Factoring (finance)

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Factoring is a financial transaction whereby a business sells its accounts receivable (i.e., invoices) to a third party (called a factor) at a discount. In "advance" factoring, the factor provides financing to the seller of the accounts in the form of a cash "advance," often 70-85% of the purchase price of the accounts, with the balance of the purchase price being paid, net of the factor's discount fee (commission) and other charges, upon collection. In "maturity" factoring, the factor makes no advance on the purchased accounts; rather, the purchase price is paid on or about the average maturity date of the accounts being purchased in the batch. Factoring differs from a bank loan in several ways. The emphasis is on the value of the receivables (essentially a financial asset), whereas a bank focuses more on the value of the borrower's total assets, and often also considers, in underwriting the loan, the value attributable to non-accounts collateral owned by the borrower. Such collateral includes inventory, equipment, and real property,[1][2] That is, a bank loan issuer looks beyond the credit-worthiness of the firm's accounts receivables and of the account debtors (obligors) thereon. Secondly, factoring is not a loan it is the purchase of a financial asset (the receivable). Third, a nonrecourse factor assumes the "credit risk", that a purchased account will not collect due solely to the financial inability of account debtor to pay. In the United States, if the factor does not assume credit risk on the purchased accounts, in most cases a court will recharacterize the transaction as a secured loan. It is different from forfaiting in the sense that forfaiting is a transaction-based operation involving exporters in which the firm sells one of its transactions,[3] while factoring is a Financial Transaction that involves the Sale of any portion of the firm's Receivables.[1][2] Factoring is a word often misused synonymously with invoice discounting, known as "Receivables Assignment" in American Accounting ("Generally Accepted Accounting Principles"/"GAAP" propagated by FASB)[2] - factoring is the sale of receivables, whereas invoice discounting is borrowing where the receivable is used as collateral.[2] However, in some other markets, such as the UK, invoice discounting is considered to be a form of factoring involving the assignment of receivables and is included in official statistics.[4] It is therefore not considered to be borrowing. In this case the arrangement is usually confidential in that the debtor is not notified of the arrangement and the seller of the receivable collects the debt on behalf of the factor.

The three parties directly involved are: the one who sells the receivable, the debtor (the account debtor, or customer of the seller), and the factor. The receivable is essentially a financial asset associated with the debtor's liability to pay money owed to the seller (usually for work performed or goods sold). The seller then sells one or more of its invoices (the receivables) at a discount to the third party, the specialized financial organization (aka the factor), often, in advance factoring, to obtain cash. The sale of the receivables essentially transfers ownership of the receivables to the factor, indicating the factor obtains all of the rights associated with the receivables.[1][2] Accordingly, the factor obtains the right to receive the payments made by the debtor for the invoice amount and, in nonrecourse factoring, must bear the loss if the account debtor does not pay the invoice amount due solely to his or its financial inability to pay. Usually, the account debtor is notified of the sale of the receivable, and the factor bills the debtor and makes all collections; however, non-notification factoring, where the client (seller) collects the accounts sold to the factor, as agent of the factor, also occurs. There are three principal parts to "advance" factoring transaction; (a) the advance, a percentage of the invoice face value that is paid to the seller at the time of sale, (b) the reserve, the remainder of the purchase price held until the payment by the account debtor is made and (c) the discount fee, the cost associated with the transaction which is deducted from the reserve, along with other expenses, upon collection, before the reserve is disbursed to the factor's client. Sometimes the factor charges the seller (the factor's "client") both a discount fee, for the factor's assumption of credit risk and other services provided, as well as interest on the factor's advance, based on how long the advance, often treated as a loan (repaid by set-off against the factor's purchase obligation, when the account is collected), is outstanding.[5] The factor also estimates the amount that may not be collected due to non-payment, and makes accommodation for this in pricing, when determining the purchase price to be paid to the seller. The factor's overall profit is the difference between the price it paid for the invoice and the money received from the debtor, less the amount lost due to non-payment.[2] In the United States, under the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles receivables are considered sold, under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 140, when the buyer has "no recourse,".[6] Moreover, to treat the transaction as a sale under GAAP, the seller's monetary liability under any "recourse" provision must be readily estimated at the time of the sale. Otherwise, the financial transaction is treated as a loan, with the receivables used as collateral.

Contents
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1 History 2 Reason o 2.1 How does international factoring work? 3 Differences from bank loans 4 Invoice sellers 5 Factors 6 Invoice payers (debtors) 7 Risks 8 Reverse Factoring

9 See also 10 References 11 External links

[edit] History
Factoring's origins lie in the financing of trade, particularly international trade. Factoring as a fact of business life was underway in England prior to 1400, and it came to America with the Pilgrims, around 1620.[7] It appears to be closely related to early merchant banking activities. The latter however evolved by extension to non-trade related financing such as sovereign debt.[8] Like all financial instruments, factoring evolved over centuries. This was driven by changes in the organization of companies; technology, particularly air travel and non-face to face communications technologies starting with the telegraph, followed by the telephone and then computers. These also drove and were driven by modifications of the common law framework in England and the United States.[9] Governments were latecomers to the facilitation of trade financed by factors. English common law originally held that unless the debtor was notified, the assignment between the seller of invoices and the factor was not valid. The Canadian Federal Government legislation governing the assignment of moneys owed by it still reflects this stance as does provincial government legislation modelled after it. As late as the current century the courts have heard arguments that without notification of the debtor the assignment was not valid. In the United States, by 1949 the majority of state governments had adopted a rule that the debtor did not have to be notified thus opening up the possibility of non-notification factoring arrangements.[10] Originally the industry took physical possession of the goods, provided cash advances to the producer, financed the credit extended to the buyer and insured the credit strength of the buyer.[11] In England the control over the trade thus obtained resulted in an Act of Parliament in 1696 to mitigate the monopoly power of the factors. With the development of larger firms who built their own sales forces, distribution channels, and knowledge of the financial strength of their customers, the needs for factoring services were reshaped and the industry became more specialized. By the twentieth century in the United States factoring was still the predominant form of financing working capital for the then high growth rate textile industry. In part this occurred because of the structure of the US banking system with its myriad of small banks and consequent limitations on the amount that could be advanced prudently by any one of them to a firm.[12] In Canada, with its national banks the limitations were far less restrictive and thus factoring did not develop as widely as in the US. Even then factoring also became the dominant form of financing in the Canadian textile industry. Today factoring's rationale still includes the financial task of advancing funds to smaller rapidly growing firms who sell to larger more creditworthy organizations. While almost never taking possession of the goods sold, factors offer various combinations of money and supportive services when advancing funds.

Factors often provide their clients four key services: information on the creditworthiness of their prospective customers domestic and international, and, in nonrecourse factoring, acceptance of the credit risk for "approved" accounts; maintain the history of payments by customers (i.e., accounts receivable ledger); daily management reports on collections; and, make the actual collection calls. The outsourced credit function both extends the small firms effective addressable marketplace and insulates it from the survival-threatening destructive impact of a bankruptcy or financial difficulty of a major customer. A second key service is the operation of the accounts receivable function. The services eliminate the need and cost for permanent skilled staff found within large firms. Although today even they are outsourcing such backoffice functions. More importantly, the services insure the entrepreneurs and owners against a major source of a liquidity crises and their equity. In the latter half of the twentieth century the introduction of computers eased the accounting burdens of factors and then small firms. The same occurred for their ability to obtain information about debtors creditworthiness. Introduction of the Internet and the web has accelerated the process while reducing costs. Today credit information and insurance coverage is available any time of the day or night on-line. The web has also made it possible for factors and their clients to collaborate in realtime on collections. Acceptance of signed documents provided by facsimile as being legally binding has eliminated the need for physical delivery of originals, thereby reducing time delays for entrepreneurs. By the first decade of the twenty first century a basic public policy rationale for factoring remains that the product is well suited to the demands of innovative rapidly growing firms critical to economic growth.[13] A second public policy rationale is allowing fundamentally good business to be spared the costly management time consuming trials and tribulations of bankruptcy protection for suppliers, employees and customers or to provide a source of funds during the process of restructuring the firm so that it can survive and grow.