Category Archives: Cash flow

financing back office support

5 Ways This Is Better Than a Bank Loan or Line of Credit

Before you consider going to a bank for a small business loan or line of credit, you might want to explore another option. A better one because it’s money that already belongs to you. The money you get from the flexible financing is invoice financing, which gives you the cash flow you need to pay expenses and grow your business. It’s also known as factoring and accounts receivables financing.

Accounts receivables are open invoices that haven’t been paid. It’s money a company is owed after delivering the product or service. Clients may take 30, 60, 90, or more days to pay the invoice. Some companies speed this process with flexible financing from a factor. The factor — a third party company — buys your invoices and gives you cash as soon as you submit them.

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Balance cash flow

14 Ways to Ensure You Always Have Cash Flow

A colleague told me about a long-time client and friend who passed away. The business went with him. It happens. That’s life. While his business made up about a third of hers, she weathered the loss of income because she had enough cash stashed away to cover her while she looked for new clients.

Another colleague texted me to let me know that her computer had died. Fortunately, she was able to buy a new computer the same day and restore her backed up files to the new computer.

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Rocky cash flow

How Late Payment of Invoices Are a Danger to Your Small Business

Cash flow makes or breaks a small business. If you don’t have the cash to pay expenses and make payroll, then your business can’t survive. Simply put: no cash, no business. This can and does happen even if you have all the customers you want and talented employees who do their jobs well.

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8 Easy Ways to Find More Cash for Your Business

In One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way, author Robert Maurer told the story of an employee who saw his metal shop coworkers throwing out scrap metal. When the company posted a suggestion box with a simple question, the worker submitted one to sell the scraps. The company implemented the idea and found an easy way to get more cash.

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MCA like sharks

Why Merchant Cash Advance Actually Hurts Cash Flow

On the TV show “Shark Tank,” business owners typically ask for funding in exchange for equity. When a product catches the eye of Kevin “Mr. Wonderful” O’Leary, he likes to counter with a complicated deal consisting of royalties and fees. Sometimes royalty in perpetuity comes attached to the offer. Smarter entrepreneurs turn him down flat because it takes away money they could reinvest in the business.

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cash flow statements

What You Need to Know About Cash Flow Management

Your small business could have all the clients it wants and be profitable. Yet without cash-on-hand, things could fall apart in an instant. Profits don’t guarantee you’ll always have cash to pay employees, purchase supplies and take care of your vendors. The good news is that you can control your finances to ensure cash is always available. It begins with understanding how cash goes in and out of your company.

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small business loan bank

Get a Small Business Loan or Working Capital Without a Big Bank

Many small businesses avoid seeking loans, but not for the reasons you think. According to a Sageworks survey, business owners opt not to pursue small business loans because they don’t want to take on debt (62 percent) or think they won’t get approved (24 percent).

Data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shows that small business lending — for loans less than $1 million — has dropped between 2008 and 2012. It has yet to see improvement since.

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Financial Dictionary

What Do These Business Financial Terms Mean?

There’s a lot of confusion when it comes to business financing options as financing services companies can get creative with the names they use to describe the types of financing they offer. Part of that is for a good reason. Not all small business owners know what kind of financing they want or need especially when banks don’t come through.

Because of this, financial services companies use simple terms such as flexible funding or flexible financing. Invoice financing, accounts receivable financing and MCA funding mean little to business owners. Small businesses know they need working capital to help with cash flow. Here are the common terms to help you navigate the murky waters of financing.

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Oil Rig

How You Can Improve Cash Flow with Flexible Financing

Are you or your employees growing frustrated with the administrative part of your jobs in chasing down late payments from customers? How much more working capital would your business get if it stopped spending so much time tracking down customers to pay for services rendered or products delivered? What would you do with the cash if you have it sooner?

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