BETHESDA, MD — (Marketwire) — 12/15/11 — According to the Interface Financial Group (IFG), a new survey says the majority of small business owners have a positive outlook about their cash flow in 2012, but despite their optimism, 80 percent of small businesses are still plagued by late payments. (Source: The PaySimple Small Business Pulse Survey took place in October 2011 surveying small business owners and employees, with responses from 223 respondents.)
Finding new business and retaining customers are reported as the top business challenges for 2012.
The Small Business Cash Flow Outlook found that small business reported the following:
55% — finding new business as one of their top two business challenges
45% — retaining customers as one of their top two business challenges
41% — cutting costs as one of their top two business challenges
55% — have had better cash flow in 2011 than in 2010
82% — anticipate that 2012 will be better for cash flow than 2011
80% — are experiencing late payments
43% — are “keeping track of everything” as a top payments challenge
41% — say late payments is the top payments challenge
82% — accept checks while 66% still accept cash
64% — accept payments by mail and in person
12% — are now accepting mobile payments
George Shapiro, chairman and chief executive officer of The Interface Financial Group (IFG), believes, “Even while many small businesses are anticipating cash flow improvements in 2012, the rate of late payments is not good. This is why we know factoring is necessary now and will continue to be a plus for any small to medium-sized business in the New Year.”
The survey also determined that many small businesses are not taking proactive measures with only 22 percent charging late payment penalties and 20 percent offering early payment incentives.
On the other hand, factoring companies like IFG offer a funding strategy that enables 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. A method used by businesses to cover short-term cash needs during periods in which these needs exceed cash flow, factoring helps finance continued business.
Unlike a loan, is the purchase of financial assets, or receivables accounts by a factoring company. There are no credit checks or upfront fees and no co-signers required. IFG has no minimum sales volume requirement, and professional fees are competitive because each client-s circumstances vary, which may have an impact on the fees charged.
Private label factoring solutions include export factoring, providing factoring services for companies who export from the United States and Canada; P.O. Funding to finance purchase orders when a company receives a purchase order and needs to purchase supplies to fulfill the order; Construction Factoring; and Inventory Financing, a solution promoting a company-s growth by funding them when they must expand and purchase inventory.
Factoring companies typically do not expect to buy 100 percent of a company-s receivables and professional rates are competitive. The program allows choices of invoices to be factored, enabling customers to retain most of their money, to spend the minimum fees, plus guarantee adequate cash flow.
The Interface Financial Group (IFG) is North America-s largest alternative funding source for small business, providing short-term financial resources, including invoice factoring (invoice discounting). The company serves clients in more than 30 industries in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, UK and Ireland, and offers cross-border transaction facilities. With more than 140 offices across North America and over 39 years of experience, IFG provides innovative accounts receivable and solutions by offering short-term working capital to growing businesses. Single invoice factoring, or spot factoring, is an extremely fast way to turn receivables into cash.
IFG was founded in 1972 to provide short-term working capital to help small to medium-sized businesses grow. The IFG organization operates on a local level, providing clients with local knowledge and experience and business expertise in numerous diverse areas in addition to accounts receivable factoring, including accounting, finance, law, marketing and banking.
Kristin Gabriel
MarCom New Media
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