The Interface Financial Group (IFG) Urges Declining Small Businesses to Use Factoring Services

BETHESDA, MD--(Marketwire - Jun 16, 2011) - The Interface Financial Group (IFG), North America's largest alternative funding source for small businesses, announced that the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) found small business optimism is declining for the third straight month, during the month of May, and many are planning to decrease payrolls. IFG urges companies to use invoice factoring as a means to improve cash flow, enabling them to make payroll and pay bills during this economic slowdown.

A number of the small to medium-sized (SME) businesses surveyed in NFIB's monthly "Small Business Economic Trends Report" are planning on decreasing their payrolls over the next three months, the first planned net decrease of employment that the survey has found since September of last year. The May index was 90.9 after hitting bottom at 85.2 in December 2009. Since then it had been on the rise, hitting 94.5 in February 2011, before beginning the latest drop.

Poor sales is the reason for continued pessimism among those small businesses surveyed, which has been the number one concern of small businesses since late 2008.

Companies fearing the future since the economic decline have not been spending their resources during the recession and in its aftermath, the Wall Street Journal reported in May. In a March survey, cited by the newspaper, 67 percent said they planned to cut off at least some business development spending.

Consumer spending has been decelerating as of late, according to analysis by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, although it has been on the up since mid-2009. And according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment has increased to 9.1 percent in May from 8.7 percent in April.

Though the percentage reporting poor sales has now declined from its mid-2009 high of 34 percent, that one in four small business owners is still reporting problems with sales raises troubling concerns. For one, the lack of demand could be holding back a broader jobs recovery, and it may have been for some time.

The New York Times said earlier this month that businesses have increased spending on equipment by 26 percent during the recovery, which compares to two percent being spent on employees.

IFG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, George Shapiro said, "The survey said 77 percent of small businesses stated they were negatively affected by the recession, however, we have seen an increase in factoring services among many SMEs, helping them with cash flow and increasing optimism."

IFG is one of the only factoring companies offering "single invoice factoring" where SMEs can factor one invoice at a time, making it very easy to get the cash they need without a lengthy and aggravating lending process. With no minimums, maximums, long-term commitments or a lengthy application process, factoring services offer an excellent source of cash flow.

Private label factoring solutions include export factoring, providing factoring services for companies who export from the United States and Canada; P.O. Funding to finance purchase orders when a company receives a purchase order and needs to purchase supplies to fulfill the order; and Inventory Financing, a solution promoting a company's growth by funding them when they must expand and purchase inventory.

Factoring companies usually don't expect to buy 100 percent of a company's receivables, and there are no minimum or maximum sales volume requirements. The company's professional rates are competitive because each client's circumstances vary, and this may have an impact on the fees charged. The program allows choices of invoices to be factored, enabling customers to retain most of their money, to spend the minimum fees, plus guarantee adequate cash flow.

About The Interface Financial Group (www.ifgnetwork.com)

The Interface Financial Group (IFG) is North America's largest alternative funding source for small business, providing short-term financial resources, including invoice factoring (invoice discounting). The company serves clients in more than 30 industries in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, UK and Ireland, and offers cross-border transaction facilities. With more than 140 offices across North America and over 39 years of experience, IFG provides innovative accounts receivable factoring solutions by offering short-term working capital to growing businesses. Single invoice factoring, or spot factoring, is an extremely fast way to turn receivables into cash.

IFG was founded in 1972 to provide short-term working capital to help small to medium-sized businesses grow. The IFG organization operates on a local level, providing clients with local knowledge and experience and business expertise in numerous diverse areas in addition to accounts receivable factoring, including accounting, finance, law, marketing and banking.