Cash tied to eligible invoices
The funding relates to invoices for goods or services already delivered to approved customers. Invoice validity, payment terms, and the customer’s ability to pay affect what can be factored.
Invoice Factoring
Invoice factoring.
Stop waiting on unpaid invoices.
Turn eligible business invoices into working capital. Understand factoring advances, fees, customer requirements, and how collections work.
Funding range$50K–$20M
Financing termOngoing
Funding typeReceivables
Typical funding time2–7 days
RepaymentFrom invoices
PRODUCT OVERVIEW
Invoice factoring,
explained.
Invoice factoring turns eligible unpaid business invoices into cash. You sell those invoices to a factoring provider, which advances part of their value before your customers pay.
It can help when you have already delivered the goods or services but still have payroll, suppliers or new orders to cover. The provider reviews your invoices and customers, so the quality of the receivables matters alongside your own business’s financial position.
The provider normally collects the customer’s payment and then releases the remaining invoice balance, after deducting its fees and any other agreed adjustments. Your agreement sets which invoices qualify, how much is advanced and how collections are handled.
Check what happens if a customer pays late, disputes an invoice or does not pay at all. Your business may have to buy back an invoice or cover a shortfall, depending on the agreement. Compare fees, minimum commitments and customer communication before deciding how factoring fits your operations.
Westwind helps you compare factoring arrangements, understand collection responsibilities and see how much cash your invoices could release.
An advance and a retained balance
The provider pays an agreed percentage of each approved invoice upfront. The rest is held as a reserve until the customer pays, rather than being advanced immediately.
Customer payments settle the invoices
Customers pay the provider or a designated collection account. Once an invoice is paid, the advance is settled and the remaining reserve is released after agreed deductions.
Fees and unpaid-invoice terms
Fees can depend on invoice value and how long payment takes. The agreement also sets what happens if a customer does not pay, including any obligation to repurchase an invoice.
BEFORE YOU APPLY
What you’ll need to get started.
Know what lenders look for and what to have ready. Your advisor helps with the rest.
What lenders look at
Customer credit
The payment reliability of the businesses that owe you money.
Invoice quality
The age, value, and status of invoices, including any disputes.
Completed work
Evidence that goods were delivered or services were provided.
Payment terms
When each invoice is due and the customer’s agreed terms.
Receivables ownership
Existing liens or financing claims against the invoices you want to factor.
What to have ready
To start
- Funding amount, purpose & timeline
- Business details & revenue
- Existing financing & credit range
- Your contact details
For lender review
- Accounts-receivable aging report
- Invoices you want to factor
- Proof of delivery or completed services, as applicable
- Customer details and relevant contracts or purchase orders
- Details of existing financing secured by receivables
IS THIS RIGHT FOR YOU?
The work is done. The cash is still on its way.
Start with the purpose, the payback period, and the payment your business can support. Use these signals to decide what to discuss with your advisor.
A stronger fit
- Your customers are businesses or government bodies that pay their bills
- Your invoices are undisputed and easy to check
- Slow payment is the actual problem, not low sales
A reason to pause
- You mostly sell to the public or take card payments
- Your invoices are disputed or very old
- Almost everything you're owed comes from one customer
The advantages
- Liquidity grows with eligible sales
- Customer credit can matter more than owner credit
- No fixed amortization from unrelated cash flow
- Useful for payroll and supplier gaps caused by slow-paying customers
The trade-offs
- Customers may receive notice of assignment
- Fees increase as invoices remain unpaid
- Recourse can shift nonpayment risk back to the business
- Concentration, disputes, and dilution reduce availability
HOW FUNDING WORKS
From application
to funding,
step by step.
Tell us about your business once. We prepare your file, find relevant lenders, coordinate the review, and help you compare your offers.
01 profile05 steps1:1 your own advisor
01
START HERE
Tell us what you need
Fill out one form with the amount, what the money is for, and the basics of your business.
RESULTOne complete business profile
- How much you need and what you will use it for
- Sales, industry, time in business, and what you already owe
02
ADVISOR REVIEW
Go through it with your advisor
Your advisor checks the request with you, gets clear on what matters, and helps gather the documents lenders will ask for.
RESULTA file ready for lender review
- Confirm timing, payment comfort, and business goals
- Collect the statements and supporting documents needed
03
MATCH & ROUTE
We find the lenders that fit
We compare your profile with different types of funding and the requirements of participating lenders.
RESULTA focused lender submission
- Narrow the list to lenders whose rules may fit
- Send the complete file only to selected lenders
04
UNDERWRITING
Lenders review the file
Each lender makes its own decision. We handle questions, document requests, and follow-up so you do not have to chase every party.
RESULTOffers you can compare side by side
- Resolve questions and missing items in one place
- Lay out available prices, terms, payments, and conditions
05
DECIDE & CLOSE
Compare, choose, and get funded
Your advisor explains the cost and tradeoffs, then helps you finish the lender's final conditions and closing documents.
RESULTThe option you choose, taken through funding
- Compare total cost, payment, term, collateral, and flexibility
- Complete final lender conditions and closing documents
How fast you get funded, what you're offered, and whether you're approved at all depend on your business, your paperwork, and the lender. Nothing here is a guarantee of an offer or approval.
LOOK AT THESE TOO
Other options worth comparing.
Don't pick on the rate alone, and don't pick on the biggest number you're approved for. Compare the whole deal.
QUICK ANSWERS
Questions people ask about invoice factoring.
Is factoring a loan?
Legally it is generally structured as a receivables purchase, although recourse, control, and economics can make it function similarly to financing. Review the actual agreement.
What is recourse factoring?
If an invoice is not paid within the agreed period, the business may have to repurchase it or replace it with another eligible invoice.
What decides whether I get approved?
Lenders mostly look at whether your customers pay their bills, whether the invoices are clean, how much rides on one customer, and how often invoices get reduced by credits or disputes. Each one has its own rules about credit, paperwork, and what it takes to say yes.
How fast can I get the money?
Plan on 2–7 days. It can take longer if the deal is complicated, your paperwork is slow, an outside report is needed, or the lender asks for more.
What should I compare between offers?
Ten things: the total dollars you pay back, the true yearly cost, how often you pay, how long it runs, what you put up as collateral, what you personally guarantee, the rules you agree to follow (covenants), what happens if you pay it off early, the fees, and whether the money earns more than it costs.
YOUR NEXT MOVE
See whether invoice factoring fits your business.
One application. Every option that fits. A clear path to the money.
Get funded