit liability again shifts back to your company after 90 days. At times non-recourse debtor finance is also available wherein the financer assumes part of the credit risk or extra recourse periods are offered (typically 120 days) for realization of the outstanding receivables. Though no real estate security is required, to utilise this type of finance, you may have to offer collateral of certain specific assets and personal guarantee of the business directors, along with your debtor’s ledger.

Who Can Get it?

There are no specific sectors per se, but usually businesses that sell goods or services to businesses are more eligible and are mostly the ones that use this type of facility. It is important however that your business has a financially strong customer base since debtor finance is less dependent on the creditworthiness of your own business and more dependent on that of your customers. It is also important that you have a long term and robust relationship with your customers for you to be eligible for debtor finance.

Positioning Your Company for Debt Financing:

There was a time in the old days when going to the bank was the only way to get outside capital for your business. These days with the explosion of raising equity investment, many of the guidelines for running a company have been revolutionized. Unfortunately this new phenomenon is only true for companies with super “star power”, because these companies have potential to create sky-rocket return earnings.

For everyone else, sticking to fundamentals is where it’s at. Building your company incrementally, following a pre-prepared business plan, watching expenses, and increasing sales. When your company moves beyond its launch, it begins to operate much like a bank. On the financial side you will be making credit decisions
involving your customers. Some will have to pay C.O.D., some you will extend net 30 day terms. In this sense you are now becoming a banker for your customers.

Without getting into how inexpensive debt financing ultimately is compared to equity (try 20% annualized interest versus 20% ownership lock stock and barrel), in certain situations the time honored tradition of borrowing money can be the best solution for increasing growth or starting a company.

By knowing what commercial finance companies look for, you will become a much more attractive prospect.

1. Concentration – This means putting all your eggs in one basket. Avoid going out and making a large sale to a customer and then not continuing your sales effort to find more customers. The risk of a problem developing with your main customer, or for whatever reason they are no longer buying from you can obviously be detrimental to your success. Finance companies look for incoming revenue to be spread evenly over a number of customers.

2. Creditworthiness – Who are you lending your hard earned assets to? What kind of due diligence do you perform on new customers? The challenge here is whether to accept a lucrative sale with a company that could never get credit from any type of finance company. You are essentially telling yourself that you know better than the banker about loaning money. Finance companies will respect a business owner that has a thorough credit checking process and a number of stable credit worthy customers.

3. Book keeping – While some businesses send out all their accounting to outside agencies, it is helpful to have a qualified book keeper on staff. When it comes time to seek financing, being able to produce an instant fiscal snapshot of your company will show the sophistication of your operation. Finance companies appreciate businesses that keep a close eye on their books.

4. Taxes – Pay them. Using the Internal Revenue Service as your funder becomes expensive. Whenever you work with a finance company, you will be pledging assets as collateral, thus the nature of debt financing. When you fail to make tax payments, the government steps in and places a lien against those same assets essentially stepping into first position. This leaves the finance company with money outstanding to your business and no collateral to back it up. This places your entire relationship in default. When going to closing on financing expect to sign a form that allows the finance company to receive duplicate correspondence from the IRS. This is standard procedure to track tax problems. Owing taxes does not mean you cannot get financing. It is entirely possible to receive a subordinated debt agreement from the IRS which allows the finance company to work with you unencumbered.

5. Bankruptcy – If you have ever entered into a bankruptcy proceeding whether personal or business, own up to it right away. It will come out, and being up front about the circumstances will enhance the necessity to overlook the past difficulties.