Financial Services – Page 2

Could the Banks’ Continued Failure to Lend to SMEs Be Imperilling Economic Recovery

Despite government rhetoric evidence continues to accumulate that the banks are still not lending to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), according to rescue and turnaround advisers."We are hearing that when companies apply for any lending the banks are only considering loans or overdrafts secured on tangible assets, with most also demanding personal guarantees from the directors in addition to the security" says one turnaround adviser.More evidence was revealed in the February figures released by the Bank of England that reported the total net lending by the UK's five main banks fell in every quarter of 2011 and that banks had missed their lending target to small firms, whose use of bank overdrafts and loans had also declined over the past two years.In a survey of 11,000 small businesses by the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) it was revealed that just one in 10 had obtained a bank loan in 2011. Furthermore the FSB reported that 41% of applicants had been refused loans in the three months to February 2012. Graeme Fisher, FSB Head of Policy, commented that the UK banking system was not geared up to lower end loans of less than 25,000, adding that "there's no money in it".Business Secretary Vince Cable, quoted in the Financial Times, warned in his recent address at the annual City of London Corporation industry dinner, that recovery is being imperilled by the "yawning mismatch" between bank lending and demands for finance from SMEs.In a forecast at the end of April by economists at Ernst and Young, it was revealed that lending is expected to reduce further this year, to 419 Billion, a drop of 6.8 per cent.In conjunction with all this there has been a significant increase in invoice discounting and factoring. The banks appear to be no longer offering these facilities themselves, leaving the door open for independent companies such as Bibby, Close, Centric, SME, Ultimate and the new British bank, Aldermore.Where the banks appear to be unable to provide invoice discounting and factoring facilities against book debts these smaller companies are. Clearly the banks are struggling or they are simply withdrawing from the SME market. The message may not have yet filtered down to their sales staff who are often saying "yes" to proposals from SMEs but then subsequently the bank credit committees are saying "no".Rescue advisers argue that the banks are being deceitful, whatever the rhetoric they are using public relations tactics to report new loans, which are in fact not really new lending but the refinancing of existing facilities such as turning an overdraft into a term loan or a factoring facility.This is adding even more pressure onto small businesses, he argues, because there is a net decline in the flow of money into SMEs, and furthermore any new money is being provided at a very great cost in terms of fees and interest. While high rates of lending may be justified by the risk when it is unsecured, it is not justified when the loan is secured.Copyright ?? 2012 Alison Withers

Collection Agency Services And Their Importance to Companies

Collection agency services are some of the most well known services today. With the recent economic struggles of different companies and businesses, companies have a hard time keeping up with the different debts and accounts that they lend people. That is why companies who have a massive amount of accounts receivable make good use of collection agency services. Collection agencies are companies that specialize in the recovery bad debts or payment of accounts that are past due. They are usually hired by companies that lend money and have a high tendency of people defaulting in their payments or are paying later than the day of the deadline. Collection agencies manage this by making use of laws and the technology that is available to them. Consumers who are in debt are made to repay the money that they owe. This is the most basic understanding of the lender-borrower relationship. Collection agencies make use of the law by enforcing and instituting amendments that force debtors to pay the accounts due to the lender. Collection agencies also make use of technology by managing the different debts of the company that hires them. They make full use of accounting information systems and their different advantages. Accounting information systems are digital representation of accounts and balances. This allows for a more convenient way of managing accounts and different transactions. Collections agencies design their systems to focus more on accounts receivables and bad debt. Accounts receivable is the account that a company maintains in its records in order to keep track of the different transactions they have accomplished that were done via credit. Bad debts are the name of the account maintained by a company to keep track of accounts receivable that are most likely uncollectible. This usually leaves companies bankrupt and forces them to liquidate their assets. Collection agencies address this problem by serving as agents and give companies advice on debt restructuring or debt recovery. Collection agency services are geared towards enforcing laws that protect lenders and maintaining the lender-borrower relationship. Some examples of their services are debt collection, debt management and debt restructuring. These types of services are important to companies as it minimizes any losses that they may incur. Losses suffered by companies usually translate to investors straying away from the company. This means that investors would rather go elsewhere and put their money in a more productive project. Collection agency services have become more popular over the years because of the state of the economy. Businesses are suffering from the losses that are caused by bad debts and delayed payments. These bad debts have increased the need for businesses to use laws that allow them to collect payments. Recently, several states have passed laws that protect the consumer or the borrower. They have increased the value of items that serve as collateral and allow borrowers to keep those items. They have also allowed borrowers to maintain a high amount of money in their bank accounts. Despite these new laws, collection agencies are still going strong and they still enforce their methods to the best of their abilities.

Plan Your Finances And Live in Peace

Running a household is not easy, it is much like running a business where you have to take care of a lot of things. The most important thing that you need to consider is finance. You need to manage your finances such that you can not only take care of the present needs of yourself as well as your family but can also save for any future needs.A good financial planning would ensure that all your bills are paid on time, your daily needs are taken care of and savings are also regularly made. If you are unable to manage your finances every month, you would end up in trouble at the end of the year. And hence if you find yourself in a financial fix at the end of every month, what you can do is get advice on finance from on expert.You can also get advice on finance from the Internet. There are many websites as well as forums where you can find people who can give you good finance tips that would help you plan your finances well. If you are facing a particular problem, you can post questions too which would be answered by experts as well as common users. The Internet is a cost friendly way to get advice on finance. Although different situations demand different kinds of solutions, here are some finance tips that would surely help you plan your finances well in general:If you just follow these simple and basic finance tips you can have quite a secure life where you can enjoy all the luxuries of life without risking anything in the process. Hence take care of your finances, plan well and prepare to live your whole life in peace.

Credit & Debit Cards – An Overview

In the past exchanging cash was one of the few ways that you could pay someone for goods and services. Today there are many different ways of making a payment and it can become confusing. It is important to know which payment type is most appropriate for your situation as it can save you time and hassle and can, in some cases, even save you money. Using a particular payment type may also come with added benefits that other types may not offer. Cash is still widely used but many people choose to use different payment methods for regular or larger payments. A popular method is to pay with a debit or credit card. What are these cards and how do they work? This article looks at the important differences between the two that should be taken into account when picking a payment method. A debit card is essentially a direct line to your current account, it is much like withdrawing cash from your account and using it to pay for something but without the need to withdraw any money. In the mid-80s many people were using cheques to pay for things because they reduced the need to pay large amounts in cash. Cheques, however, are expensive for banks to process and banks began to issue debit cards to dissuade people from overusing cheques. Debit cards are useful because they not only allow you to withdraw cash from your account while you are out and about but also can be used as a direct payment method. Because the money is taken directly from your account you will need to be sure that you have the available funds to make the transaction. When you make a payment with your debit card your bank will put a hold on the specified amount and the details of the transaction are sent to the other banks involved. When this has been verified and accepted the funds will be transferred. If you don't have the money it is still possible to pay for something, but you will need to have an agreed overdraft. Going into an overdraft is often inadvisable because you will have to pay interest on the amount you have used. Debit cards can be particularly useful for medium cost purchases or everyday items like petrol or food. It has been estimated that we use our debit cards six times on average every week. One advantage that debit cards have over credit cards is that they are also a quick and easy method of withdrawing cash. In theory you can use a credit card to withdraw money but it is not a good idea as you are borrowing money not withdrawing money that is yours. You will be charged a fee for using a credit card in this way and you will have to pay interest on the money you withdrew. With a debit card it is free to withdraw money and the money is yours - not borrowed. It can be easy to confuse credit cards and debit cards as they are similarly named and both involve using a plastic card to make payments. With a debit card you can use funds that are already in your account that are yours to do with as you please. A credit card, on the other hand, is a simple way of borrowing money. It is not linked to your current account and using one will not reduce the amount of money in your account directly (until you pay your bill at least!). When you apply for a credit card you will be designated a specific credit limit - this is how much money you can borrow from your bank each month. If you have a good credit rating, are prompt with repayments and have minimal debt you will have a higher limit. At the end of each month the payments you have made with your credit card are listed and itemised - you must then repay what you owe. You can do this in one go or you can spread repayments over a period of time. It is preferable to pay off your credit card bill as soon as possible because the interest on the amount you have borrowed will soon stack up. Credit cards are often most useful for bigger, more expensive purchases. This is because most people will have the funds for their weekly food shop but they may not have funds available for a holiday, new furniture or a car. With a credit card you can pay back the money over a longer period which may make it easier to deal with. There is also additional protection with a credit card that is not available with other payment methods. Most credit card companies offer purchase protection - this can be hugely useful if you buy something expensive that turns out to be defective. Purchase protection means that your credit card company assumes joint liability with the seller to provide the item as described and will reimburse you if it is not. This can also be advantageous when buying items online and the website turns out to be untrustworthy. You do not always have to use your credit card for big purchases, you can use it for smaller, less expensive items and pay off the bill straight-away. Doing this may help to improve your credit rating and you can also benefit from any reward schemes on offer. In order to stand out from the plethora of other credit card companies many companies will offer rewards and deals. If you use a credit card that is attached to a particular shop or supermarket they may offer discount vouchers or deals on their products. Other cards allow you to build up points every time you use it and once you have accumulated enough points you can turn them into a voucher. Some companies run 'cash-back' deals that give you tax-free cash instead of points. Many credit cards associated with airlines will let you build up free air-miles while others may offer upgrades. You should make sure to not just think about the rewards, however, and should think carefully before you borrow any money. You should also consider whether a debit card may be more appropriate.

Sacramento Bookkeeping Solutions For Small Businesses

Most small business have already acquired Sacramento bookkeeping solutions to help them in carrying out administrative and labor expenses for them to be able to take charge with their business affairs. In the process of financial transactions recording, monitoring of cash inflow and outflow is involved. The task comes under the company's finance department supervision. This is a vital function that helps keep track the profit earned, the money spent and borrowed by the company. This helps in further analysis of the company's financial status. Utilizing the data collected by the accountants, financial analysts can easily assess the company's financial health. Most of the big companies hire accounting firms for this function. It is easier to hire professional services rather than hiring full-time employees for this kind of matter. And since the large companies have taken the plunge in outsourcing financial functions to accounting companies, smaller companies have also begun preferring acquiring work from Sacramento bookkeeping solutions. Employing external agency for this purpose also proves to be a more cost-effective strategy than hiring a full-time employee. This allows organizations to outsource more employees focusing on the primary sectors of the entire business. This aids the companies to hire financial analysts which are very helpful in planning financial undertakings as well as analysis of the every transaction the organization has dealt with. Sacramento bookkeeping firms provide services that adhere to the security and confidentiality of the clients' data. These firms provide service with consultation and even provide advice for further improvement of the business model. These are geared towards profit boost for optimal benefits. These agencies are armed with expert accountants offering services as desired by the clients. There are also those who provide online accounting services which is preferred by a lot of companies as it is made accessible to everyone at any time of the day. This feature is available in retrieving data anytime. It has user-friendly interface and an updated online system. Sacramento bookkeeping firms can also aid in various financial planning aspects. They can be a great help in the formulation of forecasts as well as in efficient strategic planning. This can also help minimize the expenses and maximize the profit. The service fees vary depending on the work type, quantity and complexity. There are monthly rates which some companies may charge for each financial report. In order for you to succeed in your business ventures, hiring Sacramento bookkeeping services may prove to be a worthy endeavor.