£1.8bn in funding approved

Regulated by the FCA since 2015

Working with over 100 UK business lenders

Trusted by over 150,000 small businesses

What is selective invoice finance?

Invoices often come with payment terms, which can span up to as long as 90 days. This means that if you invoice your customers, you may be waiting a long time to receive payment after you’ve delivered your goods or services. Invoice finance acts as a funding solution for businesses to get cash quickly by using their outstanding invoices. 

Selective invoice finance differs from traditional invoice finance as you can choose which invoices to finance. This gives you greater flexibility as you don’t need to commit to financing your entire debtor book (all of your outstanding invoices). You can choose to finance only the ones you want to.

Whether you're dealing with short term cash flow gaps, or looking to fund growth opportunities, selective invoice finance can be a helpful solution for your business.

How selective invoice finance works

Selective invoice finance lets your business choose specific invoices for financing instead of your whole debtor book. Here’s how it works

  1. You pick the invoices you want to finance. This allows you to access cash from outstanding payments without waiting for customers to pay.
  2. The provider will assess whether they are willing to finance the invoices. This typically involves verifying that the debtor is a UK-registered business, ensuring the invoice meets their terms, and running a credit check to review the business' credit score.
  3. Once your selected invoices are verified, you'll receive a portion of the invoice amount, typically up to 90% of their value. This can be in as little as 24 hours. 
  4. When your customers pay the invoices, the remaining amount (minus fees and interest) is paid back to you.

With a selective invoice finance solution, you maintain credit control. This means that you’re still responsible for chasing payment from your invoices and will retain control over your customer relationships.

Who is eligible for selective invoice finance?

To be eligible for selective invoice finance, your business needs to meet the following criteria

  • Have been trading for 6 months or longer
  • Be a limited company registered in the UK
  • Invoice other UK businesses

What are the benefits of selective invoice finance?

Improved cash flow

By unlocking cash tied up in unpaid invoices, you can meet short term business needs like payroll, supplier payments, or expansion costs quicker.

Flexibility

By selecting the invoices you need financing for, you maintain control over your finances.

Quick access to funds

You’ll get up to 90% of the invoice value within 24 hours, helping to improve your business cash flow.

Maintain customer relationships

Since you’re still in charge of collecting payments from customers, you continue managing your customer relationships as you see fit.

Why use Capitalise to find a selective invoice financing solution?

Selective invoice finance offers a flexible way to access funding, whether you're addressing cash flow challenges, expanding your business, or investing in new projects. It helps smooth out cash flow fluctuations, making it a great solution for businesses with large outstanding invoices or long payment terms. With quick approvals and minimal paperwork, it’s an efficient solution for businesses needing fast, flexible funding. 

With so many options available in the market, you might not know which is best for your business. At Capitalise, you’ll receive expert support from our funding specialists for all your funding needs. We work with over 100 UK lenders, giving you access to the full market. You can apply to multiple lenders through a single application, compare offers in one place and find the best solution for your business.

Are there other types of invoice finance available? 

Want to decide which finance solution is right for your business? Here’s a breakdown of the most common options:

Type of invoice finance Description Key benefits
Selective invoice finance Choose specific invoices to finance, without committing your entire debtor book. You only select the invoices that need funding, giving you full control Flexibility to choose individual invoices, quick access to cash, maintain control over invoice payment collections
Invoice factoring A lender buys all your invoices and assumes the responsibility of collecting payments from your customers. This solution involves full outsourcing of your credit control function. Immediate access to cash, no need to manage collections as credit control is outsourced
Invoice discounting A loan is provided against your unpaid invoices. You remain responsible for managing customer relationships and chasing payments. You get funding without giving up control of your collections. Retain control over collections, quick access to cash
Spot factoring A variation of factoring where you can sell individual invoices as needed rather than your entire ledger. This is well suited  for businesses with one-off cash flow requirements. Fast access to cash, flexible, ideal for short-term funding needs, credit control outsourced


 

frequently asked questions about selective invoice finance

Capitalise is an FCA regulated platform dedicated to UK businesses. Our mission is to help businesses to take control of their financial health. We support business owners by providing easy way to access over 100 lenders and compare their loan products. Our advanced platform makes intelligent matches and ranks lenders, based on their past successes, to help businesses select the best funding solution.

Capitalise also enables businesses to check their own Experian business credit score to better understand their financial health. Plus businesses can check the credit profiles of the companies they work with to reduce risk.

Typically, in the UK, VAT is not charged on the interest for invoice financing. However, this can vary depending on specific circumstances and the provider. It’s always a good idea to confirm VAT charges with your finance provider.

Approval times for selective invoice finance are typically very quick. In many cases, businesses can receive funding within 24 hours of submitting their invoices. The process involves verifying the invoices and ensuring they meet the lender's criteria.

You have complete control over which invoices you choose to finance. You may prefer to select invoices with larger outstanding amounts, or longer payment terms to improve your cash flow. Ultimately, it’s your decision to finance only the invoices that are right for your business at the time.