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Accountants are masters when it comes to number crunching, so likely more than many they understand the importance of a healthy cash flow when it comes to growing a business. Fee funding offers solutions to help both your and your clients' cash flow.
Fee funding lets you unlock the cash tied up in your unpaid invoices, while allowing your customers to pay over time. It's an attractive solution for both your business and your clients.
Fee funding is a form of invoice financing, or invoice factoring, that uses a third-party provider in order to access cash from unpaid invoices/fees. The lender provides the cost of the invoice upfront at a discounted rate of 70%-90%, and the client has time to pay off the invoice either as and when it is due, or in weekly or monthly installments directly to the factoring provider.
The main difference between fee funding for accountants and standard invoice factoring is the fact that your clients have the option to pay your invoices in monthly installments to the factoring company. This also potentially helps to offset some of the costs usually associated with invoice finance, as your clients pay interest on their repayments to the factoring company.
In accounting cash flow can be interrupted by slow-paying clients. If you're putting off important purchases or missing growth opportunities because of lack of funds, invoice finance could potentially help your business.
Even if your clients pay on time and cash flow is generally smooth going, fee funding can still potentially help your business to grow. Accountants are expected to help manage the cash flow of their clients to a degree and fee funding companies offer a two-way cash flow solution that could benefit everyone, as it offers your customers a manageable payment program for the cost of your fees. This could aid business growth as it may attract more clients for whom the upfront costs would have previously been too high.
There is also the benefit of outsourcing your debt collection responsibilities. Chasing clients for payments costs valuable time and money for your business – offloading this burden may prove advantageous, as it frees up resources that can be fed back into profit-making. However, it is important to consider the relationships you have with your current clients, and whether they would be positively or negatively affected by the addition of a third-party provider.
The cost of fee funding will depend largely on the annual turnover and credentials of your accounting firm, and this cost will vary from lender to lender. There are two ways in which fee funding companies will charge:
The rise in online-only invoice financing companies has pushed the pricing of invoice financing to be more competitive, making it more economical for many businesses to implement as a growth means, including accounting firms.
Fee funding offers flexibility and could potentially be quicker and more cost effective than taking out larger business loans. It also could help to attract new clients as a comprehensive customer finance program. On top of this, many of these online lenders have sophisticated systems which allow for full integration with a business's accounting software, which could save you time and money on administration.
However, there are risks involved with any form of funding, and you have your client relationships to consider. It's important to weigh your options and speak to a provider before making a commitment. To speak to a provider or apply for finance, click "Go to Site" and fill out an enquiry form for more information.
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