Recommending debtor finance

When to have this conversation

Debtor finance is worth raising when a client is fundamentally sound but cash-constrained because their money is locked in a large, slow-paying receivables book. Typical signs are a business growing faster than its cash can support, or one whose customers reliably pay but on long terms.

It is general information rather than a recommendation to a particular product, and it is one option among several. Raise it where unlocking cash early would genuinely help, not as a fix for a business that is actually unprofitable.

How to open it

Introduce it as a way to bring forward cash the client has already earned. Keep it framed as a tool to consider, not a prescription.

• 'A lot of your cash is sitting in invoices that won't pay for weeks. There's a type of finance that lets you access most of that money now instead — worth understanding as an option.'
• 'If the issue is timing rather than profitability, debtor finance can smooth the gap between doing the work and getting paid.'
• 'This is general information — whether it suits you depends on the numbers, which we can look at together.'

What to say (talking points)

Explain the mechanics plainly and be upfront about cost. Honesty here protects your credibility.

• 'In broad terms, a financier advances you most of an invoice's value straight away, and you repay when your customer pays them.'
• 'It turns slow receivables into quicker cash, which can fund growth or steady the books.'
• 'It isn't free — there's a fee or interest, so it works best when the cash it frees earns or saves you more than it costs.'
• 'It's about timing, not collectability. It doesn't fix a debt the customer can't or won't pay.'

Handling pushback

Clients may balk at the cost or confuse it with selling bad debts. Clarify both.

• To 'it's expensive': 'It can be, so it's only worth it when the freed-up cash does more for you than the fee costs. For a fast-growing business starved of working capital, that maths often stacks up; for others it won't.'
• To confusion with recovery: 'This is for invoices that will get paid, just slowly. A debt the customer is refusing or can't pay is a different problem — that's recovery, not finance.'

Turning it into action

Help the client compare debtor finance honestly against the alternatives: tightening collections, negotiating shorter terms, or simply recovering the worst overdue accounts. Often a mix is best — finance for timing on good invoices, recovery for the genuinely stuck ones.

Where part of the problem is debts that won't pay rather than slow ones, financing won't help and recovery will; a commission-only partner can assess those at no up-front cost via a free debt appraisal. Point the client to the library for a fuller explainer, and suggest they take specific product advice before committing.