Inventory Financing in Canada

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What Would Happen If Your Company Had All The Business Financing You Needed To Finance Sales?

Information on business inventory financing and purchase order solutions benefit firms who have working capital and cash flow challenges relating to sales growth

Business inventory and purchase order financing in Canada is a much sought after yet widely misunderstood aspect of business financing in Canada. This type of financing is sought after by retailers, manufacturers, and wholesalers in all aspects of Canadian business products.

Business owners and financial managers know that maintaining inventory necessities the tying up, by necessity, of valuable working capital and cash flow. When your own resources, or the unavailability of Canadian chartered bank inventory financing do not meet your needs you need to assess, examine, and consider working with an independent commercial finance firm that specializes in inventory financing . This is a sub set of what is known as asset based lending in Canada, and the industry continues to gain broad appeal after the global economic crisis of 2008-2009.



To be able to finance your inventory is must be saleable, and a specialized firm that understands both your industry and the true value of inventory quickly becomes a valuable asset and ally. It goes without saying that the inventory lender must be able to properly secure the inventory asset via a proper lien registration on this component of your current assets.



Many clients we meet have bank financing in place, but quite often if cover receivables and only a small portion of inventory. Therefore inventory financing, and its ‘sister ‘– purchase order financing must be properly secured and broken out of your total current financing strategy. We have seen many cases where clients were receiving no, or modest advance against inventory, yet have then seen the margining on their inventory go to 50 – 80% in some cases when they have secured a true inventory financing program

The inventory of your firm becomes a clear identifiable and valuable asset in your overall financing strategy. In many cases bank financing treats inventory as simply bolstering up the overall bank security, but your true borrowing or margining power is somewhat insufficient based on your growth an customer fulfillment needs .

There is a combination of an art and science as it relates to inventory financing. Inventory is monitored regularly; usually a minimum of monthly, to ensure that is always can satisfy repayment of the loan. If you are a wholesale or distributor inventory is one of the largest assets you can leverage, and improving that leverage simply adds cash flow and working capital to your overall financing strategy.

Inventory becomes a receivable after it has shipped, so both your firm, and the inventory and purchase order lender want to understand your total cash conversion cycle – that is simply a financial phrase and formula that relates to how long it takes a dollar to go from product purchase, inventory, receivable collection, and back into true cash. Naturally this formula repeats itself over and over, and we encourage all business owners to understand their own cash conversion cycle. Even modest improvements in both inventory and receivable turnover can lesser your overall borrowing costs significantly.

The bottom line on inventory financing is that it is a specialized form of finance. Work with a trusted, credible expert. If your firm has a reliance on inventory to be successful you should investigate your ability to maximize and leverage additional financing on what is probably the largest asset on your balance sheet




7 Park Avenue Financial :

South Sheridan Executive Centre
2910 South Sheridan Way
Suite 301
Oakville, Ontario
L6J 7J8

Direct Line = 416 319 5769

Office = 905 829 2653

Email = sprokop@7parkavenuefinancial.com

http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com


Business financing for Canadian Firms , specializing in working capital, cash flow, asset based financing , Equipment Leasing , franchise finance and Cdn. Tax Credit Finance . Founded 2004 - Completed in excess of 100 Million $ of financing for Canadian corporations .

' Canadian Business Financing With The Intelligent Use Of Experience '

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stan has had a successful career with some of the world’s largest and most successful corporations.
Prior to founding 7 Park Avenue Financial in 2004 his employers over the last 25 years were, ASHLAND OIL, ( 1977-1980) DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, ( 1980-1990) ) CABLE & WIRELESS PLC,( 1991 -1993) ) AND HEWLETT PACKARD ( 1994-2004 ) He is an expert in Canadian Business Financing.

Stan has over 40 years of business and finance executive experience. He has been recognized as a credit/financial executive for three of the largest technology companies in the world; Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment and Cable & Wireless. Stan has had in depth, hands on experience in assessing and evaluating thousands of companies that are seeking financing and expansion. He has been instrumental in helping many companies progress through every phase of financing, mergers & acquisitions, sales and marketing and human resources. Stan has worked with startups and public corporations and has many times established the financial wherewithal of organizations before approving millions of dollars of financing facilities and instruments on behalf of his employers.

Stan Prokop

Asset based Lines of Credit – All the business financing you need!

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Asset Based Business Credit Is Your Go To Solution For Business Credit & Cash Flow

Information on how an asset based line of credit works - This non bank finance solutions cash flows your receivables, inventory and unencumbered equipment

Canadian business owners and financial managers place a great importance on their ability to achieve and maintain operating lines of credit.
Traditionally in Canada the bank line of credit is also called an ' operating loan ' . It is short term in nature, it actually revolves day to day, and so may finance people also call the operating facility a ‘revolver’

So what does that facility provide the Canadian firm with? It is simply a financing facility under which the bank agrees, in advance, to lend a maximum amount of money - typically against receivables and inventory

. The facility is short term in nature, not a term loan, so it does not include equipment or real estate, which is financed under other conditions.

In bank lines of credit certain conditions have to be met by your firm, and you are generally paying interest only o the amount outstanding on a daily basis. Revolving lines of credit or operating lines work best when they go up and down. Typically customers that are always at the top of their credit line are in fact candidate for other financing such as equity or cash flow term loans.
Most Canadian business owners know that the bank focuses more on receivables than inventory. Because inventory cannot easily be converted into cash by a bank, (if it had to) you will typically get a much lower advance rate or margin rate on inventory.
So, what happens when this traditional type of financing doesn’t work for your firm? You will know it is not working when some or all of the following seem to occur -

- You are consistently maxed out on the operating line

- Collections are slow, which further exacerbates the line revolving to your and the banks satisfaction

- You are worried that you do not consistently have enough cash flow and working capital to take on new orders or contracts.

Is there a solution. Absolutely - a new breed of line of credit financing is gradually taking hold in Canada - It is called ABL, or asset based lines of credit. The total focus of these facilities are to maximize the liquidity of your assets to a much greater extent - and when we say all assets we mean inventory, receivables, equipment , potentially real estate, and new contracts and purchase orders . That’s true asset based financing!

One of our customers had a 100,000.00 line of credit with a Canadian chartered bank that grew into a 2 Million dollar asset based financing arrangement.

The asset based lending industry is robust in Europe and the U.S. It is slowly taking traction in Canada. Although one or two of the banks offer these facilities, the majority of this type of financing is independent of the banks.

Due to the somewhat early and fragmented nature of this financing in Canada your firm is strongly encouraged to seek the experience, advice, and credibility that comes with talking to a business advisor in this area of Canadian financing.

Asset based lines of credit - they are newer to Canada, they work, and you should investigate the possibilities to maximize your cash flow and working capital needs.




7 Park Avenue Financial :

South Sheridan Executive Centre
2910 South Sheridan Way
Suite 301
Oakville, Ontario
L6J 7J8

Direct Line = 416 319 5769

Office = 905 829 2653

Email = sprokop@7parkavenuefinancial.com

http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com


Business financing for Canadian Firms , specializing in working capital, cash flow, asset based financing , Equipment Leasing , franchise finance and Cdn. Tax Credit Finance . Founded 2004 - Completed in excess of 100 Million $ of financing for Canadian corporations .

' Canadian Business Financing With The Intelligent Use Of Experience '

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stan has had a successful career with some of the world’s largest and most successful corporations.
Prior to founding 7 Park Avenue Financial in 2004 his employers over the last 25 years were, ASHLAND OIL, ( 1977-1980) DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, ( 1980-1990) ) CABLE & WIRELESS PLC,( 1991 -1993) ) AND HEWLETT PACKARD ( 1994-2004 ) He is an expert in Canadian Business Financing.

Stan has over 40 years of business and finance executive experience. He has been recognized as a credit/financial executive for three of the largest technology companies in the world; Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment and Cable & Wireless. Stan has had in depth, hands on experience in assessing and evaluating thousands of companies that are seeking financing and expansion. He has been instrumental in helping many companies progress through every phase of financing, mergers & acquisitions, sales and marketing and human resources. Stan has worked with startups and public corporations and has many times established the financial wherewithal of organizations before approving millions of dollars of financing facilities and instruments on behalf of his employers.

Stan Prokop

Sr&ed Credits – How To Finance Your Claim for Immediate Cash Flow

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You Don't Need a Horoscope To Determine When your SR&ED Credit Will Arrive - Finance Your Claim and You'll
Have Your Refund In A Very Short Period Of Time

Information on financing SR&ED credits under Canada's research & development refundable tax credit program. Maximizing your r&d capital investment via quick efficient cash flow financing of your claim is a strategic priority for many companies

Canadian business owners and financial manager who file for sred credits are often not aware that these claims can be financed in order to generate working capital and cash flow out of the claim. They are even more surprised to hear that it is actually possible under most conditions to obtain financing even prior to financing the claim.

What could be a better working capital and cash flow strategy than getting immediate cash flow for a government grant that is non repayable? We frankly can think of no other risk free way to bring valuable cash funds into your company if you are utilizing this great government program.

Let’s establish some bedrock around what we are talking about. The program formal name of course is the Scientific Research and Experimental Development aka ‘(SR&ED) ‘program that is funded by the federal and provincial governments. Each SRED claim has a federal and provincial portion, and, combined, they provided you with a non- repayable tax credit for a significant amount of the funds you spend on qualifying R&D and business processes.



Many clients we work with have their claims prepared on a contingency basis – that simply is letting someone else , known as a sred consultant , prepare you claim and letting them absorb all ( yes all ) of the cost of that claim . When you finance a sred claim you can actually arrange to have the sred consultant paid at the same time also.



SRED claims continue to be on the rise in Canada, and when you couple the filing of those claims with a somewhat challenging financial environment for business financing you have a perfect storm, so to speak, for the consideration of financing your claim.



The financing of sred claims is the ultimate ‘boutique ‘financing business in Canada. We urge clients to work with a business financing advisor who can ensure they are receivable maximum funds and market rates, terms and structures for the amount of the claim.



Clients want to know how ‘complex ‘a sred financing is. The reality is that you should view a sred tax credit financing in exactly the same manner as any business financing, other than to understand perhaps that the main collateral on the sred loan is really the claim itself. We use the word ‘sred loan ‘but in reality the sred financing brings no debt to the balance sheet – you are simply monetizing your claim for cash flow and working capital now.



The essence of the entire process can be simply described under the following process



Sred financing application

Due diligence

Legal/documentation of loan

Funding!!



It’s as simple as that, and we advise most clients the entire process can be completed within a few weeks, which is standard for most business financings anyways.



You would only want to consider sred financing if in fact you don’t want to way from 1-12 months, (sometimes longer) for your grant cheque from the government. As a Canadian business that is growing you probably have much better uses of those funds now, including reducing payables, investing in even more r&d, acquiring new business assets, etc .



Consider sred tax credit financing as one more toolkit you have in your overall business strategy. Work with an expert and maximize the amount of your return and the overall most effective use of that essentially free cash flow and working capital.




7 Park Avenue Financial :

South Sheridan Executive Centre
2910 South Sheridan Way
Suite 301
Oakville, Ontario
L6J 7J8

Direct Line = 416 319 5769

Office = 905 829 2653

Email = sprokop@7parkavenuefinancial.com

http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com


Business financing for Canadian Firms , specializing in working capital, cash flow, asset based financing , Equipment Leasing , franchise finance and Cdn. Tax Credit Finance . Founded 2004 - Completed in excess of 100 Million $ of financing for Canadian corporations .

' Canadian Business Financing With The Intelligent Use Of Experience '

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stan has had a successful career with some of the world’s largest and most successful corporations.
Prior to founding 7 Park Avenue Financial in 2004 his employers over the last 25 years were, ASHLAND OIL, ( 1977-1980) DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, ( 1980-1990) ) CABLE & WIRELESS PLC,( 1991 -1993) ) AND HEWLETT PACKARD ( 1994-2004 ) He is an expert in Canadian Business Financing.

Stan has over 40 years of business and finance executive experience. He has been recognized as a credit/financial executive for three of the largest technology companies in the world; Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment and Cable & Wireless. Stan has had in depth, hands on experience in assessing and evaluating thousands of companies that are seeking financing and expansion. He has been instrumental in helping many companies progress through every phase of financing, mergers & acquisitions, sales and marketing and human resources. Stan has worked with startups and public corporations and has many times established the financial wherewithal of organizations before approving millions of dollars of financing facilities and instruments on behalf of his employers.

Stan Prokop

Receivable Factoring – The Two Things You Need to Know !

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We're Looking Inside the Box on Canadian Receivable Financing- Here's What We Found!

Information on A/R Financing Solutions In Canada

Canadian business owners and financial managers can make some big, painful, expensive and time consuming mistakes when they choose the wrong factoring facility.  In a previous article we highlight three popular misconceptions about factoring – they were:

-Factoring is the pledging of receivables

- Factoring is expensive

- All receivable financing services and facilities are essentially the same

We provided information that clearly showed that there are a number of fallacies and myths about the factoring of receivables in Canada, and that the prudent business owner needs to investigate the true costs and ‘how to’ of factoring in Canada.
Let’s now share two other major misconceptions around this method of business financing in Canada. They are as follows:

• Factoring is very intrusive to my customers and suppliers (NOT NECESSARILY!)

• All factoring companies are essentially the same (WRONG!)

Before we examine these two popular business misconceptions lets take a very brief step back and recap what receivable factoring is.

Canadian business, more than ever, needs cash flow and working capital to survive. Many traditional sources have either disappeared, dried up, so to speak, or simply are not available in the current business climate. Primarily we are of course referring to generous bank lines of credit for receivables and inventory. Business must go on, so how do business owners resolve these temporary cash crunches. One alternative is factoring.

The other alternative is a term loan, which has fixed payments, and generally extends for a period of three to five years. So the business owner must decide whether to focus on short term working capital – i.e. a factoring solution, or permanent working capital via a term loan or more owner equity.
So now let’s debunk out two myths surround factoring.

In a traditional what we will call the U.S. model of factoring we will agree that factoring, otherwise known as receivable discounting is in fact intrusive. The factor firm has the ability to in essence take control of your entire receivables function, including invoicing your customers with notification from themselves, dunning letters and calls for collection, and the insistence of payments being made directly to their firm. Is this intrusive – we certainly think so.

 Is this the only alternative for Canadian business – absolutely not? Prudent business owners will seek the advice of an experienced, trusted, and credible advisor in business financing who will structure a facility that allows them to collect their own receivables. Under this scenario they will reap the benefits of factoring ( Immediate cash, increased working capital ) while at the same time preserving customer good will . So the bottom line is, yes, if you enter into the wrong type of facility, factoring will be deemed intrusive, but you have options and you should investigate those with professional assistance.


Now let’s cover our final misconception – ‘all factoring firms are the same’. The reality is that if you are not an expert in this unique form of business financing then you can probably be forgiven for having talked to a few firms and drawn the conclusion they have the same product and service offering. The reality – Nothing could be further from the truth. Factor firms in Canada are sorted by geography, ownership (many are just branches of U.S. and U.K.operations) their own capital and borrowing structure, and, most importantly, how they do business on a day to day with you and your customers.

When we talk to clients about factoring solutions we recommend they focus on firms that have a nominal holdback, competitive rates, and , most importantly, are comfortable in allowing you to do your own billing and collecting . Naturally at the same time you are in a position to reap the key benefits of receivable financing, which is cash flow and working capital leverage you did not have.


Talk to an expert, sort out the good from the not so good, and focus on a receivable financing facility that meets your cash flow and growth needs. That’s solid business financing.




7 Park Avenue Financial :

South Sheridan Executive Centre
2910 South Sheridan Way
Suite 301
Oakville, Ontario
L6J 7J8

Direct Line = 416 319 5769

Office = 905 829 2653

Email = sprokop@7parkavenuefinancial.com

 http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com

 Business financing for  Canadian Firms  , specializing in working capital, cash flow,   asset based financing ,  Equipment Leasing ,  franchise finance and Cdn.  Tax Credit Finance .  Founded  2004  - Completed in excess of 100  Million $  of financing for Canadian corporations .

' Canadian Business Financing With The Intelligent Use Of Experience '

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stan has had a successful career with some of the world’s largest and most successful corporations.
 Prior to founding 7 Park Avenue Financial in 2004  his employers over the last 25 years were, ASHLAND OIL, ( 1977-1980)  DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, ( 1980-1990) ) CABLE & WIRELESS PLC,( 1991 -1993) ) AND HEWLETT PACKARD ( 1994-2004 )   He is an expert in Canadian Business Financing.

Stan has over 40  years of business and finance executive experience. He  has been recognized as a  credit/financial executive for three of the largest technology companies in the world; Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment and Cable & Wireless. Stan has had  in depth, hands on experience in assessing and evaluating thousands of companies that are seeking financing and expansion. He  has been instrumental in helping many companies progress through every phase of financing, mergers & acquisitions, sales and marketing and human resources. Stan has worked with startups and public corporations and has many times established the financial wherewithal of organizations before approving millions of dollars of financing facilities and instruments on behalf of his employers.

Stan Prokop

Benefits of a Commercial Equipment Lease for Canadian Business

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The Business Of Financing Assets For Your Company

Information on the benefits of commercial equipment lease financing in Canada

Canadian business owners and financial managers are constantly challenged to come up with financing alternatives for both working capital and the asset acquisition.


Let's focus on why a commercial equipment lease provides your firm with some of the best financing benefits and alternatives. In order to be successful in financing equipment it is important to know several key things - we can summarize those in a few critical categories:

- Understanding what lease company is the best fit for your firm

- Focusing on what benefits are important to you in an asset acquisition

- You must have the ability to de-mystify lease pricing and rates and structures to ensure you are getting a competitive market rate and structure


When you make the equipment asset purchase decision you are always faced with what is known as the ' lease vs. buy ' scenario. We don’t intend to make out information shared here an accounting lesson, but either using a lease vs. buy calculator or template, or, even better, speaking to your accountant you can easily come up with a rudimentary analysis of what the best financing option is . If it is lease financing then you are ready to move forward.


We talked about our critical point # 1 - which is simply to understand who your best lessor might be. The factors that determine this might seem like common sense - they are: The type of asset you are acquiring, the dollar value of the asset, and the overall credit quality of your firm you are in a position to focus on the firms that finance this type of asset.


The good news is that there are hundreds of lease financing sources in Canada - the flip side of that coin is that you might not have the time to invest in speaking to 100 different firms.


In most cases in makes a lot of sense to seek out the service of a lease financing expert who will be in a position to source the optimal funding as well as the best rate, term, and structure.


We advise all clients that, if they can, they should try and determine if the manufacturer provides financing - this is known as ‘captive ' financing and 99% of the time is your best deal - and fastest approval . That’s simply because the mfr. finance arm is incented to move product, as well as earn some income on the financing of course!


We talked in point # 2 about focusing on benefits - Leasing has numerous benefits. It would be rare that every benefit applies to every firm - so we recommend to clients that they outline what is most important to them with respect to the financing of this asset - those considerations might be a lease to own financing, or in some cases, an ' operating lease, which is akin to a short term rental, although a typical operating lease might range between 2-3 years in duration. The benefit of that type of financing is simply that your benefit from the use of the asset, not the ownership of it, and profiting through use of the asset is what it’s all about in business.


We tell clients that we aren’t necessarily overly proud of the way the industry sometimes confuses customers with a myriad of terminology and options, these includes references to FM, skip payments,

First and last, full payout, bargain purchase option, etc.


The most important piece of advice we can give a client is simply that by properly positioning their current financial position, demonstrating profit through use of the asset, and knowing whats important to them re payments, approval, lease term, etc should in fact allow them to maintain a control position in any lease financing negotiation.


Be an informed lessee in your search for a commercial equipment lease, understand that the market is competitive and people do want your business, and focus in on what financing equipment benefits work best for your firms sales and profit prospects.





7 Park Avenue Financial :

South Sheridan Executive Centre
2910 South Sheridan Way
Suite 301
Oakville, Ontario
L6J 7J8
Direct Line = 416 319 5769

Office = 905 829 2653

Email = sprokop@7parkavenuefinancial.com

http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com


Business financing for Canadian Firms , specializing in working capital, cash flow, asset based financing , Equipment Leasing , franchise finance and Cdn. Tax Credit Finance . Founded 2004 - Completed in excess of 100 Million $ of financing for Canadian corporations .

' Canadian Business Financing With The Intelligent Use Of Experience '

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stan has had a successful career with some of the world’s largest and most successful corporations.
Prior to founding 7 Park Avenue Financial in 2004 his employers over the last 25 years were, ASHLAND OIL, ( 1977-1980) DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, ( 1980-1990) ) CABLE & WIRELESS PLC,( 1991 -1993) ) AND HEWLETT PACKARD ( 1994-2004 ) He is an expert in Canadian Business Financing.

Stan has over 40 years of business and finance executive experience. He has been recognized as a credit/financial executive for three of the largest technology companies in the world; Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment and Cable & Wireless. Stan has had in depth, hands on experience in assessing and evaluating thousands of companies that are seeking financing and expansion. He has been instrumental in helping many companies progress through every phase of financing, mergers & acquisitions, sales and marketing and human resources. Stan has worked with startups and public corporations and has many times established the financial wherewithal of organizations before approving millions of dollars of financing facilities and instruments on behalf of his employers.

Stan Prokop