Credit Index Drops: Consider Small Business Factoring Instead

Earlier this month, ABFJournal.com, cited a report from the National Association of Credit Management (NACM) that the small business factoring experts at The Factoring Blog thought would be of some interest to our small business owners looking for financing. In a nutshell, the ABF Journal’s Credit Managers Index (CMI) dropped from 54.5 to 53.4 in July.

The article reported the difficulty in predicting the long term effects that the nation’s drought is bound to have on manufacturing factoring customers and invoice factoring clientele that are service providers, which has been hit hardest by the decline, says NACM.

The report indicated a stabilization in credit applications, which dropped from 57.5 to 57.2 between June and July. Dollar collections also dropped, along with a decline in dollar collections. The favorable factor index (the index that measures all of the optimistic components of the report) also dropped from 60.2 to 58.9.

If you’re having trouble applying for a credit card, small business factoring may be the best option for your firm because the process requires no credit check. With dollar collections at an all-time low, it may be time to factor your receivables. Though your clients whose invoices are factored will be subject to credit check, after a 3-5 day approval, invoices take 24 hours to advance.

ASA Staffing Index Weekly Report – Aug 13-19, 2012

During the week of Aug. 13-19, 2012, the American Staffing Association reported that “temporary and contract employment ticked up 0.10%, pushing the index up one point to a value of 93. The index is currently up 23.6% since the beginning of the year and is 5.9% higher year-over-year.”

Moreover, the staffing employment in August 2012 is up 6.0% from August 2011, according to the ASA Staffing Index.

Click here to read some additional temporary staffing industry statistics.

How Business Owners Can Avoid Employment Claims

Employment litigation is a widespread discipline of the law, one that any business owner should should be both familiar with and wary of.

Employment law ought to provide guideline for how to treat and care for employees. Of course, any small business factoring client ought to go above and beyond the call of the law (for pragmatism’s sake at least), but Manufacturing.net offers a set of “Seven Steps to Avoid Employment Claims” for business owners’ safety:

  1. Provide Employee Handbooks to Make your Rules and Requirements clear
  2. Make Pre-Employment Inquiries (background checks, drug tests, etc.)
  3. Use Accurate Written Job Descriptions (make sure your employees know what they’re in for).
  4. Know the Family and Medical Leave Act (and State Law equivalents) to provide your employees with the proper amount of sick days.
  5. Understand Wage and Hour Laws
  6. Handle Harassment Policies and Investigations in accordance with federal law
  7. Document all Performance Deficiencies, Misconduct, and Employment Terminations

By following these simple steps, you can ensure a healthy, happy workforce that will not sue your business and cost you massive amounts of money. Of course, one thing writer Fred Mendelsohn–the author of the article–forgot to mention was The Factoring Blog’s 8th step to avoiding employment claims:

Always make payroll.

When you fail to provide payroll, you put your company and employees at tremendous risk, which is why, when you have problems with cash flow or meeting basic expenses such as payroll or insurance, it is prudent to factor one’s accounts receivable in order to meet these expenses. Make sure your employees and their families are paid and satisfied, as your business runs smoothly towards growth and greater prosperity. Factoring can do that for you.

Increase in Temporary Staffing – Highest in Five Years

Good news for temporary staffing readership:

An article in The Chicago Tribune boasts that the “Number of Temps on the Job the Highest in 5 Years.” Of course, this development correlates directly with high unemployment, but for staffing agencies in every industry, “the fastest growth in U.S. temporary payrolls in more than a year” brings good news that is expected to keep on giving.

Of course, any potential temporary staffing agency owner considering payroll funding or payroll factoring should be aware that “the rate is still below past peaks and below levels in other countries.” Still, the news bodes well, indicating the role that temporary staffing, “contract, or project-based workers play in the labor market.”

Temp rates for our temporary staffing entrepreneurs are expected to reach record levels in due time, according to analysts and industry executives. This widespread optimism is grounded not only in trends indicated by charts and statistics, but by the belief that there has been “a shift in the way companies hire. They want to use talent on an on-demand basis, when they need them for projects.”

In this sense, it is easy to see why your temporary staffing agency is bound for growth. Of course, in order to grow effectively, you will need to acquire more of the life-blood of your organization: Human resources. Payroll funding or temporary staffing factoring can help you achieve the growth you need to fill as many of your clients’ needs as the temp market grows.

Hospitals for Profit or for Help?

Did anyone see the article A Giant Hospital Chain is Blazing a Profit Trail in the NYTimes earlier this week?

The article talks about HCA’s revamped billing procedures and revised patient screenings that have led them to be extremely profitable health care industry giant during a time when so many of America’s hospitals have been struggling to stay out of the red.

According to the article, “Among the secrets to HCA’s success: It figured out how to get more revenue from private insurance companies, patients and Medicare by billing much more aggressively for its services than ever before; it found ways to reduce emergency room overcrowding and expenses; and it experimented with new ways to reduce the costs of its medical staff, a move that sometimes led to conflicts with doctors and nurses over concerns about patient care.”

What are your thoughts on this article?

President of National Nurses in Business Association Announces Restructuring

The nurse staffing factoring specialists at PRN Funding are proud members of the National Nurses in Business Association because it’s an organization that helps educate nurse entrepreneurs achieve their business goals. This week, we received an e-newsletter stating that the NNBA is restructuring because of the following reasons:

  • Over the past few years many competitors have emerged who offer information, education, and support for nurses in business.
  • Social media sites are offer great networking for free.
  • Many other associations have added business training to their offerings.
  • Many members are baby boomers and will be leaving the association on retirement.

Specifically, the NNBA is taking the following steps:

  • Asking nurses interested in business for feedback and ideas.
  • Rewriting their business plan.
  • Increasing staff.
  • Increasing the use of social media platforms.
  • Developing active relationships with other associations.
  • Developing partnerships with other businesses to increase member benefit value.
  • Designing a membership for students.
  • Keeping interested parties updated as the restructuring evolves.
  • Working with business experts.

We’re excited to see these revisions and changes unfold!


Thoughts on ACE2012

The medical transcription invoice factoring specialists from PRN Funding are all unpacked and settling back in from their visit to Indianapolis for AHDI’s Annual Convention and Expo at the JW Marriott Indianapolis. Specifically, PRN Funding had the opportunity to meet up with one of our current clients, and we bumped into two previous clients at the show.

A few additional observations from this year’s conference (from the exhibitor’s perspective):

    1. It seemed like the show, as a whole, was much smaller than in the past. It felt like there were fewer bodies in the exhibit hall (both exhibitors and attendees) at this show.
    2. The attendees were professional and eager to learn about PRN Funding’s medical transcription factoring services. PRN Funding was able to discuss how factoring can help small MTSOs balance out their cash flow to many attendees.
    3. The exhibitors were engaging and interactive.
    4. Everyone (exhibitors and attendees alike) enjoyed the Treasure Hunt (PRN Funding was a participant).

      PRN Funding is dedicated to help medical transcription service owners continue to maintain a positive cash flow as the transcription and documentation industry continues to change over the years. We look forward to seeing everyone again in Lake Buena Vista, FL in 2013.

      Frequently Asked Questions for Factoring Brokers

      PRN Funding, LLC has been in the business of healthcare factoring for over a decade. Since the company’s inception, we’ve always valued our factoring broker relationships. We even put together a quick reference guide of Frequently Asked Questions for Factoring Brokers on our company web site.

      Q: What types of healthcare invoice factoring clients should I send to PRN Funding?

      A: We focus exclusively on providing funding for companies that supply goods or services to medical providers. Examples of prospective clients include: temporary nurse staffing agencies, medical transcription services, medical coding companies, outsourced medical billing companies, medical supply companies, etc.

      Q: Can my client qualify if it is a start-up company or has a history of credit problems?

      A:Yes. PRN Funding has flexible healthcare factoring options for all types of businesses in all kinds of financial situations.

      Q: Does PRN Funding loan my clients money?

      A: No, PRN purchases your client’s accounts receivable. We make an outright purchase of the financial rights to your client’s invoices, and advance cash immediately.

      Q: What invoices qualify for purchase by PRN?

      A: Any valid invoice for services already performed or goods sold to a creditworthy customer, government agencies included.

      Q: Are there any restrictions on the size of the invoice or the location of my client and my client’s customers?

      A: No. PRN Funding has no minimums and no maximums. We grow with your clients as their companies expand.

      Q: Does my client have to sign a term contract with PRN?

      A: No, PRN Funding provides the ultimate in flexibility. PRN Funding does not require our clients to sign a termed contract.

      Q: What is required before buying an invoice?

      A: The work/goods must have been completed, delivered and accepted; and your customer must be a creditworthy risk.

      Increase in Personal Credit Cards Explains Small Business Loan Decline?

      Scott Shane. the A. Malachi Mixon III Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University, recently shared the law of unintended consequences and its relationship to the drop in small business lending in an article that appeared in Crain’s Cleveland Business, entitled: Use of Personal Credit Cards May Explain Drop in Small Business Lending. Here’s our video blog discussion:

      Basically, Professor Shane thinks the decline in small business loans may not really be a decline so much as a shift in where small business owners are now obtaining credit. In addition to banks tightening their lending restrictions and the weak real estate market, Shane thinks the CARD Act, which went into effect in February 2010, has something to do with the drop in small business loans.

      In a nutshell, the CARD Act protects consumers from having to deal with unwarranted interest rate hikes, while also reducing credit card fees.

      To further prove his theory, Shane points to a National Federation of Independent Business, who reported that “the fraction of small business owners who use personal credit cards for business increased from 42 percent in 2009  to 49 percent in 2011, while the fraction who use business credit cards declined from 64 percent to 59 percent.”

      Question to Our Small Business Owner Readership:

      Do you use personal credit cards to help fund your business?

      Advantages of Social Media Marketing for Homecare Agencies

      The July issue of HomeCare magazine published an article discussing a marketing method that our home care factoring clientele–current and prospective–may want to take to heart.

      While some businesses may do fine to refrain from the use of social media to market their goods, the interpersonal nature of Home Healthcare lends itself perfectly to the use of Facebook to better market to sick and elderly individuals in need of care.

      Since Facebook is an interactive, largely visual medium, it can be an excellent way to display the ability of your company to engage with patients face-to-face. Your tone of voice as well as pictures displayed on your page portraying interactions with clients, will give potential patients considering placing themselves under your care an idea of what they can expect.

      As your home healthcare business grows–whatever your specialty–you can expect that patients’ invoices, or clients’ payments will be delayed. Fast access to cash is necessary for growth. Home healthcare factoring and/or nurse staffing factoring may be the perfect solution to your cash flow needs.