Could new covid-19 worries spell more troubles for scaling businesses?  

Accelerated Payments spoke with our Head of North America, Neil McMillan to get his views.

By many accounts, the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is over. However, for businesses – especially scaling businesses with plans to grow – the full impact of the pandemic continues to be felt.

Right now, not only are there ongoing external threats of shortages of raw material, shipping costs, and delayed deliveries in Asia – there are also internal obstacles for many firms as record numbers of staff have become unable to work when ill.  

What rising Covid rates mean for businesses  

Canada saw 2 million jobs lost in April 2020. In the UK alone, nearly 150 million working days were lost in 2021 because of illness or injury, which equates to 4.6 days per worker, with COVID-19 being the most frequently cited reason.  

This is the highest sickness absence rate in over a decade and has disproportionately affected SMEs. In France, new Covid admissions have risen by 40 per cent in recent weeks and more than 20 per cent in several other European countries.  

It is a particularly challenging issue for SMEs. Smaller staff sizes mean each member plays a significant role in the day-to-day operations. For example, if a small firm’s accountant got Covid, there is the risk that payroll may not happen promptly. 

There is generally less government support for COVID-19 this year. As the cost-of-living crisis affects countries worldwide, households and businesses are struggling to stay afloat. Governments are dealing with this issue and will struggle to offer similar furlough schemes and grants as during the height of the pandemic.  

How invoice financing can help 

For businesses fighting to stay afloat among the simultaneous challenge of a post COVID economy and inflation, invoice financing has never been more crucial.  

Invoice Financing from Accelerated Payments can help companies to release up to 80% of an invoice’s value immediately. This turns unpaid invoices into cash instantly which can be used to meet critical business expenses, such as payroll demands. The balance less fees is paid to the client when the invoice is settled by the debtor.  

Our solution is different than other providers in the market as we do not require personal guarantees, long term contracts or onerous paperwork. AP (Accelerated Payments) also covers multiple currencies for export invoices and therefore support SMEs trading domestically and overseas. The SME can choose which invoices to fund on a selective basis. This provides a solution that accelerates payments that SMEs are waiting for.

(Read more about how our solution works.) 

Businesses we have helped  

One of our clients, AG Globe Services, a Recruitment Process Outsourcer (RPO), was impacted by Covid-19 as many of its clients scaled back on hiring. However, it presented opportunity particularly as healthcare providers raced to protect populations in their care.  

One such opportunity, to provide clinical and non-clinical staff across more than 20 facilities in the State of Georgia, highlighted a real challenge for AG Globe. It needed to generate cashflow to scale and meet the significant demand for temporary staff. AG Globe pays its contract staff on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. However, the project invoices were to be paid on 30–90-day terms.  

Invoice Financing from Accelerated Payments means cashflow is no longer an issue. AG Globe can select which invoices they want to fund and when. AG Globe now has a reliable working capital management tool to capitalize on new opportunities and grow their business. There was also no FX loss in currency transactions as USD funds were provided. (Read the full story here.) 

Accelerated Payments has also helped Kinahan’s Irish Whiskey, a heritage brand dating from the 18th century. Our partnership enabled Kinahan’s to double the number of global distributors they work with and helped them stay on track and grow their brand internationally. (Read the full story here.) 

Accelerated payments has a global team of highly skilled finance experts that understand the challenges SMEs face today. We have the flexibility to design funding structures to accommodate these challenges and support more SMEs as they try to scale in a post-COVID world.