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13 Signs that your business needs a new Invoice Financier

When it comes to running a business, having access to working capital is paramount. Invoice finance is an ideal way to help your business succeed.  
Many businesses turn to invoice finance providers to help keep their cash flow going. Choosing the wrong provider can be detrimental to your business, leading to higher costs, increased debt, and decreased working capital. 
However, with all the jargon, terms and conditions and overwhelming sales pitches thrown at you, it can be hard to know whether...

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Harness the Power of Social Media Recruiting: Quick Wins

Social media is ubiquitous in our lives and dramatically impacts how we communicate, network, and work. The impact of social media is evident in the recruitment world too, as it is an indispensable tool for talent acquisition and a critical component of a comprehensive recruitment strategy.
Utilising social media channels to find, attract, and engage with potential candidates involves creating and managing social media accounts, building relationships with potential candidates, and leveraging th...

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When Should You Switch Your Invoice Funding Provider?

It is often said that cashflow is the oxygen of a business, and like oxygen, if it’s not in constant supply, a lack of it can quickly prove fatal, even for an otherwise healthy organisation. That is why so many companies seek funding to keep monies moving quickly and smoothly. One such option, invoice factoring, which allows you to turn your outstanding invoices into cash, can seamlessly bridge the gap between funds paid out and funds received, meaning that outgoings can be met on time and invest...

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Invoice Financing vs Factoring | Sonovate

Invoice finance can be a bit confusing. Essentially, it encompasses various methods by which organisations can access cash from their unpaid invoices. Invoice financing and invoice factoring are two primary types within this category..
In this guide, we explore these two primary forms of invoice finance, explaining what they are, how they’re different, and why they’re beneficial for businesses.









What is Invoice Financing?
Invoice financing, al...

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Interview with Louise Triance on Recruitment in 2023 - Sonovate

In this blog series, we interview industry-leading professionals to share their experience and outlook for the market. Our first guest is Louise Triance, MD, at UK Recruiter, a leading news and networking platform for the UK recruitment space.
Louise is a Recruitment Industry Connector, Live Webcast Expert, Event Organiser & Advisor. She is also a trained psychometric assessor. Over the past 20 years, she has hosted hundreds of events for recruiters, blogged regularly for over a dozen years and...

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What is Invoice Financing | Sonovate

(Updated in May 2023)
Simply put, invoice financing is a quick, efficient, and hassle-free way to turn your unpaid invoices into cash. Instead of waiting weeks or even months to get paid, you receive up to 100% of your invoice value upfront.
Invoice finance is an accounting service in which invoice finance lenders purchase unpaid invoices from businesses that need an advance on their payments. This finance facility gives businesses instant access to funds and reduces potential cash flow issues i...

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10 Proven Ways to Maximise Your Recruitment Business Value

Running a business offers you many benefits, from controlling your own destiny to realising your financial ambitions.

Throughout your journey, it’s likely you’ll consider your exit plan, visualising what it looks like and when you want to exit.

A common approach* to valuing a business is to multiply the annual profits, known as EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) by a fixed multiple in order to reach a price, often referred to as ‘enterprise value’.

In 2018,

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Guide to Export Finance

What is UK Export Finance?
Export finance is a type of financing that supports businesses engaged in international trade. It enables exporters to secure the necessary working capital to fulfil orders, manage cash flow, and mitigate risks associated with international trade. 
Export finance works by providing financing to exporters, which include a range of services such as: pre-shipment finance, post-shipment finance, invoice finance against collection of bills, discounting letter of credit and...

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How To Grow a Recruitment Agency | Sonovate

Despite economic pressures in the U.K, the job market has skyrocketed since the 2020 pandemic, with many businesses advertising available jobs and showing a large appetite for recruitment services. According to the Annual M&A Review for Recruitment 2023, nearly 1.2 million job openings were recorded at the end of 2022, putting vacancies at a historically high level and boosting the demand for hiring companies.
With such a great opportunity for staffing agencies, you might be considering expandin...

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Busting 5 Common Myths About Invoice Finance

By Richard Prime, Founder and CEO, Sonovate
 
As spiralling inflation, tax rises and the war in Ukraine slow the post-pandemic economic recovery, the UK’s recruitment consultancies will need to explore different financial options to survive and thrive.
Last year, research published by IGF reported 27% of businesses have used this service to plug their cashflow gap. Invoice finance is becoming crucial for the recruitment sector because, without a steady stream of cash, agencies can’t operate at t...

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What is KYC and why is it important?

“Know Your Customer” or KYC, is a set of guidelines that businesses, mostly financial institutions, use to verify the identity of their clients or customers, assess their suitability and understand the risks involved in establishing a business relationship. These guidelines form part of the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.
What is AML? 
Anti-Money Laundering (AML)  is an umbrella term for various measures, controls, and processes that organisations implement to achieve regulatory compli...

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6 Tips to Help Scale Your Recruitment Agency

Scaling a start-up recruitment agency is a challenging but rewarding task. In order to successfully grow your business, you need to have a solid strategy in place, a strong team, and the right tools and technology. Here are some key steps you can follow to scale your start-up recruitment agency:
1. Develop a Growth Plan: The first step to scaling your recruitment agency is to have a clear and well-defined growth plan. This plan should include your target markets, target audience, and the specifi...

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The Guide to Recruitment Agency Marketing. Strategy and Positioning.

There are over 37,000 recruitment agencies in the UK, how is yours standing out? Achieving stand out and differentiating your business can be tricky – you need a well-thought promotional strategy. Strategic marketing can help you reach the stars, but when you don’t have the right one in place, it can potentially slow your growth. There are three typical challenges a recruitment agency can face:
In this series of articles, you will get tips to help you promote your recruitment agency, stand out i...

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6 Q's to Ask Before Renewing Your Recruitment Finance Facility

Once you’ve gone through the – at times – complicated process of finding and setting up a finance facility, it can be tempting to keep renewing your contract for a long time, even if you’re wary that it might not be best for your business.
Finding a better match can seem like a long-winded, confusing process and it can become hard to tell which provider is the perfect fit for you. 
However, just because it works for you, it doesn’t mean it’s right for you. So, if your finance facility contract i...

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How to Grow Your Consultancy With Invoice Finance

Scaling your consultancy business can be a challenging and rewarding experience. As the business grows, so do the expenses and the need for funding. Invoice finance can provide a flexible and effective way to access the capital required to scale your business.
Invoice finance, also known as accounts receivable financing, is a form of funding that allows businesses to receive an advance payment on their outstanding invoices. This means that instead of waiting for payment from clients, your consul...

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Guide to Choose the Right Recruitment CRM

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solutions are a critical business tool, used across most industries and businesses to manage customer interactions, get analytics, and analyse sales data. They help to deliver effective customer management and personalise customer service.
In Recruitment, CRM – or Candidate Relationship Management – is a software platform that helps recruitment teams manage and organise their candidate database.
Such CRMs typically provide features like candidate sourcing,...

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How to maximise the growth of your education recruitment business

As an education recruitment consultant, you know that the industry is rapidly growing and becoming more competitive. Educational institutions need various staff to maintain their facilities, and your job is to help them find the right talent. One solution that can help you stay ahead and maximise your growth is invoice funding.
Invoice funding (also knows as invoice financing or invoice factoring) is a financing solution that allows you to receive cash upfront for outstanding invoices. This solu...

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Hard Hitting Truths about Traditional Invoice Finance Providers

Financing your contractors could be costing your agency more than you realise and can potentially lead to a lack of cash flow for your recruitment business.  
When looking for a new funder, you might feel the headline figure you quoted is a good deal, but the reality could say something entirely different. 
When it comes to finding the right invoice financier for your contract placements, the actual price tag is not only attached to direct costs but also to the profits it allows you to make and...

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Insider Tips: What do recruiters look for?

Are you considering a career change or looking for a new role? Wondering what it takes to stand out in the competitive job market? In this blog, we share insights from our Talent Acquisition Partner, Alex Morrell who offers his thoughts about what recruiters look for and the most important things to keep in mind when applying for jobs.  
 
Question: What are some the top qualities that recruiters look for in candidates?  
Alex: During the screening process, we initially tend to look for soft ski...

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How Does Invoice Financing Work? | Sonovate

Alternative forms of business funding can be difficult to grasp comprehensively. Due to the long list of terms — such as invoice finance, debt factoring, single invoice finance, and invoice discounting — a lot of confusion can arise. Although seemingly similar, the above terms refer to completely separate services.
To eliminate ambiguity, we’ve created a guide that covers everything you need to know about invoice financing if you are a recruitment business of any size, a consultancy who places c...

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What is bad debt management? How to protect your business

CFOs and Finance Directors often face a daunting challenge that can significantly impact their bottom line: bad debt. Often referred to as non-performing assets or delinquent accounts, it can hinder a company’s growth and financial stability if not managed effectively. For recruitment companies to remain financially stable and profitable, bad debt management is essential to preserving client relationships and ensuring long-term growth.
In this blog, we’ll delve into the importance of healthy deb...

Sonovate

Busting 5 Common Myths About Invoice Finance

By Richard Prime, Founder and CEO, Sonovate
 
As spiralling inflation, tax rises and the war in Ukraine slow the post-pandemic economic recovery, the UK’s recruitment consultancies will need to explore different financial options to survive and thrive.
Last year, research published by IGF reported 27% of businesses have used this service to plug their cashflow gap. Invoice finance is becoming crucial for the recruitment sector because, without a steady stream of cash, agencies can’t operate at t...

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29 Common Interview Questions (Your Candidates Will Get Asked) | Sonovate

Interview questions are critical for distinguishing stellar candidates from others in the pool. From gauging skills and behavioural tendencies to delving into complex scenarios to test reasoning abilities, candidates must be well-versed in several aspects:
As a recruiter, it’s paramount to equip candidates for interviews. The recruiter-client relationship parallels that of teachers guiding students for exams—they can anticipate what’s on the paper but not the exact questions.When prepping candid...

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5 Crucial Questions that Recruiters Must Ask Their Hiring Manager 

Good briefs are born from the right questions. If recruiters are simply going through the motions with clients, ticking off boxes to cover the brief, then they’re leaving themselves exposed. 
Every agency will have its own way of structuring the recruitment funnel.  To start off, tweaking the recruitment funnel benchmarks is an ideal way to create an optimum hiring process that sources the best candidates in the most efficient way. To successfully fill a role, forge a stronger relationship with...