Selling their
outstanding invoices to a funding company provides the necessary capital for
allied health staffing agencies to grow and compete in the marketplace. With
that said, there are many funding companies who can factor allied health
staffing invoices, so choosing one may seem like a daunting task.
One: Pricing
The number one
thing that most staffing agency owners are most concerned with when it comes to
choosing an invoice funding company is a price.
Price can be
broken down into two pieces:
( 1) The basic
factoring fee, which is usually pretty straightforward; however, the more
important pricing piece to understand is
( 2) All the
little extra fees that many invoice funding firms add into their factoring
contract.
Calculating all
of those can dramatically change the cost of factoring. Examples of those
"little fees that add up" include: An initiation fee, a due diligence
fee, a late invoice fee, a misdirected funds fee, an application fee, etc. It's
important for agency owners to fully understand each and every one of those
fees before signing a factoring contract.
Two: Industry
Expertise
When choosing a
factoring company is how much experience the funder has in the allied health services , the next item
business owners should consider. Agency owners truly benefit more when they
work with a factor who understands the "ins and outs" of the staffing
industry.
An account
management team that is well-versed in the allied health staffing industry will
be able to process your invoices faster, which will allow you to get your money
quicker. Additionally, a funding company that understands the staffing business
will have a much better relationship with your customers.
Three:
Flexibility
Some allied
health account receivable factors are going to require a very rigid agreement
with a fixed term, minimum transaction amounts and some penalty fee if you try
to break the contract early. Others factors are going to give you levels of
flexibility that will allow you to factor for as long or short as you want,
factor as much or as little you want, and factor whatever clients' invoices you
want whenever you want. Given the cyclical nature of temporary staffing
industry, it's probably in your best interest to work with an invoice funding
company that is more flexible with its terms.
Four: Customer
Service
Allied health
staffing agency owners should have a general understanding of the level of
customer service that a prospective factor offers its clients. Don't be afraid
to ask allied health funding companies for references and take the time to do
those reference checks. Doing reference checks will help you gain comfort that
the funding company will act professionally and efficiently.
Five: Stability
In difficult economic times, allied
health staffing business owners want to work with a factor that has been around
for a while, has a long track-record of successful allied health factoring
relationships, and has a balance sheet that can support you and your company's
prospective growth. This way, you won't have to worry about whether your funder
is going to close up shop when you're in the middle of a profitable growth
spurt.
Remember that allied health
staffing agency owners can benefit greatly by selling their outstanding
invoices to a factor. All you need to do is keep these five comparison
categories in mind when researching potential allied health staffing funders,
and you can't go wrong.
Philip Cohen is the founder and
president of PRN Funding, LLC, which is an extraordinarily focused niche player
in the healthcare staffing invoice financing marketplace. Through a process
known as factoring, PRN Funding provides business owners with the financial
resources needed to grow and actually compete in the industry. With no minimums
or fixed terms, PRN Funding provides medical staffing agencies with flexible
and immediate access to capital. We give you the freedom to factor what you
want, when you want, whom you want, for as long as you want. Before founding
PRN Funding, Mr. Cohen was an executive officer of The MRC Group, a national
provider of Medical Transcription Services. Contact Philip Cohen at toll-free
866.776.5407 or via email at pcohen@prnfunding.com.
Selling their outstanding invoices
to a funding company provides the necessary capital for allied health staffing
agencies to grow and compete in the marketplace. With that said, there are many
funding companies who can factor allied health staffing invoices, so choosing
one may seem like a daunting task. There are five simple comparison categories
to consider when choosing an allied health staffing funding company, namely:
Pricing, Industry Expertise, Flexibility, Customer Service, osteopath seddon
and Stability.
An account management team that is
well-versed in the allied health staffing industry will be able to process your
invoices faster, which will allow you to get your money quicker. Given the
cyclical nature of temporary staffing industry, it's probably in your best
interest to work with an invoice funding company that is more flexible with its
terms.
