Owning a healthcare business or practice can be very profitable and very challenging at the same time. Having to wait up to 90 days to get paid by insurance companies, HMOs and Medicare/Medicaid can wreak havoc on your company’s cash flow. This problem can easily be compounded if you have regular periodic expenses, such as rent and payroll, which must be met.

Going to the bank may be of some help, especially if you are a doctor, are willing to personally guarantee a loan and own a medical office. If you run any other type of healthcare business that bills insurance or Medicare you may be out of luck. Banks almost always require significant collateral and three years of audited financials. To make things more complicated, most bank financing has maximum limits. Much like a credit card maximum, once you reach it, that is the end of the line.

But what if your business is growing?

Medical factoring allows you to finance your business by using your slow paying insurance claims as collateral. In effect it reduces the time it takes you to get paid from up to 90 days down to a few days.

You can use the financing to pay rent, meet payroll and pay suppliers. You can also use it to grow your business.

As opposed to other financing tools, factoring has no arbitrary maximum limits. Your maximum amount of financing is solely determined by how much you invoice.  (See diagram to learn more)

The more you invoice, the more you can finance. Factoring enables you to grow your business and eliminates having to wait to get paid by insurance companies and by Medicare/Medicaid.

Medical factoring is easy to qualify for. It works equally well for new and for established healthcare companies. If you cannot afford to wait up to 90 days to get paid by your insurance carriers, you must consider factoring as a solution.

Martyn Witt By:


There is an estimated 5.2 million commercial properties within the UK. The commercial property market expanded by over 32 per cent during 1990-2000 (according to the new products started) compared with the previous decade, in itself a decade of exceptional growth. Bank lending for commercial property deals rose by a record £7.7 billion in the first quarter of 2005, according to data provided by the Bank of England, and property experts believe the bulk of the new lending was for investment purchases.

There has also been a substantial rise in the number of investors looking to buy commercial properties to put into Self Invested Personal Pension Schemes. Property investment funds received a boost as of late last year after the Government announced plans to allow them to be included in an ISA (Individual Savings Account) wrapper.

Savers will now be able to add investments, such as property funds and funds of funds, that have previously been restricted from being included in ISA’s because the asset class did not feature on a European standard of eligible investments and commercial property funds are seemingly the greatest beneficiary of the rule change.

With this diversified interest in commercial property by investor, speculator and businesses alike the role of the broker has become a more integral part of the process. Increasing numbers of mortgage brokers have branched out into non regulated markets such as the commercial loan sector since Mortgage Day in late 2004 and subsequent involvement by the Financial Services Authority, interestingly 58 per cent of mortgage brokers claim profits are down since Mortgage Day.

Commercial lending is now not the preserve of the high street banks who, in the past, have not only seemed to cherry pick but have also had a tendency to only lend to their existing business customers. The result was that there are now over 1,200 commercial lenders currently operating within the UK.

The competitive market for commercial lending has also been confirmed by the rates available. There are also many other flexible options such as rolled up interest (No interest payments) for the first year to help with cash flow, start up finance, business expansion finance or even for finance on low yield investment properties.

Lenders will typically lend up to 80 per cent loan to value but 100% is achievable with additional security. Three years audited accounts are also now not the normal requirement as self certification of income has also found its way into commercial lending. Adverse credit clients are now considered and in the majority of cases loans approved. However self certification and bad credit applicants can expect a loading on the rate of typically between 1 to 4 per cent.

A cross section of business funding is available to retail businesses such as convenience stores, fast food outlets, specialist shops and supermarkets. Investment properties, professional practices such as accountants, doctors, vets and solicitors. Property development including speculative or pre-let for both commercial and residential. Offices and factories along with the health care sector including nursing homes, residential care and special needs homes. The leisure market has also been seen as the main stay for commercial lending over many years embracing hotels, guest houses, cafes, restaurants, wine bars and pubs.

Although latterly pubs have often sought brewery loans as a traditional way of borrowing money in the trade often referred to as Advance of Discount (AOD) or “Write Off” loans, the interest rates seem favourable at significant discounts over the banks but barrelage discount is affected and the repayment terms are often shorter over 10 years.

Lending on leasehold is also available up to 65 per cent on the security property (often the applicants main residence). With many businesses failing in the first year and business failure rates up 13 per cent in the first quarter of 2006 applicants must carefully consider whether they should be securing their main residence against the lease.

To calculate monthly charges use one of our many custom built calculators. Commercial loan applications, for both single and joint applicants, are processed on our own dedicated secure server.

Kris Koonar By:


There are often situations when small, medium and even large companies find themselves in a tough spot as far as revenues are concerned. They are at a loss of funds or finance to undertake a project that is expected to give good results. In such a scenario the option available for financing is accounts receivable financing.

Accounts receivable financing is a secured loan for which accounts receivables are pledged as collateral with financial organizations. For small businesses it acts as a boon to help improve their cash flow. Generally small businesses find it hard to receive finance from a bank as they have less credit rating to show because they are yet in a developing stage. Unless finance is available, it is not possible for business to grow at a good pace. A timely finance from finance companies or even banks proves to be helpful for their growth. They often have customers who do not pay before 30-60 days. In such cases the accounts receivable are given as security to a financial organization and finance is received.

Any company can opt for accounts receivable finance. It is very popular with transport or trucking companies, construction companies, manufacturing companies, textiles, staffing and engineering and other small businesses. It benefits medium business and any other business that needs finance on a daily basis. These companies would need to have accounts receivable in hand. The companies who can qualify for such finances would need to have accounts receivables from credit worthy customers.

Moreover, aging of accounts happen to very large extent. They may have regular contracts with organizations with good credit history or government organizations. Some financial organizations also consider the period for which the credit is given, which they prefer should be within 30- 60 days. Companies which are experiencing modest speed of growth and find it hard to keep the cash flow constant find the accounts receivable finance very beneficial.

These finances ensure growth and stability of a company. The process is very quick and you can get the finance in a very short period of time. As finances are available on a timely basis, the companies may be able to get some advantage of reduction of overheads. The processing time of this type of financing is very less. Some of the companies also have online submission, and invoice submission systems which are then verified and checked and finance is provide in less than 2 days also which is a very timely help for these companies which need finance to undertake their daily activities. One more benefit that you get from such a finance function is that the accounts of the companies are managed better as proper records and collection on the due date is very important. For the small companies it is an additional benefit that the business in itself is well organized to make the entire process cost effective.

Accounts receivable financing is available to all those organizations that are in urgent need of finance or cash and are caught up in tricky situations wherein customers make payments very late. Companies find this financing highly beneficial to keep the growth of their organization on track.

samuel rouvin By:


Short Sale vs Foreclosure

In the short sale vs foreclosure comparison, it’s vital to take a look at how these two processes work. If you have a house, and cease paying on it, the bank will start the foreclosure process, in as little as six to 8 weeks after your missed payment. If this happens, you might have to fight the foreclosure using what is called a short sale. If your only options are a short sale or foreclosure, a short sale is usually the better road to take since it offers some protection to your credit. what’s this?

Short Sale outlined

A short sale is a situation in which you sell your home for under what’s owed on your current house loan. For instance, if your house is in foreclosure and you owe your bank a total of $150,000 on the property on a mortgage, the lender could foreclose on the property and then have to deal with making an attempt to sell the property. Your personal credit would be destroyed in this process since you walked away from the loan. To get round this, you find a buyer who is ready to purchase the home from you. The problem is, the buyer doesn’t want to pay full price. He agrees to pay $125,000 instead.

In a short sale agreement, the bank agrees to accept the lower payment as payment in full for the loan. You are forgiven for the loan in total and your buyer purchases the property for the agreed upon price . In this example of a short sale vs foreclosure, the most obvious benefit is that your credit is not devastated in the short sale. Nonetheless, you may still lose your house.

You could be in a position to get the lender to agree to a short refinance, where the lender will refinance the loan at the lower price and keep you on as the borrower. In a short refinance, a portion of the value of the house is forgiven, which helps to lower the money payments, making it easier for you to make payments.

If you’re a good borrower, and something has occurred that has caused you to enter into the battle of short sale vs foreclosure, the best move to make is to work with your bank to find a solution. A short sale might be a fine solution, as would a short refinance. In either situation, you don’t have to have the negative impact of a foreclosure on your credit history. Take the time to find out what all your options are before you agree to a short sale or any kind of foreclosure.

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Kris Koonar By:


Growing and emerging companies require immediate capital in order to facilitate their successful ventures. These start up companies often face a deficit of working capital needed for the smooth functioning of their daily operations as most of their capital is blocked in accounts receivables. In layman’s terms it means that the growing company performs the service or delivers the product to the client, and then bills them.

However as per business norms the payment is usually held up and cleared after about 30 to 60 days. This held up or to be cleared amount is the accounts receivable of the company rendering a service or selling a product. Since capital is blocked in accounts receivables, these companies have to look for alternative sources to secure continuous cash flow to meet their daily operational needs. Accounts receivable financing is fast emerging as one of the best funding options that emerging companies are choosing to solve their cash deficit problems.

Accounts receivable financing is the process of selling off the accounts receivable bills of the company to an accounts receivable finance company to secure immediate capital. The accounts receivable financing company provides funding to the service or product selling companies against their accounts receivables which act as collaterals. This process is relatively simple, requires no other collaterals and does not take much time for releasing funds.

The financing firm usually disburses the funds a range of up to 60% to 90% of the amount receivable for a fee that could range from 1% to 5% depending upon a certain criteria set by the financing companies for each company they are funding. These companies are the clients for the financing companies. So in case the company wants a funding for their accounts receivables from the accounts receivable financing company certain criteria have to be looked at while approaching them.

Accounts receivable financing companies look at the creditworthiness of the client’s debtors. Their debt records and performance records are taken into account. The age of the receivable is a consideration while determining the fundability of the client company, in case the receivable bill is as old as 90 days or more then no accounts receivable financing company will finance it. The client company also will not qualify to secure funds on their accounts receivables, if there is already loan secured on the same accounts receivable from a banking institution, unless the bank is willing to release its security interest on the receivable held by them.

The client company’s customer’s average repayment cycles, the factoring volume and the size of the invoices are also few more determinants an accounts receivable financing company will take into account while releasing the funds. Based on this, the financing company will give the client company 60% to 95% amount of the total face value of the receivable. The balance amount would be released after the invoice is cleared.

This type of financing can prove advantageous as the service rendering or product selling companies can free up their tied up capital and use it to maximize their growth and concentrate on business development activities rather than worry about collections and rising debts.