Insights

Invoice finance insights: what our audits teach us.

Practical articles for client managers, risk teams and anyone who funds against a ledger.

Featured · Choosing an audit · 5 min read

Before you fund: what a prospect survey tells you

A credit report tells you how a company has filed and paid. A survey tells you whether its ledger can carry a facility. The questions are different, and the second set is the one a financier is lending against.

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Fraud signs · 5 min read

Pre-invoicing: what the proof of debt gives away

An invoice raised before the goods have left, or for more than was delivered, is funded money with nothing behind it. The paperwork usually shows it, if you put the documents side by side.

Ledgers & debtors · 5 min read

Contras: when your debtor is also your client's supplier

A company that buys from your client and also sells to it may never pay the full balance on your ledger. It will set off what it is owed. Finding contras is simple in principle and easy to miss in practice.

Ledgers & debtors · 5 min read

Reading an aged debtors report like an auditor

Most people read an aged debtors report from left to right and stop when the old columns look small. An auditor reads it for what has moved, what doesn't belong, and whether it agrees with anything else.

Choosing an audit · 5 min read

On-site, remote or desktop review: choosing the right audit

Not every client needs an auditor in the building every time. Matching the kind of audit to the client gets you better evidence for the risk you actually carry, and keeps the audit diary affordable.

Ledgers & debtors · 5 min read

What a receivables finance audit checks, and what it can't

An audit tests whether the ledger you are funding is real, collectable and yours. It does that by sampling, which is powerful and has limits. Knowing both is how you get value from the report.

Choosing an audit · 5 min read

Outsourcing your audit diary: what to expect

Handing your whole audit programme to an outside firm is a bigger decision than booking the odd audit. Here is what a good arrangement looks like, what to ask before you agree it, and what should stay with you.

Choosing an audit · 5 min read

After the audit: turning findings into action points

An audit report that is read, filed and forgotten has bought nothing. The value is in what happens next, and that depends on every finding having an owner, a date and a check at the next visit.

Fraud signs · 5 min read

Watching clients between audits: Companies House signals

An audit is a snapshot. Between visits, the public register keeps recording what your clients do, from a new charge to a change of year end, and some of those entries are worth knowing about the week they appear.

Ledgers & debtors · 5 min read

Debtor concentration, measured properly

A concentration limit is only as good as the figure you test against it. One company under three spellings, a balance in euros counted as pounds, or a debtor that is also a supplier can each hide a breach in plain sight.

Ledgers & debtors · 5 min read

Crown creditors as an early warning

When a business runs short of cash, HMRC is often the first creditor it stops paying. PAYE, VAT and corporation tax arrears build quietly, on dates you can work out, and they are worth checking at every audit.

Fraud signs · 5 min read

The bank statement in an audit

The ledger says what the client is owed. The bank statement says what actually happened to the money. Read properly, it shows how close to the edge a business is running, and whether payments meant for you are going somewhere else.

Ledgers & debtors · 5 min read

Credit notes and dilution: what a rising rate tells you

Every credit note is a debt that will never be paid. Measured month by month, credit notes tell you how much of the ledger you fund is really collectable, and a rising rate usually arrives before any other warning.

Choosing an audit · 5 min read

Balances or documentary verification: which, and when

One asks the debtor whether it owes the money. The other asks the paperwork whether the debt was earned. They answer different questions, and choosing the wrong one gives you a clean result that proves nothing.

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