Home Sales have Picked Up by 5 Points in May

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There is some good news from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) — it is the strongest reading since May of 2007, and a good indicator that IFG’s construction factoring might be in for an increase as well.
Home sales have picked up and the gradual upward trend in confidence is on the rise as stabilizing prices and home affordability encourage people to buy.

The fact that the HMI has returned to trend is an excellent sign that firming home values, low mortgage rates as well as improving employment seem to be drawing consumers back. Current sales conditions and the traffic of prospective buyers components each rose five points in May to 30 and 23, respectively, with the traffic component hitting its highest level since April of 2007. The component gauging sales expectations in the next six months rose three points to 34.

Source: the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as good, fair or poor. The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as high to very high, average or low to very low. Scores from each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

Note: The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index is strictly the product of NAHB Economics, and is not seen or influenced by any outside party prior to being released to the public. HMI tables can be found at www.nahb.org/hmi. More information on housing statistics is also available at www.housingeconomics.com.

Try a New Business Strategy – Invoice Discounting

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Have you heard about spring cleaning for your business? Yes it is time again. This is a good time to also take a long hard look at your finances, and especially if you are a small business. Many small business issues get put on the back burner. Following are some ways to get organized and clean up your finances.

If your business started out as a partnership or sole proprietorship but you transitioned to another entity as your company grew, it may be time to reevaluate things. As an example, if your business is not incorporated, you may want to consider incorporating as an Inc. or an LLC. This alone could shelter you from financial risks and possibly save funds on taxes.

It is a good idea for a small business owner to keep their personal finances as well as their expenses separate from the business, and especially if your business is an LLC or Corporation. This means a few things:
-Open a business credit card
-Open a business checking/savings account
-Think about setting up an accounts receivables factoring program

Think about getting organized by using a cloud application to help streamline your company and its operations and finances. Ask yourself what are the toughest parts about managing your finances. Are you slow to invoice clients? If this is the case you may run out of funds, especially if clients pay 30/60/90 days later. If so then invoice discounting might be a good strategy to begin.

Go to www.ifgnetwork.com for more information on invoice factoring.

U.S. Business Confidence at Highest in Over a Year

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The confidence index at small U.S. businesses shows that it rose in April to the highest level in over a year. A survey sponsored by The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said Tuesday that many companies have stepped up plans for hiring along with investing. The Small Business Optimism Index rose 2 percentage points to 94.5.

The highest level it has been at since February 2011, more small businesses are also reporting they have plans to hire in the future. The NFIB said last week that companies added to payrolls in April, and this last report shows that more companies will be spending on land, machinery and buildings — meaning this could affect construction factoring as well.

IFG Celebrates 40 Years in the Factoring Business

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The Interface Financial Group (IFG) recently celebrated 40 years in the factoring business at their 10th Annual International Conference in San Francisco, California, where IFG representatives from seven countries including Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and Singapore, talked about accounts receivable factoring services and the latest industry trends.

The IFG attendees discussed current issues facing the factoring industry globally. The company is making progress toward it goals to promote and expand the business in the future.

Participants at the conference this year also took part in discussions about key issues surrounding the factoring industry globally, which included popular topics such as due diligence for spot factoring transactions, marketing and reviewing case studies.

Startup Businesses Benefit from Using Small Business Factoring Services

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It is more important than ever to try to maintain a steady cash flow year around if you are a new business — whether retail focused or whether you are a B2B provider, you still need to meet your business expenses and payroll. Payroll and taxes all need to be paid on time, regardless of the fluctuations of income for any small business. That is why for a startup short of having some cash on hand certain times of the year, small business factoring services can often help bridge the gap.

Factoring is a practice wherein a business sells its accounts receivable invoices to a third party at a discount in exchange for immediate cash with which to finance continued business. It is a method to enable businesses to cover short-term cash needs during periods in which these needs exceed cash flow. Factoring invoices is not a bank loan and only the debtor has to worry about their credit being reviewed. (i.e., the party named on the invoice) and there is nothing to repay. Once popular in early merchant banking activities, accounts receivable factoring is experiencing a resurgence in popularity as many small businesses struggle in the current financial climate.

State of the Economy: Some SMEs Try Small Business Factoring

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According to a new survey and report from the online community dedicated to small businesses known as Manta, there are mixed feelings about the state of the U.S. economy — but one thing everyone seems to have in common is that gas prices are our enemy. High gas prices are the enemy of many a small business owner with 82% responding that prices will impact business if they continued to rise, with 43% of owners citing decreased profit for my business as the top consequence of already having affected the company.

In a poll of 1,107 small business owners, the numbers appeared split down the middle regarding if taxes were more complicated in 2011 than for 2010; 43% responding they were.

Small business lending is rising now compared to 2008 when credit markets froze. Most SMBs say bank loans remain difficult to obtain; 58% of responders reporting access to credit and loans has been worse than last year. Plus the hiring outlook is frim; 80% have not yet hired in these past three months of 201, and 45% state they do not plan to hire at all.

More than half, or 53%, said the health-care reform act has not impacted their company; 22% said they were unsure, while 14% said the act had negatively affected them, and 7% gave an affirmative yes. But 4% gave another response. Also the health-care tax credit has not yet been taken advantage of by 53% of small business owners; 31% said they were unsure about it and/or did not understand it.

One thing many small businesses have stated doing to help themsleves is small business factoring.

Invoice Discounting for Small Businesses

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A great analogy for business is that a small business is like a speed boat, whereas a big business is like a cruise ship. A large company takes much longer to turn around – when it comes to decisions, and new policies and procedures. A small business can remain fairly flexible and faster in its decision making, but this means there is also a greater risk of being thrown off course.

A small business usually also has challenges than a large company during tough economic times, because of cash flow. Cash is the key to a successful business and this can often be the ability for a small business to simply survive the during start-up phases. Coming Invoice discounting can of great help — as is a financial service that allows an SME to quickly raise working capital by using their accounts receivable. With the average number of days for customers (particularly large companies) to pay invoices nearing 90 days in many cases, it is no surprise why so many small businesses face challenges in growing their businesses.

Invoice discounting can assist in this situation. Just like driving a speed boat, small business owners will have a thrilling ride on the journey of building their business. But the key is to have the right financial services in place to help them survive cash flow issues. For more information about invoice discounting, call The Interface Financial Group (IFG) at

How are SME’s Coping with Inflation? Invoice Factoring.

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Small business owners know that inflation is a threat to profits and expansion plans. Just as an example, cotton is at a 14 percent increase is hurting clothing retailers; An 8 percent increase in the cost of eggs over the past year is getting to restaurants. And if a business must send employees on a sales trip they must bear the brunt to the tune of or 7 percent rise in gas or an 8 percent increase in jet fuel.

During a regular economy a company could pass along the cost of doing business to customers, however now, customers want to pay to pay less, and this results in small businesses having few options.

One of the comforts that some small businesses are finding — alternative financial strategies such as IFG’s invoice factoring services provide much needed cash to help make up the difference for inflation.

For more information on invoice factoring, visit our YouTube videos at “InvoiceFactoringforB”.

Construction Factoring Gains Interest as Industry Declines

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According to a report from The Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers’ index shows the March construction sector in declining activity levels. The rate of decline in construction activity slowed over the month of March, while new business was broadly unchanged. Cost inflation accelerated markedly last month, mainly due to higher fuel prices.

The index saw activity rising to 46.7 in March from 45.8 in the previous month, and a figure that is above 50 means activity grew, while below 50 means activity fell.

The Interface Financial Group (IFG) believes that this news reinforces the need for small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to engage in construction factoring services to help them survive through 2012. This solution is a growing source of alternative funding among contractors.

IFG offers invoice factoring solutions that will enable an SME to sell its accounts receivable invoices to a third party at a discount in exchange for immediate cash within less than 24 hours. Unlike a loan, factoring services are the purchase of financial assets, or receivables accounts. There are no upfront fees and no co-signers required. IFG has no minimum sales volume requirement, and professional fees are competitive.

ACA Plus Factoring Equal Tax Credits and Happier Employees

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Congress passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) known as Obamacare two years ago, and it is still controversial with some claiming that ACA is a necessary step for the future, while others say it is not constitutional.

The majority of small businesses believe the ACA will help make small businesses more competitive and encourage growth economically. However the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) claim that the ACA will eventually harm small businesses by driving up the costs of their insurance premiums.

The reality is that many small businesses will not have to cover insurance, but the ACA requires any company with 50 or more employees need to provide coverage for them, meaning a company with 49 employees has to pay nothing for their insurance so this could keep small businesses from wanting to grow. Yet, those that provide insurance are also eligible for tax credits of up to 35 percent of the insurance premiums.

Any small businesses offering health insurance to their employees, makes them more attractive to job seekers. What’s more, factoring can help them pay for the coverage. Invoice factoring enables a small business to raise cash against its invoices within 24 to 48 hours.