Business finance provider InvoiceFair has announced that it has changed its name to Financefair as it marks €1.5 billion in advances made to Irish and British businesses.
Financefair (formerly InvoiceFair) has made a significant impact on the Irish and UK business funding landscape, having advanced over €1.5 billion to an underserved market of small and midsize SMEs who are scaling but cannot access funding from banks or traditional providers, due to their size or sector.
The company’s new name, Financefair, more accurately reflects their broader range of products which has evolved substantially since its founding in 2015 to address a shrinking funding landscape. In the last 18 months, that shrinkage has accelerated with the withdrawal of banks and alternative platforms from the working capital space.
Financefair’s Co-founder and CEO Helen Cahill, a finalist in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards said, “Getting fast access to working capital is vital for SMEs to stay competitive and is nothing short of imperative for those with ambitious growth plans. The current funding choices in the Irish market are not fit for purpose which is why we are determined to address that gap. We are focused on providing products that are aligned to the growth ambitions of these SMEs which is why we have added products such as Line of Credit and Revenue Based Finance”
Line of Credit is a new pre-approved funding facility that allows companies leverage on their outstanding trade receivables enabling them to draw down funds on demand. This facility is an alternative to business overdrafts and short-term loans, as it gives business owners access to instant working capital. Pre-approved advances to €250,000 with a circa cost of funds from 1% to 1.5% per month.
Financefair also recently launched a Revenue Based Finance product which allows businesses to leverage their regular contracted and/or non-contracted revenue. By aligning funding to its forecasted and predictable revenue, businesses can get access to cashflow which often postpones the need for long term debt or an equity raise to grow their business.
With a strong financial services heritage, a deep understanding of the nuances of risk across sectors, and a view that no two businesses are the same, Peter Brady Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer explains, “By leveraging the latest in technology, which gives us access to real time data through open banking and accounting software integrations, we can deliver flexible funding at speed and service SMEs that may not tick all the boxes for traditional funders.”
According to Helen Cahill, “In 2015, we saw a gap in the invoice finance space, but since then we have evolved with the market recognising that our business customers want the power to fund their own future, and we will continue to expand our offerings to serve their growth ambitions.”
The first wave of the Fintech revolution was mostly characterised by the emergence of companies focussed on infrastructural, payments and transactional systems improvements in both the consumer and B2B sector.
Global fintech ‘Unicorns’ like Paypal, Stripe, Square, Adyen and Klarna emerged, as the focus was on overhauling slow and archaic payment systems through faster, more effective technological and digital solutions.
This allowed for the rapid growth in eCommerce globally and the scaling of internet businesses at speed.
At the same time, traditional banking was also heavily disrupted by digital-only transactional banking brands like Revolut, Monzo and B2B focussed brands such as Starling in the UK.
This is only a very modest snapshot of the enormous number of new world banking providers that have emerged over the past decade or so. Though mostly focussed on the retail banking market, this impacted the B2B sector as well.
So, what exactly is Embedded Finance?
Embedded finance refers to the integration of financial services into non-financial platforms and applications. This integration allows businesses in various industries to offer financial products and services seamlessly to their customers, enhancing user experience and convenience. They don’t need to be a financial institution or hold a banking licence to offer these additional services to their customers.
A recent example of this has been the emergence of ‘BNPL’ (Buy Now Pay Later) in the consumer retail sector. Clearly a fairly straightforward integration of financial services, BNPL at its core is based on straightforward ‘static’ credit rating on smaller ticket items at massive volume levels, deployed with high interest rates that reduce exposure to potential default. It is as you might imagine, a lucrative business.
The concept of embedded finance enables fintech companies to extend their reach beyond traditional financial institutions and reach customers in new ways. It also enables non-financial companies to offer financial services without having to become licensed financial institutions themselves.
Several factors contribute to the potential of Embedded Finance
Convenience: By integrating financial services directly into their platforms, businesses can offer a one-stop-shop experience for customers.
Personalization: Embedded finance allows companies to leverage user data to provide tailored financial solutions that meet individual needs.
Wider Reach: Non-financial companies can use embedded finance to cater to underserved markets and expand their customer base.
Partnerships: Fintechs can collaborate with various industries, leading to innovative financial solutions and new revenue streams.
Competitive Advantage: Early adopters of embedded finance may gain a competitive edge by offering differentiated and holistic services.
But isn’t the Tech Bubble bursting?
Haven’t tech investments slowed dramatically I hear you ask?
Is there really another wave of innovation in Fintech on the way?
It is true to say the markets have certainly gone slightly soft on Tech Brands over the past 18 months. In many cases, investors have reduced their exposure in Tech brands due to lower levels of growth versus the overly optimistic forecasts being bandied about in the period during and immediately after the apex of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is significant evidence that 2021 was in fact an outlier, the market was probably far too bullish.
In 2022, funding for private tech startups in Europe declined 22% to $83 billion from $106 billion in 2021. That pattern is set to accelerate as funding for Europe’s venture-backed startups is forecast to decline further to $51 billion in 2023.
(Source: Ryan Browne, CNBC, June 2023: “European Startups funding to drop a further 39% this year as tech rout continues”)
Source: Atomico in association with dealroom.co & Crunchbase
According to Browne, “Technology firms have come under huge strain over the last year and a half, with companies being pushed to prioritize profitability over growth at all costs”.
Therein lies the crux of the matter. For years, the metric of success has been demonstratable ability to scale, acquire customers, technological advancement. The cold hard reality of delivering profitability is what VC’s now demand from the Tech Sector.
There is no doubt that there is a ‘readjustment’ occurring in the VC markets. But the news it not all bleak for technology.
In its very recent report, ‘The state of European Tech First Look 2023’, Global Venture Capitalist firm Atomico commented that “However, when looking at the tech slowdown in H2’22, and comparing those numbers to the first half of this year, we see a degree of stabilisation”.
In addition, 2023 has seen the true emergence of a transformative technology that is seeping into every part of human life at a frightening speed – Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). Who hasn’t heard about Chat GPT?
Atomico reports evidence of a change in sentiment:
“There are important structural green shoots appearing already: Europe is closing the early-stage funding gap with the US; Europe is increasing its investment in AI companies…”
This year to date, Generative AI companies have captured 35% of all funding going to European AI/ML companies, the highest share ever, having previously expanded from 1% in 2019 to 5% in 2022
Atomico are predicting an “AI supercycle to drive a golden age of innovation. European tech will have a key role, and the potential for huge value creation.”
Combining AI advancements with the fact that Fintech still retains the #1 position in terms of the sector that has attracted the most investment again in 2023, those fintechs that can show they are working towards profitability, while leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence to effect real disruption are set to be the clear winners over the coming 18 months – 2 years.
So, how does Embedded Finance fit into this new paradigm?
As many of the legacy infrastructural issues have now been resolved through the rapid digitisation of the banking system, the focus switches to deploying additional value-added services that can benefit from this new, improved digital environment.
As mentioned earlier, BNPL in the Consumer sector is an example of one such value-added service delivered via Embedded Finance.
A number of factors have contributed to the growing theory that the latest fintech wave may revolve around Business Lending as the next major use of Embedded Finance.
Open Banking
The introduction of EU wide standards such as PSD2 in 2015 facilitated the emergence of what is known as ‘Open Banking’, where banks and other financial institutions, with their customers approval, can grant open access to bank account information by third party providers in real-time through the use of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). Funders no longer need to review company performance based on outdated historic accounts.
Real time access to customer bank accounts allows for ‘right now’ analysis of how a company is performing, the digitization of the data also means more accurate trending conclusions can be made about likely future patterns of trade.
Cloud based Accounting
Like so many other areas, the adoption rate of companies to operating their accounting in the cloud has been rapid. Once the domain of the larger enterprises, the increasing trend of small and medium sized companies collaborating with e-commerce players and integration with other online applications, like automated bank feeds, electronic billing and payments, among others, has catapulted the adoption of accounting software.
According to a 2022 report by the Aberdeen Group, 70% of companies will have adopted to Cloud-based accounting software by the end of 2023.
This makes it possible for lenders to access real-time accounting information from customers. This allows funders to make much more informed funding decisions based on both previous performance as well as facilitating predictive modelling to dimensionalise the likely future performance of companies.
More importantly, these decisions can now be automated.
AI and dynamic credit scoring
Safe extension of credit relies on the quality of the credit engine. For years, a combination of static credit rating and historic accounts and banking information have been the basis on which business funding decisions are made (it still is in many more traditional banks and funders!).
Combining open banking and accounting information brings a new level of transparency and quality of data to arrive at credit decisions. Layering AI based dynamic credit scoring brings a whole new level of comfort to funders, way beyond the traditional static credit scoring systems of the past.
Innovative new world rating agencies like Italy’s ModeFinance are leading the way on AI based credit scoring. Combining financial expertise with technical knowhow, their flagship product, the Tigran Risk Platform, offers an AI powered platform to rapidly evaluate company information and its own proprietary credit scoring model – the MORE score. (Multi Objective Rating Evaluation).
Tigran’s modular structure overturns the traditional approach to credit risk management, combining all stages of the credit decision-making process into a single framework, from pre-feasibility and due diligence to final approval.
This end-to-end fully automated 360° evaluation of companies combining accounting, banking and AI features is the fuel that will power fintech lenders in an Embedded Finance world and gives them the confidence to provide their services via 3rd party non-financial service-based companies.
Successful mitigation of risk at scale using these sophisticated technologies that provide holistic credit profiles will make Embedded Finance the most obvious channel for Lending Fintechs to grow at supersonic levels.
Traditional Banking & Fintech integrations
The more traditional banking players, aware that perhaps they are not best placed to provide the speed of innovation that the modern consumer demands are instead looking to these newer, more innovative fintechs, to provide it for them.
Why? In many cases these fintechs are laser focussed on very specific elements of the banking and finance eco-system and ways of improving it. In some cases, they are operating outside the restrictions of a banking licence. Collaborations, partnerships or outright acquisitions of these fintechs are just some of the ways the more traditional financial services giants are staying relevant in a very changed financial world.
This is particularly true in the case of alternative forms of business funding, where the legal status of traditional banks as a lender in the first instance restricts them from offering some of the more innovative forms of funding like Revenue Based Finance or Invoice Finance.
The Market Potential of Embedded Finance
So, what is the market potential for Embedded Finance. According to Simon Torrence, Founder & CEO, Embedded Finance & Super App Strategies, Embedded Finance offers one of the most exciting new digital growth opportunities to incumbent financial institutions: an addressable market worth over $7 trillion, or roughly double the market value of the world’s top thirty banks today.
Given that B2B Sales dwarf B2C sales, it is clear that Embedded Finance for B2B is set to grow at an exponential rate. In research conducted by Dealroom, in Association with ABN AMRO, the two areas set to benefit the most from this are Business Lending and Insurance.
This convergence, driven by rapid improvements in Financial Technology has the potential to reshape the lending industry as we know it.
Looking ahead, the trajectory of lending fintech’s points toward ubiquitous embedded finance. As more and more fintechs recognise the potential of embedding their solutions within the digital ecosystem, the lending landscape will continue to evolve, offering greater accessibility, convenience, and efficiency.
Who to get Embed with?
Just as consumer focussed lending has focussed on the point of sale or checkout area of eCommerce, B2B lending in the digital ecosystem is starting to realise that the game has changed, there is a new playing field. Doesn’t it make far more sense to align with existing homogenous groupings and networks of businesses, rather than the traditional method of attempting to build a standalone, singular branded ‘front door’ and try to drive customers towards it?
That is the behaviour that you would expect from a traditional bank – build a digital brand to compete with the already existing banking system. This is a slow and expensive approach, not aligned with the pace of change we are seeing in the global B2B lending market. It also means a focus on the banking sector, and not where the focus should be – the businesses that badly need more agile, convenient and faster alternatives.
We are seeing that the future battle for B2B lending will take place in two distinct arenas: within existing Financial & Accounting Software and B2B Platforms.
(a) Financial & Accounting Software
Probably the most natural ‘fit’ for embedded finance is with financial & accounting cloud-based software providers like Xero, Sage & Quickbooks. Having a source of ‘ready to go’ funding that allows users to access any shortfalls in cashflow at short notice from the same platform they are managing cashflow makes lots of sense for all 3 parties – the finance provider, the accounting platform and the end user.
(b) Business-to-business (B2B) platforms
These are digital marketplaces or online platforms that facilitate transactions and interactions between businesses rather than between businesses and consumers. There are several main types of B2B platforms, each catering to specific business needs and industries. Here are some of the main types:
eCommerce and Procurement Platforms: These platforms serve as digital marketplaces where businesses can buy and sell products and services. They often include features like catalogue management, order processing, invoicing, and payment integration. Examples include Alibaba, Amazon Business and Shopify.
Supply Chain and Logistics Platforms: These platforms focus on optimizing supply chain processes, such as inventory management, order fulfilment, and logistics. They help businesses streamline their operations and improve efficiency. Examples include SAP Ariba, Oracle Procurement Cloud, and JDA Software.
Sourcing and RFx Platforms: These platforms are used to manage sourcing processes, request for proposal (RFP), request for quotation (RFQ), and other procurement-related activities. They help businesses find suppliers, evaluate bids, and negotiate contracts. Examples include Coupa, GEP SMART, and Jaggaer.
Collaborative Commerce Platforms: These platforms enable collaboration and communication between businesses throughout the supply chain. They often include features like document sharing, communication tools, and project management capabilities. Examples include TradeShift and Exostar.
Industry-Specific Marketplaces: Some B2B platforms cater to specific industries or niches, offering tailored solutions for the unique needs of those industries. Examples include ThomasNet for manufacturing and GlobalSpec for engineering.
Financial and Payment Platforms: These platforms focus on facilitating financial transactions between businesses, including electronic invoicing, payment processing, and trade financing. Examples include Tungsten Network and Basware.
Vertical Integration Platforms: These platforms offer end-to-end solutions for specific industries, connecting various stages of the value chain, from production to distribution. Examples include Fishbowl (for inventory management in manufacturing) and ShipMonk (for e-commerce fulfilment).
Market Intelligence and Analytics Platforms: These platforms provide businesses with market insights, data analytics, and business intelligence to help them make informed decisions. Examples include Dun & Bradstreet and Nielsen.
HR and Workforce Management Platforms: B2B platforms in this category focus on managing human resources, workforce scheduling, talent acquisition, and other HR-related functions. Examples include Workday and Kronos.
API and Integration Platforms: These platforms facilitate the integration of various software systems used by businesses, allowing them to streamline processes and share data seamlessly. Examples include MuleSoft and Zapier.
Proprietary Large Enterprise Platforms: A hybrid of many of the above also exists for larger National and Multi-National Companies, to manage their suppliers, manage RFI’s, manage project and make payments. In many cases, the ‘price’ of participation by the supplier with these blue-chip clients is having to contend with extended credit terms. This is where Embedded Finance can play a significant role – allowing suppliers to access funding earlier than the contracted terms, while allowing the debtor to maintain the credit terms they wish to implement.
Any platform that deals directly with cashflow management, project finance or invoice payment are clearly the most fertile. That would point towards the following platforms as the most appropriate for lending fintechs to focus on embedding their solutions with, as this would mean that the end user is managing the solution to a cashflow problem at source without having to leave the platform:
Accountancy & Banking Software
Procurement Platforms
Proprietary Large Enterprise Platforms
Supply Chain & Logistics Platforms
What’s in it for the end user?
This all makes a tonne of sense from the perspective of lenders and platforms, but what about the end user, those businesses who are in the market for funding? What’s in it for them?
Convenience
By being able to access tailored lending solutions within existing financial management systems, businesses can unlock their true potential, enhance cash flow management, and thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Speed
Naturally time is of the essence, cashflow shortages can arise suddenly and with little warning. The fact that this form of lending is embedded into an existing platform and connected to both their financial and banking software means funding decisions can be made far faster.
Early Payment
Lengthening credit terms are a feature of modern trading in business-to-business, especially with larger multi-national debtors. It can be part of the price of securing continuous contracts with these blue-chip debtors. Embedded receivables financing can remove this issue instantly. Platform Users can trade their outstanding invoices and secure up to 90% of the value of the invoice instantly. Have access to on-platform track record and performance means embedded finance providers can turn this form of finance around in as little as 24 hours!
Certainty of Funding
Having a continuous ‘360 view’ of how a business is performing, overlaid with AI capability and dynamic credit scoring allows funders to introduce innovative funding options like for example, a rolling ‘Line of Credit’ solution with confidence. Line of credit is a pre-approved ‘always on’ form of finance designed to replace overdrafts & business loans that businesses can draw down whenever they need it. Precisely the kind of innovation only made possible through financial technology.
Frictionless Finance
One of the bug bears of business financing is the level of friction that exists in the process. Long legal process, due diligence, anti-fraud, slow approval processes all make applying for finance something of a drudgery for business owners and a serious interruption and distraction from day-to-day operations, where their focus should be. Access to continuous real-time data on the businesses performance, plus an existing profile of the legal entity means most of these frictions are removed.
Which Lending Fintechs will lead this latest wave?
The sheer scale of the B2B lending market means it is inevitable that digital disruption in the form of Embedded Finance will in fact be the next wave in the Fintech Revolution.
But which Lending Fintechs are best placed to win? I believe these are the critical characteristics required to truly emerge as a market leader in this new world order:
Multi-source, AI driven credit profiling
Clearly automation is the key to scaling any business and B2B funding in an era of Embedded Finance is no different. Creating a credit engine focussed on building a more robust 360 profile of companies and allowing for a quantum leap increase in the volume of credit reviews that can be safely processed is the key characteristic, but this is no mean feat.
This vastly enhanced data rich profile requires the ingestion of data from multiple sources into a common view so that the credit decision making process – and advancing of funds to customers – could be accelerated, without compromising the safety of funders funds and avoiding potential credit events.
A powerful and secure Technology base
Existing – and successful – accounting & banking software and B2B platform providers are not going to work with any finance partner who does not have best in class, API driven technology that adheres to the highest standards in terms of security and data protection. Not so much a differentiator but a basic ‘ticket to the game’.
Seamless & painless integration
Potential partners while they will see the obvious benefits of embedded finance, will not want to be subjected to significant levels of disruption to their core operations. Embedded Finance Lenders will need to demonstrate that they can provide a seamless, pain-free integration.
Financial Expertise
There is an argument that Embedded Finance is a technology opportunity. While that is certainly part of the story, a strong background in the ‘Fin’ aspect of Fintech is also vital. Experience in understanding risk, analytical prowess in evaluating multiple sources of data that lead to making good credit decisions are still necessary, if only to continually improve the data driven engines required to drive the sector forward.
Using the parlance of venture capital and scaling models, will Embedded Finance solve a real life problem?
The short answer is yes.
Lending fintechs are solving cashflow or working capital issues, typically caused by things like extended debtor payment terms, large one-off payments like an insurance bill or a Revenue payment; or unexpected payments which can be as a result of growth for example, having to fund a newly won contract.
Making funding available to them integrated into platforms and software they already use has the potential to revolutionise how businesses manage their cashflow in the not-too-distant future!
The right funding at the right time… in the right place
At Financefair, we believe that there is a systemic failure in traditional funding. Businesses struggle to find unrestrictive funding to accelerate their growth. Our goal is to give growing businesses ‘the freedom to fund their own future’, giving them back control of their financial destiny. We do this by removing friction from the funding process, reduce restrictions and create a faster, fairer and more convenient and unfragmented funding journey.
By making our range of innovative funding solutions like Line of Credit and Revenue Based Finance, available to be embedded in 3rd Party Partner Platforms, we are giving ambitious and growing businesses ‘the right funding at the right time and, more importantly, in the right place’.
To find out more about Embedded Finance with Financefair, go to our dedicated Partnerships page here or contact our team at partnerships@financefair.com
Alternative Business-to-Business Finance Provider InvoiceFair has announced that it has changed its name to Financefair.
Financefair (formerly InvoiceFair) has made a significant impact on the Irish & UK business financing market since its launch in 2015, advancing over €1.5billion in funding to growing companies across almost 8,000 advances in that time.
The change is a reflection of the expanding breath of solutions offered by the company.
Speaking at the announcement today, Co-Founder & CEO Helen Cahill, a finalist in last year’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards said, “When we started in 2015 it was in the wake of a systemic banking failure that led directly to growing UK & Irish companies being starved of the funding they needed to grow. We created a simple but innovative Invoice Trading platform where companies could leverage the value of outstanding invoices to release immediate working capital.”
Over time, InvoiceFair began to expand the range of solutions it offered beyond simply trading individual invoices, mainly as a result of being more imaginative in attempting to solve unique issues that specific clients were facing.
This year, with 8 years of trading under our belt, we felt it was time to take another look at their value proposition.
According to Cahill, “Our name was made up of two words, one with a distinct meaning (‘Invoice’) which we felt at best mis-represented what we were about and at worst, probably had people thinking we were a basic Invoice Discounter. While Invoice Discounting is one of our solutions and we are very proud to provide a very distinctive and differentiated version of it to the market, we were about so much more.
We felt that we had outgrown the name. Although, this was about more than just a name change, we wanted an identity that better reflected our value proposition. Our vision is to be a powerful catalyst in helping businesses globally to fund their own future. A fundamental part of this is that we provide finance that gives ambitious companies the fairest chance of achieving their growth ambitions.”
And that’s where the name Financefair originates from.
An ever expanding range of innovative solutions
Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer Peter Brady explains how the needs of customers has been the driving force behind the more extensive range of solutions that Financefair now offers, “As we met more and more dynamic and forward-thinking business owners, we started to understand the range of unique circumstances their businesses were facing that simply weren’t being supported by the traditional funders like the pillar banks. So, we felt a sense of duty to these companies to try and come up with new ways of solving these cashflow issues.”
The 4 main solutions now on offer are:
Line of Credit
A pre-approved Line of Credit for up to €250,000 that gives you access to instant working capital you can draw down whenever you need it.
Turn individual or multiple invoices into instant cashflow for your business. Optimise your cashflow and upload as many invoices as you want, when you want, with no personal guarantees required.
Raise more working capital by converting your entire Debtor Book into upfront growth capital. Because we don’t apply debtor or geographic limits, you can access more funding than other funders to manage your cashflow better.
Convert up to 20% of your future Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) into upfront growth capital. As your ARR grows, so does the amount of funding you can access.
Our recently launched Line of Credit is a typical Financefair story, once again leading with a market first.
Widely available in some International markets most noticeably the USA, this is a market first in Ireland for Financefair.
Line of Credit is pretty much exactly as its name suggests – a pre-approved ‘always on’ facility companies can draw down whenever they need it. Financefair position it as a new alternative to business overdrafts and short-term loans, as it gives business owners access to instant working capital, or as we like to call it, ‘funding at your fingertips’.
Further launch imminent
Financefair has also announced the launch of an entirely new, specialist solution to fund Social & Affordable Housing in Ireland. The genesis of the social & affordable housing finance solution comes from the insight that a key issue for small and medium sized housing developers in the €2-€15m development finance bracket is having ability to plan and commence their projects efficiently, supported by funding that helps them get building faster.
Right now, the majority of finance available to developers like this is only available when the sale contract to an Approved Housing Body, a Local Authority or the Land Development Agency (LDA) has been executed.
Peter Brady explains this in more detail, “With our solution, the developer can get going on site 8-16 weeks sooner than with other funders. This, along with other features of our product like fixed finance cost, up to 90% Loan to Cost, helps developers optimise return on their equity and lock down more of the costs of their project in advance.
By starting sooner, fixing finance costs and getting finished more efficiently, developers give themselves the best chance of delivering their project efficiently, and moving on to their next project.”
Financefair have already secured an initial funding line of €150m which, when utilised, will support the development of 600 additional badly needed social & affordable homes for families across Ireland, making an immediate impact on the hottest topic in Irish society right now.
So, a new name but very much the same old story of innovation for Financefair, it’s ‘fair’ to say!
InvoiceFair becomes the first business lender in Ireland to offer Line of Credit, meeting the growing demand for faster, flexible business finance solutions.
InvoiceFair has announced the launch of Line of Credit – a whole new type of ‘On Demand’ funding for businesses in Ireland. Line of Credit is an automated, pre-approved working capital solution, based on advancing up to 20% of your annual turnover, with a limit of €250,000.
According to CEO Helen Cahill, Line of Credit is a well-timed innovation.
“Line of Credit is new to Ireland but has been available in other markets like the USA for some time. We feel that Line of Credit answers a very specific short term funding requirement for businesses in Ireland – an instantly accessible, pre-approved funding line for those unexpected cashflow demands that can arise without much notice. Virtually every funding option open to businesses takes so long to arrange that it causes businesses to lose out on major opportunities to grow quicker.”
Cahill explains further:
“Our mission is to give companies control of their own growth through access to innovative funding solutions at speed.Knowing they can draw down up to €250,000 instantly gives companies the confidence to invest in themselves, fund new business orders or capitalise on business opportunities”.
How does it work?
Being able to automate the entire application and onboarding process is what allows us to provide this unique solution. It means that we can make faster credit decisions and speed up how quickly businesses can get funded. Rather than the weeks or months it takes to secure traditional funding, Line of Credit funding can be in a customers bank account inside a single working week.
Once funding has been approved and paid to your nominated bank account, you have the flexibility to repay and redraw during the facility term, thereby putting you in control of your cashflow and the cost of funds. Uniquely, your bank account does not need to be in credit in order to draw down funds.
Each facility is provided for a 12-month period, at which stage the balance outstanding is repaid over a further 3-month period, unless the facility is renewed for a further 12-month period.
Pricing is transparent and consists of a monthly facility fee and interest payable on the balance outstanding which is collected at the end of the month via direct debit from your nominated bank account.
Our limits are also flexible, so if your business continues to grow during the period of the facility you can apply for an increased limit. It’s the ultimate in fast, flexible funding that’s always there when you need it – funding at your fingertips.
Funding in 6 Easy Steps
There are 6 easy steps to Line of Credit funding:
Step 1
Complete an online application form
Step 2
Connect your Online Banking & Accounting Software (read-only access)
Step 3
Within 24 hours, you’ll receive an indicative offer
Step 4
If you accept the offer, our team will onboard you onto the platform
Step 5
Once credit approved, we issue a facility letter & security documentation
Step 6
When your facility is in place, funds will be transferred within 24 hours
Who is eligible?
The eligibility criteria is pretty straightforward. Your business is eligible if it:
Is based & operating in the Republic of Ireland
Is trading for at least 12 months
Has an annual turnover of €250,000+
Has a current Tax Clearance Certificate
Can provide Open Banking & Accounting Software connectivity
Has an unencumbered Debtor Book
Can provide security on your Debtor Book and Bank Account
Based on the principle of Mutual Trust
Line of Credit is a highly innovative funding solution, that is based on a degree of mutual trust. You trust us with the financial & banking information you share with us. We trust you to manage debtor collections and cashflow yourself.
Unlike other funders, we don’t ask for Personal Guarantees as we base our funding decisions on the quality of the information you supply to us. We don’t interfere with your collection process or ask you to alert your customers about a change in bank account details, so it is a very discreet solution.
In return, all we ask for you to sign a short form debenture via DocuSign, giving us security over your Debtor Book and the Bank Accounts into which debtor receipts are collected.
This has absolutely no material impact on your business but gives us the comfort we need to provide you with access to an innovative ‘always-on’ source of funding to grow your business.
What are the benefits?
Fast Online process: Seamless and quick fully automated process.
Flexible: You decide how much of the facility to draw down and when. Also, you can draw down funds even if your account is not in credit.
Control: You control the cost of funds by deciding the drawdown amounts and for how long you need them.
Discreet: Repayments are via Direct Debit, there is no cntact with your customers and no change of bank account required
No Personal Guarantees: Unlike with other providers, you’re not personally liable
Peace of mind: You get certainty of funding for 12-month terms
Fast Funding: Once in place, drawdowns transferred within 24 hours
Multi-Currency: More than 20 different currencies
Like to find out more?
If you think Line of Credit is something that your business could benefit from, there are a number of things you can do:
Employing over 250,000 people, the manufacturing industry accounts for 32% of Ireland’s GDP – making it one of the most critical sectors of the Irish economy.
The industry’s flagship event is the National Manufacturing Summit. Held in the RDS on May 23rd – 24th, InvoiceFair Head of Sales Garry Holligan delivered a thought provoking presentation to a highly engaged audience.
Garry’s topic was “Funding Manufacturing Projects in a Turbulent World”. One of Ireland’s most prestigious Conference & Exhibitions, the Summit attracts upwards of 4,000 delegates across the 2 days each year.
The topic Garry spoke about was “Funding Construction Projects in a Turbulent World“.
Garry Holligan speaking at the National Manufacturing & Supply Chain Summit 2023
There has been a ‘softening’ of interest in funding Manufacturing Projects from more traditional funders over the past couple of years. This is due to a number of factors:
Global events like COVID-19 and the Ukranian War
Increased supply costs
Increased transportation costs
Supply scarcity
Extending credit terms
Increasing Variation Costs
Increasing Interest Rates
All of these have impacted on the overall profitability of manufacturing projects, meaning that manufacturers need to get familiar with some key financial tools that everyone involved in managing complex manufacturing projects should use in order to manage their projects effectively and, more importantly, profitably.
While the topic may seem very elevated, Garry brought the audience through some basic financial principles and explained:
If you don’t have a handle on some basic financial principles, a dynamic financial strategy plus a reliable source of funding, even the most successful companies are at risk of failure.
He went on to explain 2 specific financial tools that are key to effectively project management today.
The Cash Conversion Cycle
The CCC is a formula that measures the amount of time it takes to:
1. Purchase supplies
2. Turn those supplies into a completed project
3. Collect payment from your customer for that project
The CCC formula determines how efficient a company is at managing its working capital.
Companies that have learned to reduce their Cash Conversion Cycle have more cash on hand and can therefore take on more projects and grow their businesses faster.
Establishing a precise CCC can be quite complex; However, to give the audience a simple guide of how you compare globally, Garry explained that InvoiceFair created this simple calculator and encouraged everyone to do 2 calculations – using the average times from before Covid-19 and now, to see what direction you are trending in.
Calculate your CCC and see how you compare
Average No. of days to get your product from order to delivered to customer
Average No. of days credit your customer takes to pay you
Average No. of days credit your suppliers extend to you
0
You have a CCC of X days and rank in the
WorstAverageBest
category
Arrange a FREE consultation with one of our Funding Managers
Across the life of any manufacturing project, the requirement to fund things like supplier costs, labour, raw materials and expenses ebbs and flows, before the project is completed and fully paid for.
The point at which the highest amount of cash is required and the length of time it is required for during the life of a given project is known as the Peak Funding Requirement.
Garry brought everyone through an example based on real life data:
In this example, we see that the value of a ‘like for like’ the project has increased by 10%. So this company has actually managed to get an increased commitment from their customer. However, a number of things have changed. Raw materials have increased by over 25%, overheads and salaries by 10% (modest – in reality probably a lot higher given energy cost increase).
The impact of this on gross margin is significant – the same project even with an increase in budget is now making €50,000 less, which has a dramatic effect not only on profitability but also on cashflow. They are now having to finance a significant increase in peak funding at a lower gross margin.
If we say – again conservatively – that it is now taking 90 days to get materials landed and there is evidence that the customer is now stretching payment terms from 30 to 45 days; this means that this company now has a peak funding requirement of 385,000 for 130 days. They need to find funding for an extra 100,000 for an additional 39 days!
So how can we help?
Armed with this information, you are in a much better position to understand what your Peak Funding Requirement on any given project is and for how long you will need working capital finance.
Because of the high costs of traditional funding, the Manufacturing industry has been actively searching for alternative approaches. Today, there are three distinct alternatives with a few flavour varieties:
Early Payment Discounts
Invoice Finance
Supplier Finance
Banks and Traditional Funders can put manufacturing-related businesses into the risky-borrower bucket – even more so in current times. Alternative Funders like InvoiceFair offer a more dynamic method of financing manufacturing projects.
Why?
Specialists in Working Capital analysis and solutions
Experienced team of Financial Services Professionals
Secure lines of Funding
Speed (24 hours decisioning, 48 hours onboarding and 24 hours to receive funds)
Data Analytics
Sectoral expertise
Track record of supporting growing business
Discreet
InvoiceFair provide a range of innovative funding solutions for businesses that can release cash at every stage in the credit cycle. So you can get access to funding when you need it most – during the project and not after it is completed! We do not require personal guarantees from Directors, we don’t implement debtor or geographic concentration limits and funds are released within 24 hours once approved.
Want to learn more about InvoiceFair and how our range of alternative finance solutions could give your business the freedom to fund your own future? Contact us here.
The Gala Awards Night for this year’s Irish Accountancy Awards took place last Thursday 25th June, and as sponsors, InvoiceFair were there in numbers to celebrate the crème de la crème of the Irish Accountancy Profession. More than 450 people from all parts of the accountancy community were there to recognise and reward excellence in the Accountancy profession in Ireland.
The Awards took place at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Santry, Dublin in what was a very welcome return to face-to-face networking and socialising among Accountancy Professionals from both industry & practice.
Setting the scene. Final preparations in advance of the start of the Irish Accountancy Awards 2023 in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry, Co. Dublin
This year’s awards were presented by award winning Comedian, Author and TV Presenter Colm O’Regan. Best known for him multi-award winning RTE Radio 1 show, “Colm O’Regan Wants a word”; Colm is a seasoned after dinner speaker and event MC and he proved to be a big hit with the audience.
Colm O’Regan opening the Irish Accountancy Awards 2023
So who were the winners on the night?
There are a wide range of categories at the Irish Accountancy Awards, in both the industry and practice sectors. The majority of the awards are adjudicated by a select panel of judges and all of the results are listed below. However, there are a couple of ‘special merit’ awards that are made each year and among those is a special award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Accountancy’. This year’s recipient was Professor Patricia Barker, Dip. Couns., MPhil, PhD, FCA.
So extraordinary has been Patricia’s career that in his introduction to her Award, Barry Dempsey, Chief Executive of Chartered Accountants Ireland remarked “You’re probably going to think that I’ve cut and pasted extracts from a range of resumes and joined them together”. He went on to outline some of the remarkable achievements that Patricia has made over her career.
Following Barry’s powerful introduction, Patricia addressed the audience with a deeply insightful and inspiring acceptance speech, which was received with a rapturous standing ovation.
Both speeches are very much worth watching!
Barry Dempsey presents Professor Patricia Barker with her award for Outstanding Contribution to Accountancy
As Sponsors, InvoiceFair presented 2 Awards on the night.
CEO Helen Cahill presented the award for Finance Director of the Year to Chris McCarthy of Uisce Éireann. Chris was one of 2 finalists, narrowly beating Gerard Cleary of Glenisk to the award this year.
Meanwhile CRO Peter Brady presented Azets Ireland with the Award for Tax Team of the Year, who beat off stiff competition from Charles P. Crowley & Co., RSM Ireland and Walsh O’Brien Harnett.
Full list of Winners
Outstanding Contribution to Accountancy
Professor Patricia Barker, Dip. Couns., MPhil, PhD, FCA
InvoiceFair is delighted to confirm its Gold Sponsorship of the Irish Accountancy Awards 2023.
Now in its 8th year, the Irish Accountancy Awards were created to recognise and reward excellence in the Accountancy profession in Ireland. The Awards cover both industry & practice and span a wide variety of categories.
According to InvoiceFair CEO Helen Cahill,
“Working with some of the most innovative and dynamic Financial Professionals in Ireland on a daily basis, we’re delighted to play our part in recognising some of the excellent work being done in the sector. We feel it is very important to step back from pressures of day-to-day work and take time out to reward those for their continued commitment to improvement of standards.”
The Awards culminate in a Gala Awards night at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry, Co. Dublin on the 25th of May 2023.
Categories & Finalists
Accountant of the Year
Sinead Doherty – Fenero
Elaine Jackson Gilsenan – OmniPro
John Hannaway – HCA Chartered Accountants
Advisory Team of the Year
Azets Ireland
Cantwell Corporate Finance
Charles P. Crowley & Co.
Fitzgerald Power
FPM
JPA Brenson Lawlor
Walsh O’Brien Harnett
Saffery Champness Ireland
Advisory Team of the Year – SME Finance
Cantwell Corporate Finance
FinTech PRO
ORM Accountants Limited
Paul O’Donovan & Associates
CavanaghKelly
KDA Doyle Kelly Accountants
O’Farrell & Co. Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors
Saffery Champness Ireland
CSR Initiative of the Year
Deloitte Ireland
EY Ireland
Fitzgerald & Partners Accountants & SME Specialists
O’Donovan Keyes & Barrett
University of Galway Tax Clinic
Employer of the Year
DBASS
FPM
KDA Doyle Kelly Accountants
Quintas
Walsh O’Brien Harnett
Excellence in Education & Training
EY Ireland
Griffith Professional Accountancy
Masters in Science in Accounting and Finance Management – Graduate Business School Griffith College
Online Training for Accountancy Students – AccountancySchool.ie
PAT Business School
TUS Midlands
Finance Director of the Year
Gerard Cleary – Glenisk
Chris McCarthy – Uisce Éireann
Damien Bruckard, deputy director of trade and investment at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, paraphrased it most eloquently: “The collapse and subsequent surge in consumer demand during the pandemic has led to significant shortages of manufacturing components, order backlogs, delivery delays and a spike in transportation costs and consumer prices.”
We arrive at a point in 2022, where sourcing materials is a significant challenge, materials are taking longer to get delivered and the costs of both the materials and their transportation are increasing.Throw in an energy crisis and a war on the European continent and it’s safe to say that these are unprecedented times for manufacturers!
Certainly, some of the strategies deployed prior to the pandemic have had to change in response to a very different world post-Covid19. Smarter manufacturers are shifting their focus onto guaranteed supply lines rather than purely focussing on cost control; a move away from a ‘lean’ manufacturing model in order to be able to deal with spikes in demand and shortage of supply are just two examples of how manufacturers are having to react to ever-changing market conditions.
Whatever the responses and strategies, one thing is for certain. All of these macro factors are having a massive impact on cashflow and the ability of manufacturing companies to fund their current order book let alone think about future growth.
The Cash Conversion Cycle and why it is an important metric
Nowhere else can you visibly see the impact of longer manufacturing times, higher supplier costs and extended credit terms than in the Cash Conversion Cycle. It has now become a critical metric in managing cashflow in today’s more forward thinking manufacturing companies, particularly in a time where having access to cash is king.So what is the Cash Conversion Cycle. Put simply, it is an accounting formula that determines the time it takes for your initial cash outlay and manufacturing processes to turn back into cash in your bank account. The CCC formula determines how efficient a company is at managing its working capital.
How do you calculate it?
The formula is a simple one. Understanding how you compare to others is a critical competitive tool:
DIO
The average number of days you hold inventory before selling it.
DSO
The average number of days it takes for you to get payment following a sale.
DPO
The average number of days it takes for you to pay your suppliers
Calculate your CCC here:
According to APQC, the leading global authority on business productivity, the average CCC for a manufacturing company should be 52 days, with the top performers on 33.2 days and the bottom on 74 days.
Whilst the calculation of a Cash Conversion Cycle is quite complex and can involve multiple sub-calculations for each of the 3 main headings (DIO, DSO, DPO), this is a simplified, quick guide for demonstration purposes. It will give you a quick indication of how your company is faring versus global norms.
Clearly, the difference between the top and the bottom of this scale can be the difference between business success and business failure. The range demonstrates that companies at the bottom have to, on average, fund an additional 40 days of cash flow – more than one extra month in real-time.
But that’s only part of the story…
Depending on your business model and its level of sophistication, there can be a large number of key stages where cash is required to keep everything on track.
Clearly, companies that have a short conversion cycle can buy inventory (perform the process to finished goods in manufacturing), sell it, and receive cash from customers in less time. But that’s not always possible. It may not even be sensible (for example, lean manufacturing is not a good strategy in times of supply chain uncertainty).
What happens when exterior factors disrupt the manufacturing process and extend the Cash Conversion Cycle?
Do you have deep cash reserves or will you run out of cash?
How do you fund the increasing working capital gap?
The good news is that now you know your CCC you know exactly what your potential working capital gap will be. Also, you’ve more than likely made more favorable arrangements with your suppliers. You probably have blue chip debtors or a reliable source of customers. We can help you fund your own future, without relying on outdated or restrictive forms of funding.
InvoiceFair is a funding platform where companies convert their own sales orders, WIP, invoices & even future revenues into upfront growth capital. Uniquely, we provide funding at every stage of the cash conversion cycle, offering a powerful mix of solutions to help companies grow. This allows them to take control, react to market opportunities, grow faster and create more value without restriction. In the past 5 years, we have advanced an impressive €1bn+ to growing UK & Irish companies.
Solutions available include:
Sales Order Finance
Upfront Finance using approved sales orders
Selective Invoice Finance
Choose the individual invoices you want to finance
Innovative Invoice Discounting
Finance your entire Debtor Book plus a portion of your WIP
Revenue-Based Finance
Leverage your future revenues and subscriptions today.
Call our Business Development team on 003531 6632662 or email busdev@invoicefair.com for a bespoke consultation on how InvoiceFair could give your business the freedom to fund your own future and turn the uncertainty of the current manufacturing crisis into an opportunity to grow faster.
The dramatic global events of the past 2 years like the COVID-19 Pandemic and The War in Ukraine have had a dramatic impact on manufacturing companies in particular. This has resulted in rising cost and scarcity of raw materials and labour, lengthening supplier delivery timelines and time to market, not to mention general overhead increases and now to cap it all off, a relentless escalation in the cost of energy.
While the focus has been on managing these costs and channel management, one area that doesn’t get quite the same media coverage is the impact all of this turbulence has had on manufacturers ‘peak funding requirement’ and what impact this has on profit and performance.
What is ‘Peak Funding Requirement’?
Across the life of any manufacturing project (or process), the requirement to fund things like supplier costs, labour, raw materials and expenses ebbs and flows, before the finished product is eventually sold and paid for.
The point at which the highest amount of cash is required and the length of time it is required for during the life of a given project is known as the Peak Funding Requirement.
Totally unrelated to the impact world events have had on actual pricing and profitability, Peak Funding Requirement is something all manufacturers should estimate before embarking on any project and ensure that they have a reliable source of funding in place in order to meet this critical cost summit.
Without it, at best manufacturers ability to manage multiple projects will be severely limited. At worst, it may lead to defaulting on contractual obligations in terms of labour and raw materials payments and ultimately their ability to fulfil order completion for their customers.
All good accountants in well-run manufacturing companies will of course be aware of managing cashflow and ensuring the business has sufficient cash reserves to meet demands, but with so much turbulence in such a short period of time, previous financial modelling may well be underestimating quite how much this peak funding requirement has increased over the last 24 months or so and what the true cost of it is on their finances.
What factors determine Peak Funding Requirement?
In a previous blog post, we discussed one of the contributing factors on Peak Funding Requirement – your Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC). This is it is an accounting formula that determines the time it takes for your initial cash outlay and manufacturing processes to turn back into cash in your bank account. The CCC formula determines how efficient a company is at managing its working capital. (You can read more about the Cash Conversion Cycle and actually benchmark your company vs. global norms here).
However, Peak Funding Requirement is slightly more complex and there are a number of other factors that determine the Peak Funding Requirement including among others:
Order size
Rising Raw Materials costs
Rising Labour and Overheads
Supplier staged deposits & payment agreements
Increase in raw materials cost and delivery days
Additional days credit taken by customers to pay
Additional days production time
So, what does this mean for manufacturers?
Putting all of these factors into a predictive model, the amount of funding required at the peak of a manufacturing project has increased alarmingly. As has the length of time this peak is sustained for.
Here is an example to help illustrate this.
Example: ABC Manufacturing
ABC Manufacturing manufacture a range of educational technology devices, which they supply to a range of online and offline retail customers for sale. Pre 2020, their average order size was €500,000 and their gross margin was approx. 43%, which was extremely healthy.
They have arrangements with very reliable suppliers in the Far East, who ship the units ready for assembly within a guaranteed delivery turnaround time of 8 weeks from order. Payment terms are 20% upfront with the 80% balance to be paid on shipment. It takes ABC on average 5 days to complete assembly, packaging and delivery to their customer, who pays them in full 30 days after delivery.
Post 2020 and ABC are facing a very challenging and much changed environment. Their once reliable supplier is now only able to guarantee a 10-week turnaround. Due to the cost of raw materials increasing, they have put up their prices by 20%, which ABC has no alternative to pay, as securing a line of supply is crucial to maintain their customer orders and there are many competing manufacturers looking to work with their supplier. Shipping delays are also adding more time to the manufacturing process. On average this is now taking 10 days longer than it did in 2020 to arrive.
The issues don’t stop there. Once the goods are landed, the labour and overhead costs have now risen by a combined 10%. While they were able to negotiate an increase of 10% in the order value with their customer, they had to agree to extend credit terms by an additional 15 days. So, overall, their cash conversion cycle has gone from 91 days to a massive 130 days.
In summary, ABC Manufacturing now have a Peak Funding Requirement amount of €353,100 versus €285,000 pre-2020. A difference of €79,100.
Also, this increase in cash required to sustain the order has to be funded over an extra 39 days (the increase in their cash conversion cycle from 91 to 130 days).
The increase in days means ABC will have to fund an additional month of Payroll and overhead before the order payment is received.
All this in the context of a reducing gross margin, putting further pressure on funding future orders.
As stated at the outset, most financial analysis would likely focus on sales price, cost price, gross margin and other typical business health indicators, it can be very easy to overlook other indicators like Peak Funding Requirement. Especially in an environment in such a state of flux that requires strong – and quick financial leadership.
While one would hope that the markets correct themselves and costings, timings and profitability come back into line, in the near term, companies like ABC need to find a reliable and flexible source of funding that they can rely on to help them to steer through these choppy waters.
The turbulence we are seeing now on a disturbingly regular basis means that even the best performing companies can fail due to not having access to a reliable source of ongoing funding support – one that they can activate quickly to allow them to react to sudden change.
Want to get a more accurate idea of your Peak Funding Requirement?
InvoiceFair provide a range of innovative funding solutions for businesses that can release cash at every stage in the credit cycle. So you can get access to funding when you need it most – during the project and not after it is completed! We do not require personal guarantees from Directors, we don’t implement debtor or geographic concentration limits and funds are released within 24 hours once approved.
Book a free 1 hour consultancy with one of our Qualified Funding Managers, from which we will recommend the most efficient strategy to help you manage funding any increase in your Peak Funding Requirement and manage your cashflow more effectively.
Head of Sales at InvoiceFair, Garry Holligan was asked to speak at this year’s National Construction Summit. One of Ireland’s premier expos, the Summit attracts upwards of 3,000 delegates every year.
The topic Garry spoke about was “Funding Construction Projects in a Turbulent World”.
Securing funding for projects in the construction industry has gotten more difficult over the past couple of years in particular. Global events like COVID-19 and the Ukranian War have had a dramatic impact on the cost of goods, transport times and delivery and the overall profitability of construction projects. This has led to a ‘softening’ of interest in funding from more traditional funders.
While the topic may seem very elevated, Garry brought the audience through some basic financial principles and explained:
If you don’t have a handle on some basic financial principles, a dynamic financial strategy plus a reliable source of funding, even the most successful companies are at risk of failure.
He went on to explain some key financial tools that everyone involved in managing complex construction projects should use in order to manage their projects effectively and, more importantly, profitably.
Cash Conversion Cycle
The CCC is a formula that measures the amount of time it takes to:
1. Purchase supplies
2. Turn those supplies into a completed project
3. Collect payment from your customer for that project
The CCC formula determines how efficient a company is at managing its working capital. Construction companies
Construction companies that have learned to reduce their Cash Conversion Cycle have more cash on hand and can therefore take on more projects and grow their businesses faster.
Establishing a precise CCC can be quite complex; However, to give the audience a simple guide of how you compare globally, Garry explained that InvoiceFair created this simple calculator and encouraged everyone to do 2 calculations – using the average times from before Covid-19 and now, to see what direction you are trending in.
Calculate your CCC and see how you compare
Average No. of days to get your product from order to delivered to customer
Average No. of days credit your customer takes to pay you
Average No. of days credit your suppliers extend to you
0
You have a CCC of X days and rank in the
WorstAverageBest
category
Arrange a FREE consultation with one of our Funding Managers
Across the life of any construction project, the requirement to fund things like supplier costs, labour, raw materials and expenses ebbs and flows, before the project is completed and fully paid for
The point at which the highest amount of cash is required and the length of time it is required for during the life of a given project is known as the Peak Funding Requirement.
Garry brought everyone through an example based on real life data:
In this example, we see that the value of a ‘like for like’ the project has increased by 20%. So this company has actually managed to get an increased commitment from their customer. However, a number of things have changed. Raw materials have increased by almost 25%, overheads and salaries by 12% (modest – in reality probably a lot higher given energy cost increase).
The impact of this on gross margin is significant – the same project even with a large increase in budget is now making €700,000 less, which has a dramatic effect not only on profitability but also on cashflow.
If we say – again conservatively – that it is now taking 90 days to get materials landed and there is evidence that the customer is now stretching payment terms from 30 to 45 days; this means that this company now has a peak funding requirement of 8.4m for 135 days. They need to find funding for an extra €2.7m for an additional 49 days!
So how can we help?
Armed with this information, you are in a much better position to understand what your Peak Funding Requirement on any given project is and for how long you will need working capital finance.
Because of the high costs of traditional funding, the construction industry has been actively searching for alternative approaches. Today, there are three distinct alternatives with a few flavour varieties:
Early Payment Discounts
Invoice Finance
Supplier Finance
Banks have a long history of lumping all construction-related businesses into the risky-borrower bucket – even more so in current times. Alternative Funders like InvoiceFair offer a more dynamic method of financing construction projects.
Why?
Specialists in Working Capital analysis and solutions
Experienced team of Financial Services Professionals
Secure lines of Funding
Speed (24 hours decisioning, 48 hours onboarding and 24 hours to receive funds)
Data Analytics
Sectoral expertise
Track record of supporting growing business
Discreet
InvoiceFair provide a range of innovative funding solutions for businesses that can release cash at every stage in the credit cycle. So you can get access to funding when you need it most – during the project and not after it is completed! We do not require personal guarantees from Directors, we don’t implement debtor or geographic concentration limits and funds are released within 24 hours once approved.
Want to learn more about InvoiceFair and how our range of alternative finance solutions could give your business the freedom to fund your own future? Contact us here.
