How We Match You

What does an invoice finance broker do? An invoice finance broker compares invoice finance providers on a business's behalf and arranges the most suitable facility, rather than lending money itself. A good broker knows each funder's appetite, criteria and pricing, matches the business to the right provider and product type, and supports the application through to funding. Broker services are normally free to the business, with the broker paid a commission by the chosen provider. See our glossary of invoice finance terms for the language funders use.

Why you cannot really compare invoice finance yourself

It is not for lack of trying. The problem is that invoice finance does not come with public price lists. Providers quote each business individually after seeing its details, most publish no pricing at all, and the differences that matter, minimum fees, notice periods, concentration limits, sector appetite, live in fee schedules you only see deep into an application. Comparing five providers properly means five applications, five sets of your books opened, and weeks of your life. Meanwhile, every lender's website will assure you their product fits, because it is the only product they have. The market is genuinely difficult to see from the outside, and that is precisely the problem a broker exists to solve.

How our matching works

Step one: you tell us about your business

Our form takes about two minutes, and every question earns its place. Industry, because provider appetite varies enormously by sector. Turnover, because most providers have minimums and price by volume. What is outstanding in unpaid invoices, because it sizes the facility. Whether you want confidentiality, because that routes you towards invoice discounting rather than invoice factoring. And whether you want your whole ledger funded or just selected invoices, because that is the difference between an ongoing facility and selective invoice finance. By the time a specialist picks up the phone, we already know roughly what you need.

Step two: we compare the panel

This is the part you cannot see from outside, and the part we do every day. We know which of our providers love recruitment and which avoid construction, which welcome startups and which want two years of accounts, which tolerate a ledger dominated by one customer and which do not, which offer genuinely confidential facilities, and crucially, how each one prices. Your details go nowhere at this stage. We are shortlisting on your behalf, not spraying your application across the market.

Step three: we present your matches, in plain English

You get the one or two providers most likely to say yes at sensible terms, with the differences explained properly: how each facility would work day to day, what it would cost including the small print, and what the provider will want to see. If the honest answer is that invoice finance is not right for you, or not right yet, we will say that too, and point you at what is. There is no obligation to proceed with anything.

Step four: we support you through to funding

Choose a provider and we stay involved: helping with the application, chasing the funder, and making sure what was promised is what turns up in the paperwork. Most facilities go from first conversation to live funding within one to three weeks depending on the product and provider.

How we get paid, in plain sight

Our service is free for you to use. When your facility completes, the provider pays us a commission for the introduction. We tell you this arrangement exists because you should know it, and because transparency is a regulatory expectation we take seriously as an FCA authorised firm. What the commission does not do is decide our recommendation. Our model only works if the facilities we arrange actually suit the businesses that take them, because this is a small industry, our brands depend on their reputations, and unwinding a mismatched facility helps nobody.

Why businesses use us rather than going direct

One conversation replaces a round of applications. Whole-of-panel comparison replaces one lender's inevitable yes. Somebody who reads fee schedules for a living reads yours. You hear about the facility types a lender would never volunteer, because they do not offer them. And you get an honest steer, including "not yet", from a broker whose FCA authorisation and reputation ride on giving it. If you are already in a facility that no longer fits, we can also help you compare the market against your current terms, as our guide on switching invoice finance providers explains. Invoice Finance Experts is a trading style of First Oak Capital, a Hampshire-based commercial finance brokerage that has specialised in funding UK SMEs for decades, including new starts and businesses with imperfect credit that the mainstream turns away. You can read more about the team on our about page.

Two minutes, then we do the work

Complete the matching form and a specialist will come back to you, usually within one business day, with the providers that genuinely fit.

Related guides

• What Is Invoice Finance?
• Invoice Finance Costs & Rates
• Invoice Factoring
• Invoice Discounting
• Selective Invoice Finance
• Confidential Invoice Finance