What Happens After I Submit an Invoice to the Factoring Company?

You upload the invoice. The provider verifies it is genuine, checks the customer's credit limit, and advances 70-95% to your bank account — usually the same day. They then monitor for payment. When your customer pays, the provider releases the remaining balance to you minus their fees. The whole process is usually automated through an online portal.

Step by Step

1. You raise the invoice — in your accounting software or manually. Send it to your customer as normal.
2. You submit it to the provider — via their online portal, accounting integration (Xero, QuickBooks, Sage), or email/PDF upload.
3. Provider verifies — checks the invoice is genuine, within the customer's credit limit, and not a duplicate or credit note.
4. Advance paid — 70-95% of the invoice value lands in your bank. Same day for most providers, next day for some.
5. Payment monitoring — with factoring, the provider chases your customer for payment. With discounting, you collect as normal.
6. Customer pays — the payment goes to a trust account controlled by the provider (even with discounting, payments route through them).
7. Balance released — the provider deducts their service charge and discount charge, then sends the remaining retention to you.

How Long Does It Take?

Once your facility is live, most invoices are processed and funded within hours. Some providers with strong integrations can do it automatically — you raise the invoice in Xero and the advance appears in your account without you doing anything. First-time setup takes 3-10 working days, but after that it is largely hands-off.