Thursday, March 29, 2012

UK Finance for Business


Running a business and becoming successful in that venture requires a lot finance and financial assistance. In UK finance for business can be got from different sources. Business related financial services are provided by many organizations in that field. UK finance for leasing a company or organization, UK finance for debt collection, UK finance for Venture Capital can also be arranged.

There are companies that help a business in hire purchasing and arranging for leasing. You can approach such dedicated companies for such services. UK Finance for hardware funding for the information technology business is also available in companies. Leasing services for small businesses, agricultural and industrial funding operations are available in companies dedicated to that service. A company called Richard Mares Asset Finance in UK finances for agricultural and industrial setups. If you need information on UK finance for equipment leasing, mortgages and commercial finance then you can approach companies like 1st Leasing Company and 1pm.co.uk. Many options for UK finance are available with them. Just check out their website for more details on the different types of finance available with them. For UK finance from £5,000 upwards you can approach companies like 1pm. They work closely with their clients to provide what they need.

UK Finance for companies in the information technology sector can get their financing options from companies like Corporate Computer Lease Plc in UK. Such companies make IT more affordable and you get the UK finance for almost any technology spends. They have successful records of financing in UK for even Fortune 500 companies. This is one of the fastest growing UK finance companies.

Companies like Corporate Business Finance fund you for Plant, Machinery and for other corporate financial services. They provide finance in UK for many services like hire purchase, leasing, operating leases, factoring, release of capital, and commercial mortgages. Each and every business may need a unique funding requirement and it is a tedious task to arrange for funding when you need to run your business. A lot of time is wasted in searching for proper funding. Under such circumstances you can approach companies like these for UK finance for your funding requirements.

For new start ups it is difficult to get finance in UK or elsewhere. Most of the finance companies will fund only the established businesses. But companies like Oak Leasing help even the start ups since they understand the difficulties that the startups face. The problems that the start ups face are only initially. If they have a proper business plan they could come up. The team at Oak leasing would finance your startups and for any new equipments that you need. More details are available in their website.

There are companies that fund only the big companies. Finance for big companies is given by UK finance companies like the Benington Securities. It is a private enterprise brokerage. They cover only the corporate investments. There are many companies that provide UK finance for even individuals. Companies like Troman finance provide funds for the individuals and small business firms.




Jeff Lakie is the owner of [http://www.loan-source.co.uk] providing Uk homeowners with great rates on secured loans. Visit our site for a free quote today.





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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Who is financing inventory and use purchase order finance (P O finance)? Their competitors!


It is time. We are talking about purchase order financing in Canada, P O finance how does and how financing inventory and contracts under which orders really works in Canada. And Yes, as said his time with your financing, creative... Challenges, and we'll show how.

And never really counts as a starter, second, so financial news must be aware that your creative financing and inventory options using for growth and turnover and profit, so why shouldn't your company?

Canadian businessman and financial managers know that can all new orders and contracts in the world, but if you can finance it properly not then you generally a hopeless battle to your competitors fight.

The reason purchase order financing is increasing popularity generally is based on the fact that traditional funding through Canadian banks for the inventory and orders is extraordinary in our view for hard to finance. Where the banks say no is where purchase order financing begins!

It is important for us to make it clear that P O is finance a generic term that could indeed include the financing of the purchase order or contract, the inventory that could be necessary in order to the Treaty comply with, and the call that is generated by this sale customers. It is clearly a comprehensive strategy.

The additional beauty of P O finance is easy, that it is creative, in contrast to many traditional types of financing, the routine and are formulaic.

It's all with your financing partner P O sit and discuss how uniquely are tailored to your needs. Usually when the we sit with clients this kind of funding turns the requirements of suppliers, as well as for all participants useful can be the company customers and how both meets these requirements with schedules and financial guidelines,.

The main elements of a successful P O financial transaction are a solid non cancelable: to order, a qualified customer for a credit in the amount of perspective and specific identification, who pays and when. It's so easy.

Asks so all that work, how our customers. it can easy to keep, so we the power for this kind of financing clearly can prove. Your company receives the order. The P O finance company pay your suppliers on a bar or letter of credit - with your company then receiving of merchandise and fulfillment of the order and contract. The P O finance company takes the rights in the order, the inventory, the that you have purchased on your behalf, and the demand generated by the sale. It's so easy. If customer per the terms of your agreement with them pays you the transaction is completed and the purchasing order finance company full, less their funding charge in 2, 5-3% per month are located in Canada.

Can in some cases financing was organised on a separate basis are, but how we have found, often cycle the entire sale is based on the order, the inventory and the claim is secured this financing.

Talk finance consultant with a credible, trusted and experienced financial news as this kind of funding your company can benefit.




Stan Prokop - founder of 7 Park Avenue - http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com. Origin of corporate financing for Canadian companies, specialized in working capital, cash flow based financing asset. In the business has 6 years - over 50 million $$ completed financing for Canadian companies.Info re: Canadian business financing & contact details: http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com/p_o_purchase_order_finance_financing_inventory.html





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Positioning your company for debt financing


Positioning your company for debt financing:

There what a time in the old days when going to the bank was the only way to get outside capital for your business. These days with the explosion of raising equity investment, many of the guidelines for running a company have been revolutionized. Unfortunately this new phenomenon is only true for companies with super "star power", because these companies have potential to create sky - rocket return earnings.

For everyone else, sticking to fundamentals is where it's at. Building your company incrementally, following a pre-prepared business plan, watching expenses, and increasing sales. When your company moves beyond its launch, it begins to operate much like a bank. Will be making credit decisions on the finance side you
involving your customers. Some will have to pay c.o.d.., some you will extend net 30 day terms. In this, you sense banker for your customers are now becoming a.

Without getting into how inexpensive debt financing ultimately is compared to equity (try 20% annualized interest versus 20% ownership lock stock and barrel), in certain situations the time of time-honored tradition of borrowing money can be the best solution for increasing growth or starting a company.

By knowing what commercial finance companies look for, you will become a much more attractive prospect.

1. Concentration - this means putting all your eggs in one basket. Avoid going out and making a large sale to a customer and then not continuing your sales effort to find more customers. The risk of a problem developing with your main customer, or for whatever reason they are no longer buying from you can obviously be detrimental to your success. Finance companies look for incoming revenue to be spread evenly over a number of customers.

2. Creditworthiness - who are you lending your hard earned assets to? What kind of due diligence do you perform on new customers? The challenge here is whether to accept a lucrative sale with a company that could never get credit from any type of finance company. You are essentially telling yourself that you know better than the banker about loaning money. Finance companies will respect a business owner that has a thorough credit checking process and a number of stable credit worthy customers.

3. Book keeping - while some businesses send out all their accounting to outside agencies, it is helpful to have a qualified book keeper on staff. When it comes time to seek financing, being able to produce an instant fiscal snapshot of your company wants to show the sophistication of your operation. Finance companies appreciate businesses that keep a close eye on their books.

4. Taxes - pay them. Using the internal revenue service as your funder becomes expensive. Whenever you work with a finance company, you will be pledging assets as collateral, thus the nature of debt financing. When you fail to make tax payments, the government steps in and places a lien against those same assets essentially stepping into first position. This leaves the finance company with money outstanding to your business and no collateral to back it up. This places your entire relationship in default. When going to closing on financing expect to sign a form that allows the finance company to receive duplicate correspondence from the IRS. This is standard procedure to track tax problems. Owing taxes does not mean you cannot get financing. It is entirely possible to receive a subordinated debt agreement from the IRS which allows the finance company to work with you unencumbered.

5. Bankruptcy - if you have ever entered into a bankruptcy proceeding whether personal or business, own up to it right away. It will come out, and being up front about the circumstances will enhance the necessity to overlook the past difficulties.

6. Applications - finance companies ask for a variety of information when performing their due diligence. Do not be alarmed, they are not trying to steal your secrets. They need to feel comfortable with you and your company. Each company has its own threshold for fact checking. Invariably the finance companies that do the most thorough job are the most reliable and safest to do business with. Finance companies like working with a business that takes the time to put a loan package together in advance of asking for financing. Typically you can start with; Interim balance & income statement, interim profit & loss statement, last year end statements, Accounts Payables aging report, Accounts Receivables Aging report, and of course tax returns.

7. Contracts - be prepared for onerous language. Finance companies cannot sugar coat the reality that if something goes wrong they need to exercise their rights. They have to go into the relationship, always thinking that the absolute worst case scenario will unfold. Once a finance company finds itself being defrauded, stolen from or payments not made without explanation, it's too late to insert stronger language for protection. By and large the language is standardized and walking from a deal to start shopping for less demanding legalisms won't produce much. Remember this, a contract is just paper in a file cabinet until you default on your agreement. Stay within what you agreed upon and all the tough language won't matter. Even if you start having financial difficulties, get in touch with your finance company immediately. You can greatly reduce the chance of default by showing that you are pro active with your situation.

8. Using the money for the right reasons - this sounds obvious but in certain cases it can be highly relevant. You hear a lot about going to the right venture capital firm that would handle your type of investment. In some ways that holds true for debt finance companies. They tend to work within industries that they feel comfortable. Additionally the type of financing company will depend on your plans for the money. If you are trying to set up a new business infrastructure, then a working capital line of credit is not your best option. You will probably do better with a term loan style that will allow you to amortize the expense over a period of years.

9. Management integrity - so like equity investment, get a good team together and hold onto them. Finance companies raise red flags when a long time financial officer who has been the contact person at the company since the inception of the relationship and all of a sudden leaves without explanation. Again, always fearing the worst, the finance company could unjustly feel that what something untoward afoot and begin to scrutinize your account more closely. Even though finance companies are not part owners of your business, they are partners in your success just like your good customers. Keep them abreast of breaking news.

10. Be professional - answer calls and messages expeditiously, be prepared with information, show up on time. When its crunch time and you need an extra fifty thousand dollars for a week to get a better deal from a vendor, you would be surprised how much mileage you can get by being a courteous and thoughtful customer to your finance company.




Article by Gary W. honey, president of creative capital Associates, Inc. on invoice factoring company operating nationwide for more than a decade. See US at http://www.ccassociates.com





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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Best in Class Finance Functions For Police Forces


Background

Police funding has risen by £4.8 billion and 77 per cent (39 per cent in real terms) since 1997. However the days where forces have enjoyed such levels of funding are over.

Chief Constables and senior management recognize that the annual cycle of looking for efficiencies year-on-year is not sustainable, and will not address the cash shortfall in years to come.

Facing slower funding growth and real cash deficits in their budgets, the Police Service must adopt innovative strategies which generate the productivity and efficiency gains needed to deliver high quality policing to the public.

The step-change in performance required to meet this challenge will only be achieved if the police service fully embraces effective resource management and makes efficient and productive use of its technology, partnerships and people.

The finance function has an essential role to play in addressing these challenges and supporting Forces' objectives economically and efficiently.

Challenge

Police Forces tend to nurture a divisional and departmental culture rather than a corporate one, with individual procurement activities that do not exploit economies of scale. This is in part the result of over a decade of devolving functions from the center to the.divisions.

In order to reduce costs, improve efficiency and mitigate against the threat of "top down" mandatory, centrally-driven initiatives, Police Forces need to set up a corporate back office and induce behavioral change. This change must involve compliance with a corporate culture rather than a series of silos running through the organization.

Developing a Best in Class Finance Function

Traditionally finance functions within Police Forces have focused on transactional processing with only limited support for management information and business decision support. With a renewed focus on efficiencies, there is now a pressing need for finance departments to transform in order to add greater value to the force but with minimal costs.

1) Aligning to Force Strategy

As Police Forces need finance to function, it is imperative that finance and operations are closely aligned. This collaboration can be very powerful and help deliver significant improvements to a Force, but in order to achieve this model, there are many barriers to overcome. Finance Directors must look at whether their Force is ready for this collaboration, but more importantly, they must consider whether the Force itself can survive without it.

Finance requires a clear vision that centers around its role as a balanced business partner. However to achieve this vision a huge effort is required from the bottom up to understand the significant complexity in underlying systems and processes and to devise a way forward that can work for that particular organization.

The success of any change management program is dependent on its execution. Change is difficult and costly to execute correctly, and often, Police Forces lack the relevant experience to achieve such change. Although finance directors are required to hold appropriate professional qualifications (as opposed to being former police officers as was the case a few years ago) many have progressed within the Public Sector with limited opportunities for learning from and interaction with best in class methodologies. In addition cultural issues around self-preservation can present barriers to change.

Whilst it is relatively easy to get the message of finance transformation across, securing commitment to embark on bold change can be tough. Business cases often lack the quality required to drive through change and even where they are of exceptional quality senior police officers often lack the commercial awareness to trust them.

2) Supporting Force Decisions

Many Finance Directors are keen to develop their finance functions. The challenge they face is convincing the rest of the Force that the finance function can add value - by devoting more time and effort to financial analysis and providing senior management with the tools to understand the financial implications of major strategic decisions.

Maintaining Financial Controls and Managing Risk

Sarbanes Oxley, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Basel II and Individual Capital Assessments (ICA) have all put financial controls and reporting under the spotlight in the private sector. This in turn is increasing the spotlight on financial controls in the public sector.

A 'Best in Class' Police Force finance function will not just have the minimum controls to meet the regulatory requirements but will evaluate how the legislation and regulations that the finance function are required to comply with, can be leveraged to provide value to the organization. Providing strategic information that will enable the force to meet its objectives is a key task for a leading finance function.

3) Value to the Force

The drive for development over the last decade or so, has moved decision making to the Divisions and has led to an increase in costs in the finance function. Through utilizing a number of initiatives in a program of transformation, a Force can leverage up to 40% of savings on the cost of finance together with improving the responsiveness of finance teams and the quality of financial information. These initiatives include:

Centralization

By centralizing the finance function, a Police Force can create centers of excellence where industry best practice can be developed and shared. This will not only re-empower the department, creating greater independence and objectivity in assessing projects and performance, but also lead to more consistent management information and a higher degree of control. A Police Force can also develop a business partner group to act as strategic liaisons to departments and divisions. The business partners would, for example, advise on how the departmental and divisional commanders can meet the budget in future months instead of merely advising that the budget has been missed for the previous month.

With the mundane number crunching being performed in a shared service center, finance professionals will find they now have time to act as business partners to divisions and departments and focus on the strategic issues.

The cultural impact on the departments and divisional commanders should not be underestimated. Commanders will be concerned that:

o Their budgets will be centralized

o Workloads would increase

o There will be limited access to finance individuals

o There will not be on site support

However, if the centralized shared service center is designed appropriately none of the above should apply. In fact from centralization under a best practice model, leaders should accrue the following benefits:

o Strategic advice provided by business partners

o Increased flexibility

o Improved management information

o Faster transactions

o Reduced number of unresolved queries

o Greater clarity on service and cost of provision

o Forum for finance to be strategically aligned to the needs of the Force

A Force that moves from a de-centralized to a centralized system should try and ensure that the finance function does not lose touch with the Chief Constable and Divisional Commanders. Forces need to have a robust business case for finance transformation combined with a governance structure that spans operational, tactical and strategic requirements. There is a risk that potential benefits of implementing such a change may not be realized if the program is not carefully managed. Investment is needed to create a successful centralized finance function. Typically the future potential benefits of greater visibility and control, consistent processes, standardized management information, economies of scale, long-term cost savings and an empowered group of proud finance professionals, should outweigh those initial costs.

To reduce the commercial, operational and capability risks, the finance functions can be completely outsourced or partially outsourced to third parties. This will provide guaranteed cost benefits and may provide the opportunity to leverage relationships with vendors that provide best practice processes.

Process Efficiencies

Typically for Police Forces the focus on development has developed a silo based culture with disparate processes. As a result significant opportunities exist for standardization and simplification of processes which provide scalability, reduce manual effort and deliver business benefit. From simply rationalizing processes, a force can typically accrue a 40% reduction in the number of processes. An example of this is the use of electronic bank statements instead of using the manual bank statement for bank reconciliation and accounts receivable processes. This would save considerable effort that is involved in analyzing the data, moving the data onto different spreadsheet and inputting the data into the financial systems.

Organizations that possess a silo operating model tend to have significant inefficiencies and duplication in their processes, for example in HR and Payroll. This is largely due to the teams involved meeting their own goals but not aligning to the corporate objectives of an organization. Police Forces have a number of independent teams that are reliant on one another for data with finance in departments, divisions and headquarters sending and receiving information from each other as well as from the rest of the Force. The silo model leads to ineffective data being received by the teams that then have to carry out additional work to obtain the information required.

Whilst the argument for development has been well made in the context of moving decision making closer to operational service delivery, the added cost in terms of resources, duplication and misaligned processes has rarely featured in the debate. In the current financial climate these costs need to be recognized.

Culture

Within transactional processes, a leading finance function will set up targets for staff members on a daily basis. This target setting is an element of the metric based culture that leading finance functions develop. If the appropriate metrics of productivity and quality are applied and when these targets are challenging but not impossible, this is proven to result in improvements to productivity and quality.

A 'Best in Class' finance function in Police Forces will have a service focused culture, with the primary objectives of providing a high level of satisfaction for its customers (departments, divisions, employees & suppliers). A 'Best in Class' finance function will measure customer satisfaction on a timely basis through a metric based approach. This will be combined with a team wide focus on process improvement, with process owners, that will not necessarily be the team leads, owning force-wide improvement to each of the finance processes.

Organizational Improvements

Organizational structures within Police Forces are typically made up of supervisors leading teams of one to four team members. Through centralizing and consolidating the finance function, an opportunity exists to increase the span of control to best practice levels of 6 to 8 team members to one team lead / supervisor. By adjusting the organizational structure and increasing the span of control, Police Forces can accrue significant cashable benefit from a reduction in the number of team leads and team leads can accrue better management experience from managing larger teams.

Technology Enabled Improvements

There are a significant number of technology improvements that a Police Force could implement to help develop a 'Best in Class' finance function.

These include:

A) Scanning and workflow

Through adopting a scanning and workflow solution to replace manual processes, improved visibility, transparency and efficiencies can be reaped.

B) Call logging, tracking and workflow tool

Police Forces generally have a number of individuals responding to internal and supplier queries. These queries are neither logged nor tracked. The consequence of this is dual:

o Queries consume considerable effort within a particular finance team. There is a high risk of duplicated effort from the lack of logging of queries. For example, a query could be responded to for 30 minutes by person A in the finance team. Due to this query not being logged, if the individual that raised the query called up again and spoke to a different person then just for one additional question, this could take up to 20 minutes to ensure that the background was appropriately explained.

o Queries can have numerous interfaces with the business. An unresolved query can be responded against by up to four separate teams with considerable delay in providing a clear answer for the supplier.

The implementation of a call logging, tracking and workflow tool to document, measure and close internal and supplier queries combined with the set up of a central queries team, would significantly reduce the effort involved in responding to queries within the finance departments and divisions, as well as within the actual divisions and departments, and procurement.

C) Database solution

Throughout finance departments there are a significant number of spreadsheets utilized prior to input into the financial system. There is a tendency to transfer information manually from one spreadsheet to another to meet the needs of different teams.

Replacing the spreadsheets with a database solution would rationalize the number of inputs and lead to effort savings for the front line Police Officers as well as Police Staff.

D) Customize reports

In obtaining management information from the financial systems, police staff run a series of reports, import these into excel, use lookups to match the data and implement pivots to illustrate the data as required. There is significant manual effort that is involved in carrying out this work. Through customizing reports the outputs from the financial system can be set up to provide the data in the formats required through the click of a button. This would have the benefit of reduced effort and improved motivation for team members that previously carried out these mundane tasks.

In designing, procuring and implementing new technology enabling tools, a Police Force will face a number of challenges including investment approval; IT capacity; capability; and procurement.

These challenges can be mitigated through partnering with a third party service company with whom the investment can be shared, the skills can be provided and the procurement cycle can be minimized.

Conclusion

It is clear that cultural, process and technology change is required if police forces are to deliver both sustainable efficiencies and high quality services. In an environment where for the first time forces face real cash deficits and face having to reduce police officer and support staff numbers whilst maintaining current performance levels the current finance delivery models requires new thinking.

While there a number of barriers to be overcome in achieving a best in class finance function, it won't be long before such a decision becomes mandatory. Those who are ahead of the curve will inevitably find themselves in a stronger position.




Rakesh Sangani is a Partner at Proservartner and focuses upon back office transformation within Police, Health, Local Government and Professional Services





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Monday, March 26, 2012

Car Finance


Owning a new car is almost everybody's dream. But only a few people can afford to buy a new car on a cash basis. Fortunately, car financing is readily available these days. As a result, more and more individuals have the privilege of owning a new car.

However, it is not easy to select a car, make a purchase, and then obtain car financing. Before you head to the local car dealer to buy the car of your dreams, you have to consider a lot of things with regards to car financing. You have to look into your credit score, compare car financing rates, and get pre-approval for your car financing application.

Your credit score has a lot to do with getting approved car financing because it reflects your credit worthiness. The lender will also look into this when determining your interest rates and down payment requirements. A credit score ranges from 300 to 600. If your credit score is above 600, you have a very good chance of getting car financing. However, if it is lower than 600, you need to spend several months paying your bills and increasing your credit score so you can qualify for financing.

After determining your credit score, you need to compare rates such as interest fees, fee structures, and down payment rates. Different lending institutions offer different rates. You should take your time evaluating each financing option so you can get the best deal.

After you have compared rates and picked your financing option, you can get a pre-approval for car financing. It is better that you have a pre-approved application before you go to the dealership so you can negotiate if you have cash in hand. This way, you may be qualified to receive rebates and discounts.

All these steps can help you to get the best car financing--and eventually, the best car--available.




Car Finance provides detailed information on Car Finance, Bad Credit Car Finance, Online Car Finance, Car Finance Rates and more. Car Finance is affiliated with Mobile Home Finances.





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The best offers for car - low finance rates vs discounts - which you should choose?


How To Get The Best Car Deals:

Quick tips that will help you at the car dealer:

How to understand Rebates and low financing offers:

Vehicle MSRP: Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price - This price is always negotiable - don't ever agree to pay MSRP

Exception: Some vehicles that might be "hard to find" or "limited in production" might be sold by the dealers at MSRP or, sometimes higher. This is usually called Market Adjustment.

Manufacturers Rebates: This is your money and has nothing to do with discounts given by the dealership. This money is given to you directly from the factory. Never let the rebate be used as a negotiation tool by the dealer. Any discount or negotiation from the dealer should be separate of any rebates offered.

Low finance rates: 0.00% 1.00% 1.9% etc... These are called Sub-vented rates, they too are offered by the factory and not the dealership. Do not allow a "low" finance rate to be used as part of a negotiation by the dealer. These rates are granted over and above any discounts, rebates, etc.

Exceptions: There are several exceptions to Sub-vented finance rates, but here are two that you really should be aware of:

1. Not all people qualify for these rates. So, if you suspect that you might have some issue that will cause you not to qualify, there is nothing wrong with expressing to the dealer that the low finance rate is something you are interested in, and you would like to apply first, before going through the long, timely steps of deal negotiation. Many dealerships will view this as unusual; however, any "good" dealer will be happy to let you submit an application first if you insist. Why is this important? As we always say, knowledge and preparation are the keys to not overpaying at a dealership. What happens if your entire deal is worked, negotiated and finalized with the dealer? Then you head over to the finance office to finalize the finance terms and payments... You expected to pay 0.00% interest, then at the last second you are told: "Sorry" because you don't qualify... NOT GOOD THE WHOLE DEAL CHANGES.

2. Rebates and "low" finance rates can not always be combined. Some factories allow it some times, however there is no rule; you must do your homework first. For instance, Chrysler offers manufacturers rebates on most their vehicles, plus they offer low finance rates on most vehicles as well. Though, you the customer must decide which offer you want, you can't have both. Although, sometimes Chrysler will run special offers that allow you to "combine" both the financing and rebate offers at once. But be careful, dealers won't always tell you that these offers are available, if you are unaware and you agree to pay higher finance rates, you are stuck.

Commonly Asked Question: Which is the right choice, Rebate or Low Financing?

This is an interesting question asked by many customers, the answer is simple yet many people have no idea.

Remember this rule: You should do what's best for you, do not ever inquire with a person, dealer, or anyone else that has any other motive than what's best for you.

What that means is this: When you ask a dealership which makes more sense, the dealer will likely tell you: "Take the rebate - not the low interest rate."

The reasoning behind this answer is, if you take the rebate you are actually paying "less" for the vehicle than if you elected the low interest rate. So, being that the vehicle price is the most important issue, you should always take the rebate. Is this correct or incorrect?

Rule: Don't be concerned what the dealer is making or losing, it's not relevant to what's best for you.

Does the dealership stand to gain more if you chose the rebate vs. the low finance rate? The answer to that question is yes, the dealership does stand to gain more. They receive a little more in "reserve money" from the lender if you chose conventional finance rates. The fact is however; that this point is completely irrelevant. Who cares what the dealership is making? Why is that important anyway? Is there some rule that says a dealership is not entitled to make profit? The only person who is doing something wrong in this scenario is you. You're asking the wrong party for information. If the complete and honest answer might cause the dealer to make less, chances are more than likely the answers will be carefully weighed to fall on their side.

Remember: Your concern is getting the best deal for you, don't waist time caring about what the dealership makes. Prepare yourself by considering all the facts. Do not make the common errors of all the people we constantly heart about who over pay all the time.

Fact: People who think that dealerships are losing money on them are usually the ones who pay the most!

Note: Please understand the purpose of this and every other post we write is NOT to condemn dealerships for making profit. Why should a dealer not be entitled to profit? What right do we have to ask them to lose money? Would you ever go to a restaurant and tell them that you insist they sell you dinner and lose money? It's a stretch, but equally as ridiculous.

The purpose of this post is to assist fair people in getting the best deal for themselves. Protecting people from being "ripped off" by a deceptive dealership is our motivation. We don't claim that all dealers are unfair or "rip off artists", in fact we are aware that most dealers are honest and forthcoming. Although, everyone is in business to make a profit and the topics written about within these posts are for the purpose of assisting "fair" consumers achieve "fair" and honest deals. Why do we keep mentioning "fair". Because equal to us having no concern about a cheating dealership, we also have no concern about the "unfair" consumers who want the good dealers to close down their business and lose money.

"A GOOD DEAL IS WHEN BOTH PARTIES ARE SATISFIED"

As we have mentioned so many times; price is not always the most important issue.

The following is the one and only correct answer to the Rebate vs. low rate debate:

With any issue that causes you to make a decision there are always certain facts in place, those facts make up the "pros and cons". With any decision we make, we weight the pros and cons and ultimately are lead to a decision. Then of course, we hope that decision was the right one.

Remember this rule: There is always a point where the two lines will cross, that point is where you will find the correct answer.

This means; there are variables that create change in every deal. For example: It may be a better deal for me to take the rebate, while it is a better deal for you to take the low financing rates. Let's explain:

You might be financing $30,000 and your finance term is 60 months. The Factory is offering a $3000 manufacturers rebate or 0.00% for the 60 month finance term. Which do you choose?

I might be financing $12,000 - The factory is offering a $3000 rebate or 0.00% for the finance term. Which one do I choose?

Obviously the answers vary; your lines of "break even" will obviously cross way sooner than my lines. The reason: different factors in the two deals will yield different answers.

Here's how you figure out the correct answer based on your factors:

For this example we'll assume that you are considering a $30,000 car with $3,000 rebate or a 0% interest rate, and for the sake of finding an answer, we'll assume that you're putting $3,000 a down payment and you qualify for all offers.

First: Draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper; on one side write Rebate on the other side write 0%

Second: on the 0% side write in the sale price of $30,000 - and on the left side (rebate) write in the sale price of $30,000 as well.

Third: On both sides add in your local tax rate. For instance: if you live in Queens NY add 8.25% as sales tax.

Fourth: on both sides add $300 - this should cover DMV - Inspection and dealer Doc Fees.

Fifth: On both sides - subtract $3,000 for you down payment

Sixth: On the rebate side subtract $3,000 for the rebate

If you did this right, so far you should have the following results:

Both sides: should show Sale Price $30,000 Tax $2,475. DMV $300. Sub Total: $32,775

Rebate Side Should show $6,000.00 Total down payment and an "unpaid balance" of $26,775.00

The 0% side should show $3,000 Total Down Payment and an "unpaid balance of $29,775.00

Assumption: If you chose not to take the 0% - the dealer offered you a 5.5% interest rate.

Compare to see where the lines cross:

Next step - find an auto loan calculator - you can go on any search engine type in "free auto loan calculator"

I am not able to attach a link to this area of the post so I will simply suggest a very user friendly, free calculator (which we have no affiliation) is chase.com just search:

"Free chase auto loan calculator"

Calculate:

REBATE SIDE

$26,775 Amount Financed

5.5% APR

60 Month Term

Answer: Payment $511.43

Total Interest: $3,910.80

Total of Payments $30,685.00

0% SIDE

$29,775.00 Amount Financed

0% APR

Answer: Payment $496.25

Total of Payments $29,775.00

Summery: On your deal, 0% came out to be $910.80 less than the REBATE, so obviously the better deal for you is 0%.

On my worksheet, using the same method, it turned out that the rebate was quite a bit more of savings, (only because I was financing much less) if I chose to finance more money perhaps the lines would cross sooner.

Final notes to remember:

1) If you choose to lower or raise you down payment and lower and raise your amount financed, the out come of "which one" is a better deal will vary. So, keep testing the different scenarios using the method provided above and you will find the best deal for you. Every time!

2) Be careful - No rebate is final, while low financing isn't: Keep in mind this very important consideration: If you choose low financing over the rebate - essentially you just paid more for the vehicle and you can't get that money back. However, you chose to do so in return for free financing terms. (Very smart) You did your homework, you made your decision based on solid factors and you made the overall least expensive decision. EXCELLENT WORK! Though, you must remember you made this comparison based on a 5 year repayment term. If you keep the vehicle for 5 years, and pay as expected you win, your calculations were perfect and you achieved the best deal for you. On the other hand, if something changes and for any reason you decide that you are not going to keep this vehicle beyond the second or third year... Then, you just gave back the benefit of the low financing. The variables have changed once again and the better deal swings back to the rebate. So remember, in the privacy non pressured environment of your own home; carefully consider all your options and likelihoods. For instance, if you know you don't keep a vehicle beyond a couple of years, this must be included as a decision factors.

Long story short: Always compile all the facts first, limit the variables that can change the deal and negotiate with confidence.




The author of this article is an auto industry professional for the past 18 years. Robert has extensive knowledge in automotive finance and specialty automotive finance (bad credit). Having worked as a finance and special finance manger for dealerships in the New York metropolitan area since the early 90's Robert has assisted thousands of clients in achieving auto mobile loans with "less than perfect" credit.

Since 2009 Robert has been working a program which was developed to assist customers in the often confusing issues related to purchasing automobiles. A free service: http://www.BuyerCents.com, assists clients with good or bad credit alike. The BuyerCents program helps people understand the "pit falls" they should avoid, while additionally assisting with the general do's and don'ts that cause many people to over pay or simply get ripped off at the dealership.

While BuyerCents is not claiming that all dealerships try to rip people off, its intention is to see that customers are treated fairly and all parties are "happy" with the deal. BuyerCents motive is not for dealerships to lose money, but simply to exchange aggressive, no nonsense pricing for a higher volume of loyal and able customers. http://www.BuyerCents.com





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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Accounts, accounts receivable financing - don't worry, be happy


There is a reason why accounts receivable financing is a four thousand year old financing technique: it works. Accounts receivable financing, factoring, and asset based financing all mean the same thing as related to asset based lending- invoices are sold or pledged to a third party, usually a commercial finance company (sometimes a bank) to accelerate cash flow.

In simple terms, the process follows these steps. A business sells and delivers a product or service to another business. The customer receives an invoice. The business requests funding from the financing entity and a percentage of the invoice (usually 80% to 90%) is transferred to the business by the financing entity. The customer pays the invoice directly to the financing entity. The agreed upon fees are deducted and the remainder is rebated to the business by the financing entity.

How does the customer know to pay the financing entity instead of the business they are receiving goods or services from? The legal term is called "notification". The financing entity informs the customer in writing of the financing agreement and the customer must agree in writing to this arrangement. In general, if the customer refuses to agree in writing to pay the lender instead of the business providing the goods or services, the financing entity will decline to advance funds.

Why? The main security for the financing entity to be repaid is the creditworthiness of the customer paying the invoice. Before funds are advanced to the business there is a second step called "verification". The finance entity verifies with the customer that the goods have been received or the services were performed satisfactorily. There being no dispute, it is reasonable for the financing entity to assume that the invoice will be paid; therefore funds are advanced. This is a general view of how the accounts receivable financing process works.

Non-notification accounts receivable financing is a type of confidential factoring where the customers are not notified of the business' financing arrangement with the financing entity. One typical situation involves a business that sells inexpensive items to thousands of customers; the cost of notification and verification is excessive compared to the risk of nonpayment by an individual customer. It simply may not make economic sense for the financing entity to have several employees contacting hundreds of customers for one financing customer's transactions on a daily basis.

Non-notification factoring may require additional collateral requirements such as real estate; superior credit of the borrowing business may also be required with personal guarantees from the owners. It is more difficult to obtain non-notification factoring than the normal accounts receivable financing with notification and verification provisions.

Some businesses worry that if their customers learn that a commercial financing entity is factoring their receivables it may hurt their relationship with their customer; perhaps they may loose the customer's business. What is this worry, why does it exist and is it justified?

The MSN Encarta Dictionary defines the word worry as:

"Worry

verb (past and past participle wororied, present participle wororyoing, 3rd person present singular worories)Definition:
1. transitive and intransitive verb be or make anxious: to feel anxious about something unpleasant that may have happened or may happen, or make somebody do this

2. transitive verb annoy somebody: to annoy somebody by making insistent demands or complaints

3. transitive verb try to bite animal: to try to wound or kill an animal by biting it

a dog suspected of worrying sheep

4. transitive verb

Same as worry at

5. intransitive verb proceed despite problems: to proceed persistently despite problems or obstacles

6. transitive verb touch something repeatedly: to touch, move, or interfere with something repeatedly

Stop worrying that button or it'll come off.

noun (plural worories)Definition:
1. anxiousness: a troubled unsettled feeling

2. cause of anxiety: something that causes anxiety or concern

3. period of anxiety: a period spent feeling anxious or concerned..."

The opposite is:

"not to worry used to tell somebody that something is not important and need not be a cause of concern (informal)

Not to worry. We'll do better next time.

no worries U.K. Australia New Zealand used to say that something is no trouble or is not worth mentioning (informal)".

Query: if a business is financing their invoices with accounts receivable financing, is this an indication of financial strength or weakness? Query: from the point of view of the customer, if you are buying goods or services from a business that is factoring their receivables, should you be concerned? Query: is there one answer to these questions that fits all situations?

The answer is it's a paradox. A paradox is a statement, proposition, or situation that seems to be absurd or contradictory, but in fact is or may be true.

Accounts receivable financing is both a sign of weakness with regard to cash flow and a sign of strength with respect to cash flow. It is a weakness because, prior to financing, funds are not available to provide cash flow to pay for materials, salaries, etc. and it is an indication of strength because, subsequent to funding cash is available to facilitate a business' needs for cash to grow. It is a paradox. When properly structured as a financing tool for growth at a reasonable cost, it is a beneficial solution to cash flow shortages.

If your entire business depended on one supplier, and you were notified that your supplier was factoring their receivables, you might have a justifiable concern. If your only supplier went out of business, your business could be severely compromised. But this is also true whether or not the supplier is utilizing accounts receivable financing. It's a paradox. This involves matters of perception, ego and character of the personalities in charge of the business and the supplier.

Every day, every month thousands of customers accept millions of dollars of goods and services in contracts that involve notification, verification and the factoring of receivables. For most customers, "notification" of accounts receivable financing is a non-issue: it is merely a change of the name or addresses of the payee on a check. This is a job for a person in the accounts payable department to make a minor clerical change. It is a mainstream business practice.

Bobby McFerrin wrote and performed a song called "Don't Worry, Be Happy" for the movie "Cocktails" starring Tom Cruise. The song was a number one U.S. pop hit in 1988 and won the Grammy for Best Song of the Year. Here are the lyrics:

"Here is a little song I wrote

You might want to sing it note for note

Don't worry be happy

In every life we have some trouble

When you worry you make it double

Don't worry, be happy......

Ain't got no place to lay your head

Somebody came and took your bed

Don't worry, be happy

The land lord say your rent is late

He may have to litigate

Don't worry, be happy

Look at me I am happy

Don't worry, be happy

Here I give you my phone number

When you worry call me

I make you happy

Don't worry, be happy

Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style

Ain't got not girl to make you smile

But don't worry be happy

Cause when you worry

Your face will frown

And that will bring everybody down

So don't worry, be happy (now).....

There is this little song I wrote

I hope you learn it note for note

Like good little children

Don't worry, be happy

Listen to what I say

In your life expect some trouble

But when you worry

You make it double

Don't worry, be happy......

Don't worry don't do it, be happy

Put a smile on your face

Don't bring everybody down like this

Don't worry, it will soon past

Whatever it is

Don't worry, be happy"

The bottom line: "notification" should not be an issue in most situations involving accounts receivable financing; non-notification factoring is another option that is available for businesses concerned with confidentiality that meet minimum credit standards for asset based lending. Bobby McFerrin was right: "Don't Worry, Be Happy".

Copyright © 2007 Gregg Financial Services




Mr. Elberg is a licensed attorney and licensed real estate broker. Gregg Financial Services is a full service brokerage for commercial finance companies and banks that fund B2B businesses. Mr. Elberg arranges funding from $25,000 to $50 million per month at competitive pricing, and works to reduce your financing costs as your company grows. For more information about GFS, please visit our website: http: http://www.greggfinancialservices.com





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