Monthly Archives: September 2010

http://dev.getfar.com/our-work/Confidence Levels Among Small business Owners at Lowest Point

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According to a new monthly survey by Discover Financial Services, 62 percent believe the economy is getting worse. Discover’s August survey of 750 small business owners nationwide revealed that , and 55 percent economic conditions for their business to be unfavorable in the next six months. The largest month-on-month decline since November 2009, the company said that these factors caused its Small Business Watch index to drop 10 points between July and August.

Small businesses are struggling nationwide, and yet some have survived, thanks to tactics including prudent strategic thinking, working harder and leaner, and good financial tactics like factoring. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions:

Q: How quickly can I receive funding from an invoice factoring company?

IFG usually completes funding within 24 hours.

Can I be selective in the invoices I sell?

Of course, you can be selective. IFG does not expect to buy 100 percent of your receivables.

Can I sell just one invoice?

Yes IFG has no minimum sales volume requirements. You use the service only as you need it. Similarly, there are no maximum limits either.?

How much can you advance against invoice?

IFG can advance up to 90% against invoices you are selling.

How much will it cost?

IFG’s professional fees are competitive. Each client’s circumstances will vary and may have an impact on the fees.

Source: Discover Small Business Survey.

Invoice Factoring Versus Latest Tax Breaks for Small Business

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Small businesses could be receiving $200 billion in tax breaks if they invest in new equipment and plants. The Small Businesses Job Act will also double the current expensing limit to $500,000. According to the latest proposal from Washington, this allows business owners to write off 100 percent of the investment in a year.This as opposed to a series of deductions over a number of years.

Analysts see one thing wrong with this picture — most small businesses aren’t making expenditures that exceed the current $250,000 expensing limit. Therefore only some businesses will benefit, but most smaller businesses most will not benefit from the proposed tax break. What’s more they also agree that no single solution works for every business.? 

There is a solution that does work for almost any business, and that is accounts receivable factoring. Factoring companies have been successfully helping small to medium-sized businesses stay afloat for years. Factoring is a simple yet beneficial tool for business owners in time of financial need.

Obtaining loans from banks and other traditional financial institutions can be an arduous process. That’s where IFG’s invoice factoring services (a.k.a. invoice discounting) is a better way to obtain short-term working capital for growing businesses who often find it difficult to attract conventional funding.

Invoice Factoring is One of Several New Business Start-Up Tips

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With the economy in shambles, there are many people who have lost their jobs, and are taking the risk to start their own small businesses. Starting out on the right foot is essential to success. Following you will find the solutions to common costly mistakes made by new business owners:

Register Your Business — Check directly with the government agency that handles your because city and state requirements are different — ranging from needing to register to hiring employees, or whether or not you have to charge sales tax. If you do not abide by local and state ordinances you could be subject to heavy fines, or worse, legal action or the fact that your business being shut down.

Professional registrations and licenses must be maintained — or you could face serious personal fines, or experience lawsuits from practicing without these requirements.

Make sure you charging the right taxes — One area of doing business that varies from location to location is sales tax regulatroins, because all but five states (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon) charge sales tax on many goods.

Check to see if you have a unique business name — Trademark laws are often vague, but one thing should be very clear when choosing a business name. Make sure it does not already belong to someone else. Otherwise you could be sued.

Make sure your company is insured — Insurance needs will vary depending on the business, but just make sure you have the types of insurance that leaders in your field recommend.The last thing you need are expensive liability claims that could harm your business, or shut it down.? 

Use accounts receivable factoring — This financial tactic allows you to The business can manage the cost by selling invoices that will be paid soon and by only taking the amount that is needed for continuing operations. Invoice factoring is used by businesses all over the world.

Just remember — taking the time to set up your business correctly from the beginning will help your business and its your bottom line for years to come.

Does the Card ACT Help Small Businesses?

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According to the Federal Reserve, a little more than one third of small businesses used business credit cards in 1998, whereas that rate currently stands at about 64 percent, indicating that the use of business credit cards has significantly increased. Banks and issuers are aggressively marketing credit cards to small businesses, having mailed out 46 million professional credit card offers in the first quarter of the year. This is a 256 percent increase from the 13.2 million offers mailed out during the first quarter of last year, according to Synovate. Meanwhile, total credit card mail solicitations increased only 29 percent. Obviously there is an emphasis on the business sector, and many small-business owners are questioning why their corporate credit cards don’t get the same protections as consumer cards.

Business debt that appears on personal credit cards can negatively affect your credit score. An important factor in a FICO score is amount of debt you have as a percentage of your available credit — ideally about 30 percent. If business debt is put on your personal card, it increases this debt-to-available-credit percentage, which usually lowers your credit score.

The terms and conditions of professional credit cards are a bruising step backward for consumers finally benefiting from almost all of the CARD Act protections. Signing up for a small-business card returns consumers to the less-protected loans with penalty rates and immediate interest rate increases.

The National Small Business Association has lobbied for legislation to include small-business cards in CARD Act protections, but for now small business are stuck. It may be tempting to use personal cards for business for CARD Act protections, but that may not be wise. Interest payments on a consumer credit card are not a business expense tax write-off. Separating business expenses from personal expenses can also create an accounting nightmare.

Rather than build up debt on personal credit cards which can negatively affect your credit score in business, why not use invoice factoring by leveraging your current clients. Invoice factoring provides cash most of the time in less than 24 hours.

Invoice Factoring Can Aid Strategic Planning for Your Business

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The strategic planning process should result in identifying broad directions and approaches for your company as a whole, and it is usually intended to provide direction — with all the more tactical details to be worked out later. Most companies look at planning every quarter, so a good strategic plan will be comprehensive in scope, developed with considerable input of data and thinking. You should look at the business as it stands now – it strengths – for instance, technical excellence, strong production, excellent marketing, or customer service. This kind of objective analysis will, of course, also bring out the weaknesses of your company. Clearly identifying any weaknesses will allow you to see where you need to seek external help, or hire professionals with the skills required to resolve the issue.

In todays difficult economic times, one area where companies are often weak is knowing how to maintain enough cash flow. This is an area where your bookeeper, or financial manahgement team should think about solutions that can keep cash flow going, so your company can continue to meet bills and pay its employees on time, or purchase new equipment as needed. Invoice factoring, for example, is strategy that can help. Sometimes businesses use a “use it as you need it” invoice factoring funding option, where each invoice purchase is a separate transaction and does not form part of a portfolio lending approach. The transaction is modeled as a buy-sell transaction. The Interface Financial Group (IFG) first undertakes a due diligence that typically takes one to two business days. Once completed the client is at liberty to offer invoices to IFG for purchase.

Upon receipt of invoices, IFG checks the credit of the debtor named on the invoice and makes sure that the sale represented has been satisfactorily completed. Once this is done the debtor is advised of the purchase by IFG and the client receives their funding. At the end of the credit period the debtor pays IFG directly, thuscompleting the transaction