Special Note to contractors and subcontractors in the construction industry: The 2009 Economic Stimulus Package makes money available for construction projects including highway and other infrastructure projects. This will create opportunities for construction contractors. This means there is a tremendous opportunity for you to take on new business resulting from the 2009 Economic Stimulus Package. Don't let a shortage of working capital prevent you from taking advantage of this huge opportunity. If you have money locked up in receivables on which you are waiting weeks for payment, then you may already be sitting on the working capital you need. Also once you start an Economic Stimulus package-related project you can get up to 10% of the project value made available to your company in the form of mobilization funding to pay start-up expenses, and then once work is underway your company can receive advances on progress payments for completed work to keep your company working and to expand on to additional projects. This is a chance for you to not only grow your company, but to also help people by providing them with jobs to keep the promise of America alive and well.

The following provides an overview of the Construction Receivables Factoring Finance Program. Please review it. Call us with any questions at 1-800-598-1178.



Overview of Construction Receivables Factoring Finance Program


The construction receivables factoring program is designed for subcontractors in the construction industry who perform work for general contractors with good credit. It can also be used by contractors whose business or government customer or client has good credit. This program allows subcontractors and contractors to acquire working capital from invoices they have submitted for completed work. The working capital acquired in this way can be used to pay employees, make tax withholding payments, buy materials for another project, take advantage of cash or quantity discounts for materials, or buy equipment.

You should consider using this program if slow payment from your general contractors or customer is preventing your company from taking advantage of new business, or is just making it difficult for you to stay in business. With this program you can concentrate on growing your business rather than worrying about when you are going to get paid for the work you have already done. Once your account is set up, you can get an advance of up to 70% for completed work in as little as 24 to 48 hours. Compare this with weeks you would normally wait to get paid.

The types of subcontractors that can take advantage of this program include but are not limited to the following.

  • carpenters
  • roofing
  • flooring and carpet
  • plumbing
  • HVAC
  • underground utilities
  • electrical
  • tile
  • fire sprinkler
  • steel fabricators
  • landscapers
  • excavators
  • ceiling and drywall
  • paving
  • security
  • engineers
  • architects
  • appraisers
  • inspectors
  • supply houses
  • space planners

The following table summarizes the key features of the construction receivables factoring funding program.

Program Feature Explanation of Program Feature
Preferred Client Subcontractor or contractor doing work for a customer or client with good credit. Work must be done on commercial or development projects. Home improvement projects for consumer clients is not covered by this program.
Type of Financing Invoices are being purchased at a discount. This is not a loan. You are not creating new debt with this program.
Minimum Invoice Volume None but there is a $250 minimum discount per transaction. A preferred minimum is about $10,000 per transaction.
Maximum Invoice Volume None (based on the credit worthiness of the customer or client)
Credit Worthiness Funding decision is based on credit worthiness of the subcontractor's or contractor's customer
Funding Time Initial transaction takes 5 to 7 days because of the due diligence checks. After that funding can be done in 24 to 48 hours after the invoices are presented. Deposit of funds can be done via a wire transfer.
Advance Rate Up to 70% of the invoiced amount less the retainage amount
Fees on the Face Value of the Invoices 4% for the first 30 days. 1% for each 10 days thereafter
Fund progress payments? Yes
One time due diligence fee This varies (depends on the underwriter) from no fee up to a fee of $750 (used for account setup processing and UCC and Dun and Bradstreet reports) (This is requested after the underwriting company has determined that they are interested in pursuing a financing relationship with the client, but it does not guarantee that they will advance on all invoices).
Personal Guarantee Required sometimes
Type of recourse This is a non-recourse program meaning if the general contractor does not pay the invoice due to credit problems, the subcontractor is NOT responsible to repay the advance.
Lien Position The funding company must be able to obtain a first position lien on all assets. A blanket UCC-1 is filed.
Excluded contractors Home remodeling contractors cannot be funded.


Advantages of this program:
  • fast and easy
  • no long term contracts to sign
  • improves availability of working capital
  • may allow access to cash or volume discounts for materials
  • may allow you to take on new business
  • limited only by ability of the subcontractor to generate new invoices for work done
  • does not depend on subcontractor's credit rating
  • protect or improve your credit rating by paying your bills sooner
  • does not create new debt
  • does not give up equity interest in the subcontractor's or contractor's company
  • no personal guarantees in some cases
  • allows credit terms to be offered to clients or customers
  • get credit reports on prospective customers and continuous monitoring of the credit status of existing customers
  • assistance with collections
  • invoices can be presented for advance part way through the payment cycle to reduce the fees (e.g. submit an invoice that normally would be paid in 90 days at day 50 in order to cut the fees in half)

Example:

An electrical subcontractor has completed work on a project where the invoiced amount is $100,000. The contract specifies that 10% will be held back as retainage to allow for correction of defects in the work performed. The contract also says that payment terms are net-60. The electrical subcontractor cannot wait 60 days to receive payment because cash is needed to pay the subcontractor's employees. The electrical subcontractor decides to seek accounts receivable factoring under the program described above. The underwriting company reviews the application from the subcontractor and credit worthiness of the general contractor, and decides to advance 60% of the invoiced amount less the amount held for retainage. The following table shows how the numbers work out for this example.



Invoiced Amount $100,000
Amount Held for Retainage (10%) $10,000 (Computed as 10% of $100,000 = $10,000)
Amount Used to Compute Advance $90,000 (Computed as : $100,000 - $10,000 = $90,000)
Advance Percentage 60%
Amount Advanced $54,000 (Computed as: 60% of $90,000 = $54,000)
Fee percentage 7% (Computed as 4% for the first 30 days and 1% for each of the next 3 10-day periods)
Fees for 60 day advance $7,000 (Computed as: 7% of $100,000 = $7,000)
Amount Rebated To Subcontractor When The Invoice Less Retainage Amount Is Paid $29,000 (computed as: $90,000 - $54,000 - $7,000 = $29,000)
Total Amount Received By The Subcontractor After All Defects Are Corrected And The Full Retainage Amount Is Paid To The Subcontractor. $93,000 (Computed as: $54,000 + $29,000 + $10,000 = $93,000)


If you are subcontractor or contractor who needs working capital to grow your business or just to stay in business, and you have invoices for completed work on which you are awaiting payment from a customer with good credit, then please contact us today to see if this program would be a good fit for your company.

Call us now at 1-800-598-1178 to get started.