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Factoring

 

Invoice factoring
trucking factoring companies
factoring companiesp> 

As the owner of your own business, you may be more than aware already of the difficulty in making sure that cash flow issues do not become a problem down the line. After all, the worst thing that can possibly happen for your business is to find yourself embroiled in a long and difficult situation that leaves you forever trying to find two pennies to rub together.

 

For any business in this situation, the problem can come for waiting for work to clear up and actually be paid into your account. Invoices, cheques and the like can take some time to actually processed which can leave you with short-term cash flow issues. Thankfully, there are options out there for businesses to look into – and one of these is factoring companies.

 

Factoring companies will, in exchange for your invoices, provide you with the cash today so that you don’t need to worry about the waiting period that could make paying the bills and getting materials more difficult. With this type of setup, invoice factoring can become incredibly useful for many businesses who need to get out of a cash trap which they have found themselves in.

 

Because, depending on the size of the job, it can take up to 60 days for some businesses to get paid then it’s important to cover your own back and not leave yourself short in that day. after all, how many businesses have two months revenue just lying there to cover all the losses until they get paid?

 

This is especially true of trucking companies. They tend to deal with lots of invoices which means a significant amount of running around and donkey work for the business owner themselves. Trying to get paid in time can become an incredible hassle and this is why you get specific trucking factoring companies who are happy to help out truckers specifically.

 

As we all know, trucking is an incredibly large industry with many companies out there employing hundreds of drivers. Unfortunately, many of these drivers can spend night in the cold or hungry as they are still waiting for work from six weeks ago to actually pay them. When this is the situation for a trucking company, turning to factoring companies for assistance might be the best choice left.

 

This means that a trucking company can pay the wages of the staff, keep all the vans topped up with fuel and continue to scale, grow and expand without always waiting for the never-never with money which is taking forever to arrive coming in. businesses running without a factoring model put in place are leaving themselves in significant risk, as competitors cash out fast and continue to expand.

 

There’s genuinely nothing to be worried about when it comes to using a Factoring company – they aren’t like a payday loan firm or somebody who is going to leave you with a huge pile of debt to apy back. Although you are technically borrowing a loan, so long as you only ever give them genuine invoices from work you have already finished you are merely speeding up the payment process.

 

In the United States, where trucking companies thrive, factoring companies are not considered borrowing in any capacity. This confidential agreement then allows both parties to profit and enjoy a comfortable future – it gives the factoring company a guaranteed asset of income to add to the list and it gives the trucking firm a wad of cash that they worked hard to earn.

 

The trucking company will usually need to pick up the invoice and cash it in still, and then make the payments back to the factoring company. Because it’s a confidential agreement, and it can look bad for a business to be involved in this type of short-term finance even though it’s perfectly legal and a very common practice, it’s usually in the hands of the company to get the money for the factor.

 

This is an extremely old business type and has been used for many years by many different types of work – but none more so than truckers. While you may miss out on a small part of the money , something like 15% depending on who you work with, it means that you are getting the money today and can actually start putting some food on the table.

 

After all, an IOU or an invoice is not going to be you fed and washed, is it? For trucking companies when the money can be good one day and gone the next, it’s up to the drivers to work sensibly and to ensure they are leaving themselves with a significant amount of time and finance to get through the week until they are paid again.

 

So the next time your trucking business is having some short-term cash flow issues and you are spending too much time chasing up slow paying clients, why not start considering to use factoring businesses as a way to change your motive and give yourself a more comfortable future in the eyes of your trucking staff and your bank balance?

 

 

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The Basics of Trucking Factoring

 

Whether you’re the owner of a 50-truck fleet or an independent owner/operator, we all know that controlling your cash flow is vitally important to growing your business. Perhaps like many business owners you’ve become pretty clever at making creative use of your credit cards, because it’s certainly preferable to going to your banker and begging for a business Line of Credit! Fortunately, there is another viable option for owner-operator businesses and small trucking fleets. The answer to the age-old cash flow problem is Freight Bill Factoring!

 

If Freight Bill Factoring is an unfamiliar term to you, then here’s a brief explanation:

 

Freight Bill Factoring is the simple process of assigning your unpaid freight invoices to a third-party company (factoring company) for an amount that’s less than you would receive if you were to bill your customer direct. The bonus of Freight Bill Factoring is that it enables you to get paid almost immediately upon completion of a run, thus giving you access to much-needed cash required for the day-to-day running of your business operations.

 

Here’s a step-by-step explanation of how Freight Bill Factoring, or Trucking Factoring, works :

 

Once you’ve booked a load, you immediately email or fax details about the load, your customer, and your rate confirmation to the factoring company;
The factoring company will quickly respond by advising if that particular customer has been approved for load factoring;
You pull the load;
When the load has been delivered, you email or fax your load-related documents, including the Bills of Lading, to the factoring company;
Within 24 hours the factoring company will make a direct deposit into your Comdata account or your bank account for the amount of approved charges: this could be anywhere between 60 and 90% of your billing;
Once the invoice has been paid by your customer, you’ll receive the balance.
It’s true that Freight Bill Factoring is not for everyone, but it is an ideal way of accessing the cash you need to provide stability to your trucking business and keep your wheels turning whilst you wait for your customers to pay their accounts.

 

Obviously, the best option for any business is to invoice your customers directly and wait to receive payment, but unfortunately many customers are painfully slow when it comes to paying their invoices. If you’re experiencing a cash flow problem, then working with a factoring company could well provide the financial cushion you need to keep your trucks on the road. It’s up to you to do your own research and determine whether factoring makes sense for your business. We trust that the information we’re providing here will provide you with enough knowledge to help you make a wise decision.

 

The Cost of Freight Bill Factoring

 

As explained above, there’s a cost involved with Freight Bill Factoring, and it’s up to you as the business owner to determine whether it’s worth the cost. The cost of Trucking Factoring can vary from as little as 1.5% up to around 5% of the line haul revenue.

 

You also need to be aware that there could be a number of fees, charges, and other expenses if you employ the services of a Freight Bill Factoring company. Generally, when you’ve assigned your Bills of Lading to a Trucking Factoring company, you’ll receive an immediate advance of between 60 and 90% of the anticipated revenue: of course, this figure will depend upon the factoring company you use. Once your customer has paid their invoice, the balance will be remitted to you.

 

It’s also important to note that all Freight Factoring companies are not equal, so here are some key questions a business owner should ask when considering hiring the services of a Trucking Factoring company:

 

Recourse or Non-Recourse: Which Freight Factoring Service Do You Provide?

 

You may not be familiar with these terms, but you need to be, because the ramifications of not understanding these terms could seriously affect the profitability of your business.

 

Recourse Factoring means that, should your customer fail to pay the factoring company, the factoring service can come back to you for reimbursement; while

 

Non-Recourse Factoring means that you have your money whether the invoice does or doesn’t get paid.

 

Will You Bill My Customer for All Future Loads or Can Factoring Be Done on a Load-by-Load Basis?

 

Let’s say you have a temporary cash shortfall problem that you’re trying to resolve by hiring the services of a Freight Factoring company: many businesses require that the factor handle all future collections owed to you by that specific customer. However, depending upon the customer, this may not be the path you wish to take. You should be aware, though, that some factoring companies are very rigid with this requirement.

 

There are Freight Bill Factoring services out there that allow you to choose on a load-by-load basis as to whether you’d like them to handle the collection on your behalf or whether you prefer to deal with the process of billing and payments yourself. And these services generally let you decide whether you want to receive payment when the invoice is actually paid or whether you want immediate payment. This can be very useful for small businesses because it can save a lot of time by allowing you to use the Freight Factoring service as a kind of de-facto billing service.

 

Is There a Price Difference If the Factoring Company Bills a Customer for All Loads Pulled?

 

Some Freight Factoring companies require that all billings originate through them, while others allow you to decide on an invoice-by-invoice basis whether you want the factoring company to do it, or whether you’d prefer to bill your customer yourself. If you choose to use their services on a spot-usage basis and choose not to have a certain invoice factored, you’ll probably still have to pay the $15-$20 billing charge. You’d then receive payment once the customer has settled their account.

 

Are Extra Fees Payable for Additional Services?

 

It’s not usual for a freight factoring company to automatically pay your customer’s invoices: they need assurance that your customer is a reliable, good-paying customer, so they’ll typically require a credit check to ensure they’ll be paid. Most Freight Factoring companies will arrange for a customer’s credit check on your behalf, and this credit check could incur a nominal fee. On the other hand, there are factoring companies out there that are happy to provide you with access to a list of customers that are already pre-approved – these are companies that currently meet the factor’s credit requirements. This can be very useful information to a trucking company, particularly if you need to know the credit rating of a prospective customer prior to booking a load.

 

How Much of the Freight Bill Do You Advance; and Do You Require a Deposit?

 

It’s very rare that a Freight Factoring service will advance 100% of your freight invoice, and that’s just one of the reasons why it’s imperative that you take the time to do your own research and find out what your chosen factoring company’s policy is. You also need to know if this will change from load to load or if the same policy applies to all your customers and all freight bills. p> 

Regarding deposits, some freight factoring services do require deposits, while others don’t. Again, before you finalize any contract with a Trucking Freight Factoring company, be very sure that you know exactly what you’re signing up for. p> 

 

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