How an Invoice Financing Platform Can Help You with Clients on Long Payment Terms

Winning a major contract from a large customer is an important moment for any company. It’s validation of your work, recognition that what you are doing is getting wider attention, it builds brand recognition within your market and it’s a great motivator for the team.

But it comes with significant challenges too; do you have the resources to fulfill the contract? How much is it going to cost you to deliver?  When are you actually going to get paid for the work? These challenges can complicate your cash flow management considerably, especially when it comes to customers with long payment terms.

In this blog, we explore how being part of an invoice financing platform can be a great support to those small businesses managing customers with long payment terms.

How Will Invoice Financing Platforms Help Solve Your Cashflow Problems?

Forbes reports that the vast majority of businesses fail due to poorly managed cash flow, highlighting the importance of ensuring you have adequate cash flow to continue operations. With the payment terms to which you have had to agree, can you afford to do the work?  Very few companies can hold out for 60 days to get paid, far less 120 days, which a large customer may insist on.

Assuming you cannot go back to your new customer to negotiate down the payment terms, the way to do this is to find a reputable invoice financing platform, sign up and nominate this debtor (and maybe some others) to be funded.  

It’s simple really: by using an invoice financing platform to reduce payment terms, e.g., from 60 or 90 days to 24 hours, you take a big step to solving your cash flow challenges when faced with long payment terms.

As invoice finance moves into the digital age, there are now a few invoice finance platforms in the UK. The common elements between them are that they are digital, rely more on your cloud accounting data to gather information for input, and have the capability to fund invoices as you raise them.

At Hydr we like to think that what we have created is the best of the bunch. Below are a few reasons why.

How can Hydr’s Invoice Financing Platform Help?

Hydr is one of the only invoice financing platforms in the UK to fund 100% of the value of your invoice. Not just 75 or 80%, but the entire value, minus our fixed fee. And we mean what we say by fixed: once we have quoted it, it doesn’t change, even if your debtor is a couple of days behind in making payment.  

We have no additional charges, such as a monthly subscription, nor do we insist on a minimum contract period or minimum amount of invoices funded. You only pay for what you use.

Our invoice financing platform uses cutting edge technology that delivers results

Integration with cloud accounting – Our integration with cloud accounting is market-leading, which means that we automatically detect when you raise an invoice for a debtor you would like to be funded.  This saves a great deal of time and reduces the risk of mistakes occurring as you load up the invoice.

Unique algorithm – Our unique algorithm gives funding decisions in real time, quickly giving answers to your enquiries as to which invoice can or cannot be funded.Quick sign-up process – Signing up to and leaving an invoice finance platform should be straightforward.  We have made it possible for you to sign up within around 15 minutes, nominate debtors for funding at a click of a button, and critically, when you feel that you may no longer need to use the facility, you simply uncheck a box.

Summary

Invoice financing platforms can ease your cash flow concerns, enabling you to continue business as usual despite payment delays. The long payment terms that come with winning great customers shouldn’t be a cause for concern or a reason for a strain on cash flow. Celebrate your wins, do a great job and let Hydr support you in optimising your cash flow.

We take great pride in our service, particularly the way in which we interact with your colleagues and your customers. We’re not just an external invoice financing platform – we want to be perceived as an extension of your finance function when we are engaged in collecting payment for your invoices. We do this thoughtfully and professionally, enhancing your customer relationships whilst saving you valuable time and increasing your organisation’s efficiency.

If you’re considering invoice financing, find out more about our solution, or contact our friendly team to get started.