What is Invoice Discounting?
An Invoice Discounting facility generates funding against the sales ledger in much the same way as factoring. The main difference is that the company retains responsibility for chasing their own ledger. This type of facility is available to companies that have excellent audit trails, and can demonstrate the ability to collect the debt in-house.
Many companies prefer invoice discounting because it enables them to maintain their existing relationships with their customers, as well as being cheaper in terms of the service charge involved. For those companies who do not wish for their customers to know of a third party involvement, a Confidential Invoice Discounting facility is the best option.
To complement the invoice discounting facility, a number of funders will also look at other assets within the business with a view to providing additional funding against plant and equipment, property and stock. This Asset Based Lending as it is known, can be particularly useful to fund seasonal stocking requirements, or to provide increased leverage in the short term to effect management buy outs.
Costs:
Service charge: Generally cheaper than factoring because you are managing your own sales ledger, the charge may vary between 0.1% and 1.5% of turnover. A minimum annual charge may be imposed.
Discount rate: Ranges between 1.5% and 3% over base, payable only on funds in use.
All industry sectors will be considered.
