Finance Solutions

Many Canadian business owners and financial managers are under the impression that equipment leasing and financing solutions for their asset finance needs are more expensive than other forms of financing.

However, at the same time thousands of businesses everyday flock to the lease finance solution when they are acquiring equipment. How can a finance solution perceived as ‘ expensive ‘ be one of the most sought after business financing facilities day after day.

It’s because it’s all about the benefits and flexibility. In pure theory if you were paying full price cash or entering into a term loan you could make a technical financial case that lease financing is more expensive.

But it’s never always about price in your personal life, and that’s certainly the case in business. The reality is that the additional benefits of a lease often over weigh any concerns about cost or interest rates. And quite frankly with interest rates at all time lows in Canada companies with fairly decent credit profiles can get equipment financing in the 7-8% range. And, on top of that, if your company doesn’t have a pristine credit profile you still can get approved because Canadian equipment and leasing and financing professions are experts in asset finance, and a lot of emphasis is placed on your company prospects and the asset itself.

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For retailers who have never offered retail finance then take a few minutes of your time to find out what it can do for your business, what it takes to get a facility in place and what the alternatives are if you can’t get a direct facility.

True retail finance involves the use of Debtor creditor Supplier agreements and requires the retailer to have a consumer credit licence with category C coverage on it. This will enable you to act as a broker and process consumer credit agreements through your various trading channels IE Web, Shop or mail order.

When looking for retail finance businesses are usually talking about Interest free credit (IFC) as used by many large furniture outlets. There is also the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) product largely used in lower margin sectors such as IT and consumer electronics shops. This product is not to be confused with IFC though as there is a significant difference between the two offers plus it’s also illegal for BNPL to be presented as IFC. Lastly there is interest bearing or classic credit, where the customer pays a rate of interest determined by the retailer.

There are other offers that could also be considered retail finance. Store cards as offered by large department stores for example and even some co-branded credit cards available through many large national retailers and online resellers. True retail finance though in my mind is fixed-term credit agreements that are specific to the purchase of goods and/or services from a specific retailer.

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If you’re starting up a business, it can be hard to grasp the terminology you need in order to speak to your bank about funds; when it comes to discussing asset and sales finance, for instance, things can get tricky. It is, firstly, important to know what asset and sales finance is: a service through which banks help businesses obtain a range of equipment, including plant and machinery, commercial vehicles, IT equipment, office furniture and cars. Essentially, sales financing will help you get quick access to cash, while asset financing will help fund business equipment.

Many banks offer several cost-effective and expedient sales financing solutions; and with such solutions, businesses can find enough working capital to be able to operate. Two sales financing solutions are factoring and invoice discounting. With factoring (recourse and non-recourse),up to 95% of the value of approved invoices can be advanced within a given period of time with the balance being paid on receipt. And while invoice discounting (also recourse and non-recourse) functions in a similar way, there is a crucial difference between the two: in factoring, the client’s customers are made aware of the bank’s involvement with the business; in invoice discounting they are not.

Another method of sales financing used by many banks is stock finance; this allows you to release as much as 60% of the funds tied up in eligible stock through a completely flexible system. This will release finance that is usually not available for working capital needs.

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There are many home finance solutions for people who want to buy a home. With all the various options for financing and loans, it is possible to get the house you’ve always dreamed of owning. The recent financial crisis has taught us to be a little more careful with our finances, which is why it is important for us to study our options thoroughly and carefully and make sure that we are in a position that enables us to pay for our housing loans and other expenses that come with buying a home. It is important that we don’t jump the gun to make sure that we won’t have any home finance problems in the future that may lead to a lot of debt and foreclosure.

The first step in buying a home is getting a loan. This is where home finance can get tricky. Just because you are able to meet the lender’s screening criteria, it doesn’t mean you’re automatically qualified for the loan. Banks and other lenders tend to award loans to people to show that they have the ability to repay the loan and that they are not overloaded with other debts and expenses to pay for. This is why we must create a balance sheet and compare our income with the expenses we incur every month. The information we can get from this is beneficial not only to the lenders, but to loan applicants as well because it shows us if we can handle the financial burden or if it will bury us deeper in debt.

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All successful businesses should have Financing Solutions, Merchant Banking Services, and business support. Regardless of whether the business is a sole proprietorship or a major corporation, the answer to expanding financial capabilities will be found in the best combination of the three. But how do you find the best financial partner to fill your needs?

While most large corporations partner with merchant banking services to finance mergers, acquisitions, and to give valuable financial advice for complex financial deals, smaller businesses usually depend upon merchant services to provide credit, debit, and gift card processing services. The goal for partnering is to increase revenue by accepting a wider range of customer payment options. Many times, the merchant services will help to organize and simplify business operations with timely financial advice.

Looking for the merchant banking services that offer solutions to business needs in your particular industry is a good use of time. You should find the bank that specializes in your industry. Many will state the industries that they best serve. If your business is a match, then you have the best chance of getting the help you need.

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