Financing Temporary Staffing Agencies
In recent years temporary staffing agencies have become very profitable, because the current business environment prefers to outsource employees rather than hire them. This situation creates a very attractive and viable opportunity for temp staffing agencies. But, similar to other businesses, in order to operate a successful temp staffing agency, working capital is an absolute necessity. This requirement of working capital has become a problem for most agencies who often suffer from a cash flow crisis. Having adequate cash flow prevents the company from being run effectively, thus stopping the company from adding new clients. The result is that the business fails to grow. Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem, and the solution is the right type of financing.
Payroll and Bills Must Be Paid on Time!
The most important and probably the biggest expense of any temp staffing agency is employee payroll. Obviously, employees expect to be paid regularly and on time, and if this is not the case, they'll quickly move on and find work elsewhere. In addition, the agency needs funds to pay for other employee-related expenses, such as employment taxes. When a business fails to comply with tax regulations the costs involved can be extensive and can the even put the business itself in jeopardy.
Business Growth Is Impossible without Funds
Generally, Government and commercial clients pay their invoices somewhere between 30 and 60 days, and it's this timeframe that creates problems for temp staffing agencies. When an agency takes on a new client, before they start getting paid, the agency must be able to pay the employee's salary for up to two months.
This means that the only way to grow a temp staffing agency is to have a cash reserve to pay for running expenses. If you don't have a reserve of funds, then you can't take on new contracts; and if you work with larger contracts you need a larger reserve. And this is where it becomes a vicious cycle, because if you can't take on new contracts then business growth is impossible.
Payroll Funding: Helping Your Business Grow
Fortunately, there is a solution available for temp staffing agencies to resolve this very common financial problem, and it's known as Payroll Funding, or Payroll Financing. Payroll Funding is a solution that's been designed to help staffing agencies access much-needed working capital.
Payroll financing is actually a type of Invoice Factoring, allowing you to finance your slow-paying receivables. This type of funding provides your temp staffing agency with immediate funds. Now there'll be no more waiting for your Government and commercial clients to pay in 60 days - the payroll funding company will pay you within a day or two! Now you'll have the working capital your agency so desperately needs to meet payroll and other expenses; and now you can move forward and grow your business without constantly worrying about slow paying clients!
How Does Factoring Work?
Factoring is a very straightforward process. Basically, invoices are financed in two separate payments, with the first payment covering approximately 90% of the gross invoice value, and the second payment, which is the remaining 10% less factoring fees, is remitted to you once your client has paid. The first payment is paid into the temp staffing agency's bank account very soon after the invoice has been submitted for financing. In the meantime, your clients are not required to pay any sooner - they simply pay on their regular schedule.
Payroll Funding Is Available to Small Agencies
One huge advantage of factoring is that it's available to small agencies (even start-ups!) that don't have many assets. Because it's the invoices which are the assets the factoring company is financing, it's the credit quality of your customers that the factoring company is most interested in. Factors can only finance invoices if your customer (the payer) has good commercial credit, and that's why factoring has become a very viable and attractive option for both small and growing agencies whose greatest asset is their good clients.
Growing Your Agency with Factoring
Let's take a closer look at how your temp staffing agency can use invoice factoring to grow your company. We'll assume for the purpose of this article that you have a new client who requires six full-time employees for a few months. This new client is a large corporation and has a good reputation. The problem with this corporation, however, is that they pay their invoices in 50 days, and there's no way you can afford to carry the cost of the contract.
What's the solution? The solution is actually quite simple: you invoice the client weekly and factor the invoice! This funding strategy allows you to service the contract by providing your agency with weekly funds to pay employees. Providing you have clients with good credit and your agency provides good services, receivables factoring can be used very effectively to grow your business.
When factoring is used properly, it can help grow your temp staffing agency well beyond its current financial capabilities.