Cash flow is the prime concern of the managers. Among other things, it is difficult to always be able to achieve a healthy cash flow in this context of increased competition due to new technologies. For many companies that work with large groups, payments can be delayed occasionally and even frequently.
According to Intrum, a company specializing in debt recovery, there were delays in payments between the companies. 11 days on average at the end of 2021, it’s been late since 50% increased to 17 days in France, according to the latest edition of the European Payments Report. The growth is even more marked for companies working with the public sector: from a delay of 9 days in 2021 to 23 days today. However, delays are responsible for 25% of bankruptcies every year. For a TPE, he has to find cash while awaiting payment.
For VSEs, a solution is often to resort to short-term bank credit to ensure the balance of cash flows of the company. There are many tools out there to give yourself a financial boost in difficult times. follow the leader. Short-term loans, as their name suggests, are loans of a limited duration, less than one year. They can be renewed every year by the bank if the financial position of the company allows or, conversely, they can be challenged by the banker. Why Short Term Loan? The purpose of the latter is to ensure the balance of cash flows of the company. They are used to cover, for example, storage time, manufacturing or payment deadlines given to customers. Thus they make it possible to meet the current expenses of the activity such as salary or rent.
authorized overdraft
Featured as one of the first solutions in the case of short-term loans, overdrafts allow the company to keep a negative balance up to a certain limit and for a limited period of time. Its major advantage lies in its flexibility and its very rapid implementation at relatively low cost as interest is charged only during use. Be careful, however, as this is rarely given to a young company except in some very specific situations. Generally, the bank places itself on overdraft only when it receives the first balance sheet from the entrepreneur and the latter presents a positive score. Similarly, if it can be given quickly, it can be removed just as quickly. The period of 2 months should be respected by the banker if he feels that the company will not be able to honor the adjustment of the overdraft.
cash facility
Cash facilities, also known as cash advances, allow a company to benefit from advances in a much shorter period of time. This instrument takes the form of a written contract, authorizing the company to overdraft for a period of not less than 15 days per month and specifying the terms in terms of amount and interest rates. In concrete terms, this includes covering any one-sided discrepancies between expenses and income, such as between sales and a customer’s payment. The interest paid remains in proportion to the amount utilized and the tenure.
campaign credit
This loan, also executed in the form of a contract, covers seasonal activity of certain companies. This makes it possible to meet the cash needs of companies whose annual sales activity has not yet started. The amount of interest is also proportional to the amount utilized and the duration of the credit. Be sure to clearly state your company’s production cycle or the seasonal nature of your activity, as well as its impact on cash flow planning, so you can define the terms of your campaign credit with your banker. Be precise and confident, as this is a risky credit to the banker as it is based on a future (hence hypothetical) sale of goods.
factoring
Factoring is the operation by which a particular entity (factor) takes charge of the recovery of a company’s business debts. Crossing off your loan will allow you to manage your receivables with quick financing, an irrevocable guarantee of payment and collections. The VSE pays a commission for the factors: the first corresponding to its management fee, the second equal to the cash advance and finally the participation in the guarantee fund to cover the risk of non-payment.
trade discount
If some of your customers pay you as business bills, you can give them a discount at your bank and thus get the cash related to their bills without waiting for due dates. If the company has concluded a discount line agreement with its banking institution, the latter advances the amount, reducing the Agio corresponding to the period remaining by the due date. Therefore the commercial discount can be used only with customers who pay by commercial paper, but the bank may refuse it for certain customers which are considered to be very risky.
daily financing
Collection of daily receivables is the assignment or pledge of customer receivables. This system can be applied to all customer accounts. Unlike discounts, which require the company to wait for the acceptance of its customer’s claim, daily financing saves time. Irrespective of the means of payment, the company may hand over its invoices to the bank.
Collection of Foreign Born Claims (MCNE)
This short-term financing mechanism allows you to finance your export receipts, in limited quantities, as soon as the goods leave the French customs area. The amount of funds available is determined at the time of implementation. There are other forms of financing, such as pre-financing loans for public contracts, advances on goods or even signing loans. There are a myriad of short-term financing schemes for small structures that can look at it as an asset to boost their cash flow in tough times.