In the latest Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow looks at a recent survey from Hilton Baird Financial Solutions examining the different sources of finance businesses are using today.

The Prompt Payment Code was designed to encourage businesses to treat suppliers fairly and minimise late payment but it could work better and Rob looks at a new Advisory Body set up to improve standards.

Sticking with late payment, a survey from Lovetts, a commercial debt litigator reveals that the amounts outstanding to businesses is on the rise. Watch your cashflow!

Awareness of crowdfunding is on the rise and Rob has news from the Chamber of Commerce of a series of roadshows being run in conjunction with crowdlender ArchOver designed to inform business owners about the options available to them.

Rob also has news that PWC have tied up with MarketInvoice to offer invoice discounting solutions to its clients and in the Business Finance Tip of the Week a look at why business owners hate writing Business Plans!

If you prefer to listen to this week’s Bulletin on your phone or in your car then you can download it as a podcast by clicking the ‘download’ image on the SoundCloud player below.

In the latest Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow looks at how Handelsbanken, one of the UK challenger banks, are supporting SMEs by increasing the amount of money they have lent out.

Rob also looks at the news that RBS may be launching its own peer-to-peer or crowdfunding platform at the end of the year. How times are changing!

Banks are still getting their wrists slapped for the flouting the rules with this week’s revelations that HSBC and First Trust Bank have been pulled up by the Competition and Markets Authority.

Rob looks at a recent survey by Experian which reveal that many business owners are not assessing how creditworthy their clients are before giving out credit terms.

And in the Business Finance Tip of the Week, a clip from a live seminar in which Rob shares a strategy on controlling overdue payments.

You can also listen to this week’s Bulletin in audio as a podcast. To listen either click the image below or you can download the episode to your PC or phone via Soundcloud.

Poor cashflow is a constant headache for most business owners. In my conversations with business owners a common theme emerging is the day-to-day struggle of chasing outstanding payments and juggling creditors who themselves are pressing for payment.

Whilst you may be doing everything you can to encourage debtors to pay what do you do if your creditors are putting equal if not more pressure on you to pay up and your bank won’t help?

Here are four steps you can take.

Step 1: Assess Where You Are Now

If the pressure is on there is a high probability you have lost sight of the extent of your problem. When you are constantly bombarded with phone calls and letters it’s too easy to ignore the situation in the hope it will go away. But this is not the time to bury your head in the sand.

Part of the key to successful cashflow management is knowing exactly where you stand. Forewarned is forearmed.

So your first task is to write down precisely how much you owe and to whom. If your bookkeeping system is set up around stacking invoices in the corner of your office, or leaving them languishing in your email in-box, access them out and list them one by one with names, amounts and dates due.

Acknowledging and accepting the extent of the problem is an essential first step.

Step Two: Prioritise Your Payments

Having written a list of payments due the next step is to prioritise them. In prioritising the list you are aiming to classify them into three categories:

1. Business critical payments which have to be made under any circumstances. These are payments which would put your business at risk if not processed

2. Creditors who would be content with a part payment

3. Non-critical creditors who could wait and not cause you major disruption if not paid

Step Three: Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

In times of a cash-crunch it’s too easy to ignore the situation you’re in but in not communicating you will only compound the problem. Now you have your list the next step is to get in touch and inform each of them as to what is happening and to communicate your message or request.

Put yourself in your creditor’s shoes; what would you think if you were expecting payments by a certain date and had planned your cashflow position accordingly but no payment was received? Not impressed I guess. So why should it be any different if you are the one delaying payment?

By communicating your intentions you will be preserving and in some instances potentially strengthening relationships with your suppliers.

Step Four: Check Your Cash Position Daily

Now you know where you stand you can move ahead more confidently. From now on it’s all about monitoring the cash position in your bank account on a daily basis. You are checking to see who has paid you, what cheques have cleared and, referring to your payment schedule, which creditors you can pay as per the agreements you have made.

Once you have made a payment, follow step three and communicate … call to tell them their payment is on its way.

Continued communication is the key.

Follow these steps and you will be in a better position to handle any cashflow crisis you may be experiencing.

In this week’s Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow looks at the impact late payment can have on growth plans with a recent survey from Close Bros Finance demonstrating how it can hold your business back.

Rob also looks at how crowdlending platforms Funding Knight, ReBuilidngSociety and LendInvest have reached new highs and milestones as they continue to challenge the traditional High Street banks.

And in the Business Finance Tip of the Week Rob shares some thoughts in an interview he did on what a good Business Plan looks like.

With the economy beginning to pick there is one barrier to growth that many business owners don’t see until it’s too late and that is lack of cash to fund future growth. Two recent surveys have highlighted the recurring problems UK businesses have when it comes to late payment.

The first survey from Close Brothers reveals that of those businesses experiencing problems due to late payments, 58% said that it impacts on their day-to-day cash flow management with 17% saying it has resulted in them reining in necessary spending. A further 15% say it threatens their ability to trade.

The impact of late payment is not just on poor cashflow but also in terms of the time taken out of the working day to chase up outstanding debts. Close Bros found that 17% of businesses spend more than 10 hours a month chasing late payers.

Despite chasing for payment it can often happen that the debt remains unpaid and findings from Satagom an automated credit control firm have revealed that 40%of firms have written debts off in the past.

As discussed in previous blogs part of the solution the late payment is to ensure there is a system and process in place for chasing bad debts. The Satago survey found that 77% of firms don’t have a person or a procedure in place so making the chasing of late payments even more difficult.

If your growth plans are held back by poor cashflow there are a number of solutions including invoice discounting, factoring, and spot finance which are detailed here – Cashflow Solutions.

Also here is a chat Rob Warlow had with Steve White of Thornbury Collections on steps you can take to avoid late payment.

In this week’s Business Finance Bulletin I look at how small businesses continue to suffer from cashflow problems due to late payments. Surveys from the Asset Based Finance Association and BACS reveal the extent to which SMEs are being held back by late payment… find out how.

Poor cashflow has led to businesses falling behind in VAT repayments; with insights from specialist finance lender LDF showing how overdue VAT is on the up, this is one example of the impact of late payment.

In its quest to improve access to advice and finance I have news on the government’s revamp of its Great Business website and of £10m lent by the British Business Bank to Ratesetter for on-lending to individuals.

In the Business Finance Tip of the Week I have a guest tip from Steve White of Thornbury Collection Services on the excuses businesses trot out when they are overdue on payments.

In the latest episode of the Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow examines an issue that keeps many small business owners awake at night… late payment and poor cashflow. Rob looks at a recent survey which reveals how painful the task of chasing late payers can be.

One way to solve cashflow problems is to unlock the cash trapped in a business and Rob shares a relatively new financial solution to this problem which is spot financing.

And in the Business Finance Tip of the Week, a clip from a live seminar Rob delivered at a Kevin Green property and wealth creation weekend hosted in Amsterdam. In this clip Rob talks about raising growth capital via selling equity and how it can benefit a business.

In this episode of the Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow looks at the booming Asset Finance industry following the latest figures released by the Finance and Leasing Association. Credit Reports are an important part of a bank’s lending assessment process. Rob looks at one bill you should always keep on an eye on – miss this payment and you could dent your credit record.

In the Business Finance Tip of the Week Rob talks with Steve White of Thornbury Collection Services and he shares three quick tips on getting your invoices paid and avoiding late payment and cashflow problems.

This week’s Friday Business Finance Bulletin is out and I look at the new rules being introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority to regulate the crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending sector.

Also I take a look at the launch of a new one-stop information site for alternative sources of finance speared-headed by Funding Circle, Zopa, MarketInvoice, Platform Black, Seedrs and Crowdcube.

There’s news from the OFT on its interim report into the SME finance market and I look at a survey from Lloyds Bank on cashflow and invoicing.

In the Finance Tip of the Week, following a session with a team of bank managers I share three key things which bankers say hold them back from giving a ‘yes’ to a business finance request.

Posted on 28.02.2014, by Rob Warlow 

In the latest Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow looks at the latest tranche of British Business Bank money given to peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle for on-lending to UK businesses. Rob also looks at an incentive being run during March by another peer-to-peer platform, ReBuildingSociety to encourage use of this alternative lending source.

A new survey from the Manufacturing Advisory Service reveals a buoyant mood amongst manufacturers and in his Tip of the Week Rob looks at why you should contact your bank before you make a formal approach for commercial mortgages to find out how your proposal fits.