Funding & factoring
03 Running the business
Invoice finance, factoring and wider business funding, sourced across the whole market so the comparison is a real one rather than one lender's shop window. We model it against your actual ledger — your concentration, your payment profile — explain where the charges really fall, and introduce the two or three funders that suit the shape of your book.
Free to agencies and contractors; our partners pay us.
What we source
Your client wants sixty days. Your contractors want paying Friday. We source across the whole market, so the comparison is real rather than one lender's shop window.
- Invoice finance
Factoring, discounting, selective and spot
Factoring advances against the invoice and also runs collections; it is disclosed. Invoice discounting gives you the advance while you keep collections, disclosed or confidential. Selective or spot finance funds chosen invoices rather than the whole ledger.
- Protection
Bad debt protection and CHOCs
Bad debt protection can be bolted onto any of the above, covering you if a client becomes insolvent. CHOCs — client handles own collections — is a middle position: the funder advances, you collect, sitting between factoring and full discounting.
- Wider funding
Asset finance, revolving credit, bridging, export and FX
Beyond invoice finance, the wider funding market matters to agencies too: start-up capital, asset finance, recruitment-specific loans, revolving credit facilities, bridging, export finance and FX for agencies invoicing in euros or dollars.
How it works
01
Assess
We look at the shape of the workforce: sectors, volumes, where people are placed and the risk you carry.
02
Compare
Every route that genuinely fits goes on the table, with liability, administration and cost set out the same way.
03
Introduce
Two or three providers from a panel we have already checked. If none is right, we say so.
The things people ask before they ring
No. We give you the information and the introductions; regulated advice comes from the regulated partner you choose to engage.
The provider determines the advance against eligible invoices under the agreed facility. Ask it to show the amount available after exclusions, limits and charges, when that amount can be drawn and how the balance is settled. Model those cash movements against your actual payroll dates; a headline rate alone does not establish availability.
Under factoring the funder advances against the invoice and also runs the sales ledger and collections, and the facility is disclosed, so your clients know it exists. Under invoice discounting you take the advance and keep the collections, and the facility can be confidential, so your clients continue to deal with you directly. Discounting asks more of your credit control, which is why funders usually want to see scale and process before offering it.
There are two components and providers present them inconsistently. The discount charge is the cost of the money, usually a margin over base rate on the funds you actually draw. The service fee covers ledger management and collections, usually a percentage of turnover. The traps are minimum fees, debtor concentration limits, notice periods and exit fees, and disapproved invoices. The only meaningful comparison is total cost against your real ledger over twelve months.
No, and it is worth saying so. It suits an agency with a genuine timing gap between paying workers and being paid by creditworthy clients. It is the wrong tool if the underlying problem is margin, because funding the gap accelerates the loss rather than fixing it, and it prices badly where the debtor book is concentrated in one shaky client. A short gap with a few strong clients may be better served by an overdraft or by renegotiating terms.
It can affect the proposed facility. Ask the provider how it defines a customer or connected group, which ledger balance it uses, and how concentration restrictions interact with individual debtor limits and invoice eligibility. Have it model your current and forecast ledger rather than assuming a standard market percentage applies.
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Fifteen minutes will tell you where you stand
Whether you're a contractor after your next job, an agency placing across Europe, or a business that needs people found, paid and funded — start with a conversation. It costs nothing and we'll tell you honestly if we can't help. No form to fill in first.
info@freelancer-supermarket.co.uk