What Does Factoring Cost?
Results
Visualization
How It Works
Advance = Invoice x Advance%. Fee = Invoice x Weekly Fee% x Weeks. Net Advance = Advance - Fee. Weekly factoring fees look small but annualize sharply; compare the effective cost to a line of credit. This is standard receivables-financing math.
What Should You Do?
Scenario 1: a 2%/week fee for 6 weeks costs 12% of the invoice — often pricier than a credit card. Scenario 2: a higher advance (95%) helps cash but the fee still bites. Scenario 3: if you collect in 1 week, cost drops to ~1% — factoring then beats a loan for a one-off gap.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is factoring worth it?
For a short, unavoidable timing gap where the customer is slow but certain. Not as ongoing financing.
Advance vs fee trade-off?
A bigger advance helps liquidity now but does not reduce the fee; focus on the weekly rate and weeks.
Cheaper alternative?
A line of credit usually costs less long-term — see our Line of Credit tool.
Authoritative References
- SBA — Asset-Based Lending — SBA resources on receivables financing.
- Investopedia — Factoring — Invoice factoring costs and mechanics.