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Factoring companies provide financing to businesses that have cash tied up in unpaid invoices. Instead of offering traditional small-business loans, these companies buy outstanding invoices at a discount — giving you access to needed funds sooner.
Below, learn more about invoice factoring companies and how to choose the right one for your needs.
Best factoring companies:
- AltLINE: Best for general small businesses
- FundThrough: Best for factoring invoices using accounting/invoicing software
- RTS Financial: Best for trucking businesses
- ECapital: Best for fast invoice factoring
- Scale Funding: Best for flexible contracts
- Riviera Finance: Best for non-recourse invoice factoring
How much do you need?
We’ll start with a brief questionnaire to better understand the unique needs of your business.
Once we uncover your personalized matches, our team will consult you on the process moving forward.
6 best factoring companies
Factoring is typically offered by online lenders and financial services companies, many of which specialize in this type of business financing. Certain banks also provide invoice factoring services.
If you’re looking for a place to start your search, consider these top factoring companies:
AltLINE
Best for: General small businesses
AltLINE works with a variety of small businesses, including startups and those with less-than-perfect credit histories.
The company offers advances up to 90% of the value of your invoices, with factor rates starting at 0.8%. Unlike some invoice factoring companies, AltLINE is a direct lender, which may decrease the cost of borrowing with the company. Although, you may pay an origination fee that typically runs from $150 to $500 and sometimes as much as 1% of the advance amount.
AltLINE works with small businesses across a range of industries, such as manufacturers, transportation and trucking businesses, wholesale and distributors, staffing businesses and more.
You can get a free quote by providing basic information about your business on AltLINE’s website. After you’ve submitted a quote request, a representative will reach out within 24 hours to help you complete the application process. If you qualify, you'll receive fast access to funds.
FundThrough
Best for: Factoring invoices using accounting/invoicing software
FundThrough allows you to manage and factor your invoices using its online platform.
You can sync your QuickBooks Online account — or a similar software account — and choose which invoices to fund. If your software isn’t supported by FundThrough, you can upload invoices to its platform.
The company offers factoring to businesses that have an outstanding invoice of at least $100,000 in accounts receivable or invoices to one customer — with advance rates of 100% (minus fees). Factor fees range from 2.75% to 8.25% and are priced based on 30-day payment terms.
You can sign up for a FundThrough account for free by providing basic information about your business, connecting your invoicing software and linking your business bank account. After you’ve applied, FundThrough will offer funding recommendations within one business day, but you’re under no obligation to take them.
RTS Financial
Best for: Trucking businesses
RTS Financial is a well-known invoice factoring company for trucking businesses. The company also works with businesses in the distribution, staffing, textiles, manufacturing and oilfield services industries.
With RTS, you can access business capital within 24 hours using a web-based portal to upload your invoices and manage your account online. The company does not charge ACH payment or invoice-uploading fees on factoring services and offers discounts for veterans.
Plus, because RTS specializes in the trucking industry, the company also offers a packaged fuel and factoring program that allows you to combine factoring, fuel and other trucking services for one price.
You’ll have to contact RTS for information regarding factor fees and advance rates because it doesn’t provide these details on its website.
ECapital
Best for: Fast invoice factoring
ECapital offers quick and flexible factoring services for a range of small businesses.
With ECapital, you receive access to proprietary account management software that allows you to manage your finances and submit invoices for payment. Once you’ve submitted an invoice, you can receive funds as fast as the same day.
ECapital allows you to factor invoices as large as $30 million, with advance rates up to 90%. The company works with startups and established businesses.
You can get started with ECapital by completing a form on its website. After you’ve submitted the form, a representative will reach out within 24 hours to discuss your financing needs and walk you through the application process.
Reaching out to ECapital will also allow you to learn more about the company’s factor fees because this information is not available on its website.
Scale Funding
Best for: Flexible contracts
Scale Funding (formerly TCI Business Capital) offers funding from $50,000 to $10 million with advance amounts up to 90%. This factoring company gives you the option to factor on a month-to-month basis, as well as sign a one-year contract agreement. If you opt for the 12-month contract, you may be able to access discounted rates upfront.
With a month-to-month contract, however, you have the ability to access lower factoring fees based on the value of your invoices from one month to the next. For example, if you have better monthly sales in February compared to January — and consequently factor a larger volume of invoices in February, your factoring fees for that month will decrease.
To get factoring from Scale Funding, you can fill out a form on the company’s website or call and speak with a business representative. Scale Funding can provide you with a pricing quote in as little as 15 minutes and fund applications within 24 hours.
Like other invoice factoring companies, Scale Funding works with businesses in a variety of industries, including startups and businesses with bad credit.
Riviera Finance
Best for: Non-recourse invoice factoring
Riviera Finance offers non-recourse factoring which means that it assumes the loss if a customer doesn’t pay an invoice you factored.
You won’t need to sign a long-term contract with Riviera or meet monthly minimums. After you are set up with Riviera, you’ll receive cash within 24 hours for invoices that are due within 30 days, with advances up to 95%. A fee deposit of 5% is withheld for each invoice, but a portion of the fee may be returned based on how promptly invoices are paid.
To get started you can call Riviera or complete an online application. Because Riviera takes on the credit risk of the factored invoices, there is a verification process performed on the invoices submitted for financing, but preliminary approvals are generally given within 24-48 hours.
Riviera works with businesses of all sizes, including startups, in a variety of industries including transportation, staffing, energy, utility and cabling, telecom, security and others.
What is a factoring company?
A factoring company provides invoice factoring services, which involves buying a business’s unpaid invoices at a discount. The business gets a percentage of the invoice, say 85%, within a few days, and the factoring company takes ownership of the invoice and the payment process.
Once your client pays their invoice (directly to the factoring company), you get the rest of the money your business is owed (the remaining 15% of the invoice amount) minus the factoring company’s fees.
How factoring companies work
What's it like to work with a factoring company? Here's an example:
Say you sell $20,000 worth of invoices to a factoring company and it agrees to buy them for $19,600, taking a 2% factoring fee of $400.
The company usually doesn’t give you the full value of the invoices upfront. Rather, it may give you 85% upfront — in this case, $16,660 — and once your customer pays the invoices, you’ll receive the remaining $2,940.
To make money, invoice factoring companies charge factoring or factor fees (sometimes also called discount rates). These fees tend to range from 1% to 5% of the total invoice amount.
The factoring fee you're charged typically depends on how much the invoice is worth, your business’s sales volume, how creditworthy your customer is and whether the factoring agreement is "recourse" or "non-recourse,” among other qualifications.
It’s important to note that if you have a recourse factoring agreement, your business is liable for the debt if your customer doesn’t pay their invoice. With non-recourse factoring, the factoring company assumes most of the risk if your customer doesn’t pay, but it charges a higher factor rate to do so
How to choose a factoring company
If invoice factoring sounds right for your business, then you can research and compare factoring companies to find the best option for your needs.
As with any type of small-business financing, reviewing multiple options can help you make sure you’re getting the best terms and lowest fees.
When comparing invoice factoring companies, consider the following:
Types of companies they work with
It helps to work with a company that’s familiar with your industry and business model; many factoring companies specialize in trucking, for instance. If a company works with similar businesses, this experience can help ensure a smooth factoring process. Some questions to ask include:
- What size companies does it typically work with?
- What industries does it specialize in?
- Do businesses need to meet certain criteria, such as time in business or a specific amount of accounts receivable, to work with it?
What their factoring process looks like
Find answers to these questions:
- Is there a maximum or minimum number of invoices the company will fund?
- Will it manage all of your accounts receivable, or will you retain control and decide which invoices to sell?
- How quickly will you receive the funds?
- What happens if a client fails to pay their invoice?
It’s important to understand the difference between invoice factoring and invoice financing, as you may come across both types of companies when looking for cash flow solutions.
- Invoice financing: A business uses unpaid invoices as a form of collateral when pursuing a loan or line of credit and the business is still responsible for collecting payment.
- Invoice factoring: A business sells its outstanding invoices to a factoring company at a discount, and that company is responsible for collecting payment.
Fees and other requirements
One of the most important details to consider is how much each factoring company charges. It will also likely have requirements that your business must meet to qualify for financing. Find the answers to these questions:
- How much is the factoring fee or discount rate?
- What percentage of each invoice will you receive as an initial advance?
- Does the company require a personal guarantee?
- What type of documentation (such as tax returns or financial statements) does the company require?
Is working with a factoring company right for my business?
Working with a factoring company can be a good idea if you need to manage cash flow issues or pay short-term expenses — especially if you can’t qualify for bank financing or need faster access to capital.
Compared with invoice financing, factoring can be a better option if you don’t mind giving up control of your invoices and trust the factoring company to deal with your customers professionally.
Some advantages and disadvantages of factoring:
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Frequently Asked Questions
Factoring is typically used by business-to-business (B2B) companies that have cash tied up in unpaid invoices. Some industries that use invoice factoring include transportation, staffing, health care, manufacturing, wholesale, textiles and service providers (e.g., security companies, law firms, housekeeping services), among others.
Some factoring companies will work with startups as long as their transactions are with another business. You can expect some minimum requirements such as being in business for at least a year and meeting a set average monthly revenue amount.
Invoice factoring companies typically charge factor fees that range from 1% to 5% of the total invoice amount. The exact amount you pay in fees depends on the factoring company and how long it takes your customer to pay their invoice.
Some companies may charge additional fees, such as monthly minimum fees, account maintenance fees or cancellation fees.
Selling invoices to a factoring company can help bridge the gap between when you complete a service and when payment for that service is due. Although you may lose a bit of money to the factoring company, it may be worth it to overcome a cash shortfall.
Invoice factoring companies also tend to move faster than more traditional lenders such as banks, so if you need cash quickly, they can provide efficient solutions.