Supply Chain Finance FAQ

The solution offers suppliers increased visibility and control over their cash flow while giving buyers more time to pay invoices.

FAQ

Most frequent questions and answers

Supply chain finance, also referred to as reverse factoring or approved payables finance, is a set of solutions that improves cash flow by allowing businesses to optimize supplier payment terms. Simultaneously, it provides the option for suppliers to receive early payment as soon as invoices are approved in return for a nominal finance charge. This frees up cash that would otherwise be trapped in the supply chain, enabling both buyers and suppliers to survive economic volatility, invest in growth and outperform competitors.

In addition to receiving early payment, suppliers have more visibility into invoice approval and payments. That means fewer surprises and errors in the payment cycle and improved cash flow forecasting.

All of this occurs without negatively impacting the company’s or its suppliers’ balance sheets.

PrimeRevenue provides a cloud-enabled platform that creates a digital ecosystem between buyers, suppliers and funders. It facilitates the exchange of information about receivables and the flow of funding.

Here is a snapshot of how the process and platform operate:

  1. Supplier sends their invoice to the buyer following normal protocol.
  2. Buyer approves the supplier’s invoice and invoices are uploaded to the PrimeRevenue cloud-enabled platform via ERP integration.
  3. Supplier has full visibility of approved invoices and is notified when invoices are eligible for early payment.
  4. Supplier chooses whether and when to trade an invoice for early payment. This can be immediately after the invoice has been approved or any day leading up to maturity. Alternatively, the supplier can simply wait until the invoice has matured to receive payment.
  5. When an invoice is traded for early payment, the funder receives and processes the early payment request, then pays the supplier based on the agreed-upon discount rate. The funds are transmitted directly to the supplier’s bank account on the next business day.
  6. At invoice maturity, PrimeRevenue uses the buyer’s bank account to pay the funder.
  7. If the supplier has chosen not to trade the invoice, PrimeRevenue will facilitate payment from the buyer’s bank account to the supplier on the due date.

When executed properly, supply chain finance does not count as additional debt for the buyer or supplier. PrimeRevenue’s programs have been scrutinized by global accounting firms. For buyers, trade payables stay as they are – trade payables. For suppliers, there is no effect on outstanding debt covenants or balance sheets.

Both buyers and suppliers benefit from supply chain finance. PrimeRevenue’s customers improve working capital by an average of more than $200M. Buyers and suppliers can use this cash flow improvement to drive growth, reduce debt and diversify liquidity alternatives. Suppliers participating in buyer programs are able to improve cash flow and gain greater visibility into invoice approvals and payments. Supply chain finance is effective in any business climate.

When executed properly, supply chain finance should have only positive impacts. There should be no effect on your trade payables accounting and no disadvantage to your suppliers. However, if executed poorly by less experienced and less technologically advanced partners, there can be negative accounting, communications and supplier ramifications.

When properly communicated, most suppliers understand the importance of supporting a buyer’s drive to optimize its working capital position. Suppliers also value how supply chain finance offers visibility and the opportunity to improve their own working capital position by taking advantage of early payments offered at a favorable rate.

As such, PrimeRevenue has seen a 70 percent supplier participation success rate in our programs during the last three years.

PrimeRevenue is a cloud-enable platform that integrates easily with most major ERP systems. There is very little impact on your IT infrastructure or team.

Single-funder supply chain finance programs are risky. This is because funding in these programs is typically uncommitted. Due to economic conditions and/or regulatory pressures, banks’ strategies can change suddenly and prompt them to reduce their financing of supply chain programs, increase pricing, exit a specific market or even stop funding programs altogether.

PrimeRevenue’s multi-funder structure mitigates these risks. Our global network of 100+ funders ensures your supply chain finance program is always funded. PrimeRevenue also has an extensive track record supporting long-term supply chain finance programs that extend deep into the supply chain. Banks typically only penetrate the top 30 percent of the supply chain, while PrimeRevenue targets 100 percent.

As a result, PrimeRevenue-led supply chain finance programs deliver bigger cash flow improvements while extending the benefits of supply chain finance to a larger number of suppliers.

There are multiple benefits. A multi-funder structure secures more attractive rates due to its competitive nature, resulting in consistently lower pricing than that of other supply chain finance providers. PrimeRevenue maintains relationships with funding sources across multiple geographies, enabling buyers to support suppliers across the globe. Multi-funder structures also mitigate the risks of a single funder reducing its commitments to a program, as described above.

On average, it takes 30-60 days for companies to implement a program. However, this varies depending on the alignment and resources of the buyer implementing the program. PrimeRevenue provides buyers with a detailed implementation plan that clearly outlines tasks, timeframes, team members, milestones and critical success factors.

It is critical that your procurement team has incentives that align to the goals of the program. The treasury, finance and procurement teams should set agreed-upon objectives prior to execution. Part of this alignment involves assuring the procurement team is properly trained and equipped to be successful. PrimeRevenue has an extensive training and support program and provides tools to assure success for both organizations.

PrimeRevenue provides ongoing customer service and support for your program.

Implementing a supply chain finance solution doesn’t have to be daunting. A competent partner like PrimeRevenue can streamline and simplify the process, identify and communicate working capital improvement potential to internal stakeholders, and help you clearly articulate the mutual benefit with suppliers.

In addition, we provide:

  • Data driven analysis of your entire supply chain to determine optimal payment terms and prioritization of suppliers.
  • Collaborative training of procurement teams to develop a joint go-to market strategy complete with customized supplier messaging.
  • Co-presentation support for large and mid-sized suppliers.
  • Cloud-enabled on-boarding process for buyers, suppliers and funders.
  • Global support across geographies and time zones that extends to funding capabilities.
  • The ability to sustain a program beyond just the largest suppliers to standardize terms and cash flow gains across the entire supply chain.

Supplier finance works for companies in a variety of sectors, including automotive, electronics, manufacturing, retail, and many others. It works for companies on both sides of the supply chain. Buying organizations can extend their payment terms, and suppliers can get paid earlier. Supply chain finance is a true win-win solution for both trading partners. The PrimeRevenue team works closely with buyers and suppliers to craft a supply chain finance plan that fits the evolving needs of both parties. Contact us today to find out how we can serve your needs.

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Want to learn more?

Stephanie Wargo

VP, Global Head of Marketing

Stephanie joined PrimeRevenue in 2015 and oversees the company’s global marketing team and strategy. With a data-driven approach, Stephanie focuses on demand generation and thought leadership to drive brand awareness, strengthen client/partner relationships, and generate new sales opportunities. Stephanie has guided PrimeRevenue through new technology releases and an evolving FinTech landscape. In addition to leading PrimeRevenue’s internal and external communications, she implemented innovative demand generation and marketing strategies to enhance the company’s overall sales pipeline.

Stephanie has extensive experience in marketing and customer success. She previously served as Vice President of Marketing and Communications at BitPay and Vice President of Client Relations and Marketing at FirstView Financial. Stephanie earned a B.A. degree in Political Science from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia.

Brian Medley

VP, Global Head of Sales

Brian joined PrimeRevenue in early 2012, after more than 20 years of sales leadership, executive-level consultant and business growth experience. As VP, Global Head of Sales, Brian leads a growing team of fintech sales professionals with a focus on developing strong customer relationships, improving sales predictability and helping PrimeRevenue enter the lucrative mid-market.

Prior to PrimeRevenue, Brian honed his enterprise software sales leadership skills at Clarus Corporation. He also served as an operations and IT management consultant for Kurt Salmon Associates. In addition to his sales and consulting background, Brian has deep experience in the financial industry having founded a successful residential mortgage broker and lending business. He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology having earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Economics and M.B.A. in Global Business.

Jason Green

SVP, Global Customer Success

Jason joined PrimeRevenue in 2021 following more than two decades in the fintech/financial services industry. He brings a strong background is sales leadership due to his impressive relationship building capability as well as a successful track record in creating structure and process improvements. In his role, Jason uses his keen attention to detail to strengthen the customer experience and enhance the company’s solutions to deliver more value to clients.

Prior to joining the company, Jason held several senior level and executive roles with a focus on building and scaling sales and support organizations at both large and small companies. Jason graduated from Murray State University with a B.S in Marketing.

Matt Ford

SVP, Global Product Innovation

Matt joined PrimeRevenue in early 2015 and is responsible for overseeing all commercial, strategic and operational aspects of PrimeRevenue’s supply chain finance offerings throughout EMEA, based in Prague. He has been instrumental in gaining global alignment and developing supplier enablement processes for the region.

Matt joined PrimeRevenue following a 15-year career at Morgan Stanley, where he worked in fixed income operations covering debt syndication through bonds, EMTNS, corporate loans and other debt securitization. Notably, he set up non-core location operations in Europe (Budapest) and all lending operations in Baltimore from scratch.

Matt, who was born and raised in South East England, earned a B.S. in Sports Science at University of Teesside where he mastered the art of TEAM development and accountability as a youth international rugby player.

Dominic Capolongo

EVP, Global Head of Funding

Dominic joined PrimeRevenue in 2016, and is responsible for leading our bank and capital markets funding strategies and execution. He focuses on building global, scalable and highly efficient funding structures that maximize options for supporting PrimeRevenue’s programs. Dominic began his career as an attorney and was a partner with Kaye Scholer before joining DLJ as a senior banker. Dominic brings tremendous strategic and capital markets experience in all areas of finance having held senior positions at, among others, Credit Suisse and RBC Capital Markets in addition to DLJ. Dominic earned a JD from Fordham University School of Law and a BA from SUNY Binghamton.

Gavin Cicchinelli

Chief Operating Officer

Gavin joined PrimeRevenue as Chief Operating Officer in 2021. With more than two decades of leadership and executive experience along with a deep understanding of the payments space, Gavin provides a unique focus on improving and strengthening operational strategies and implementing GTM growth execution. He is responsible for leading transformation across corporate and operational strategies as well as building a repeatable and scalable commercial growth strategy that aligns with PrimeRevenue’s core business while delivering key adjacent growth opportunities.

Prior to joining PrimeRevenue, Gavin served as President and Chief Revenue Officer of Integrated Solutions at TSYS, a global payment processing services company acquired by Global Payments (NYSE:GPN). There, he also served as Head of Product and divisional COO. Throughout his career, Gavin has held multiple leadership positions including VP of Sales, SVP of Business Development, and President of Financial Institutions. Gavin graduated from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley.

David Quillian

Chief Legal Officer

David joined PrimeRevenue as General Counsel in 2007. He and his team have been instrumental in successfully creating the unique legal structures that support PrimeRevenue’s multi-funder model and global funding capabilities. David is also the lead named inventor on PrimeRevenue’s two patents for Electronic Time Drafts, which allow PrimeRevenue to manage supply chain finance programs using electronic negotiable instruments as opposed to accounts receivable. Prior to PrimeRevenue, David was General Counsel at Harbor Payments, which was acquired by American Express (AXP) in 2006, and Magnet Communications, which was acquired by Digital Insight (DGIN) in 2003. He holds degrees in Economics and History from Duke University, and Juris Doctor and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Georgia.

Nathan Feather

CEO

Nathan has successfully ushered PrimeRevenue from our very early days as a visionary startup, through the financial crisis to today’s position as a thriving mid-sized leader in the cloud-enabled supply chain finance marketplace since joining PrimeRevenue in January 2006. He was instrumental in recapitalizing the company with an $80M investment led by BBH Capital Partners in 2015. Prior to PrimeRevenue, he held various financial management roles with Ariba, Freemarkets and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Nathan holds a BS in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University.

PJ Bain

CEO

PJ has an impressive and accomplished track record as an enterprise software entrepreneur and executive. PJ has built a solid record of success with PrimeRevenue since being appointed Chief Executive Officer in July of 2009. The company has received numerous awards for growth, customer service, innovation, along with being recognized as a top employer.

PJ is a life-long software and technology entrepreneur having been involved in numerous firms in the roles of founder, executive, advisor and investor. Immediately prior to PrimeRevenue, PJ was the VP and General Manager of Exact Holding N.V. (NYSE/AMS: EXACT), a leading global provider of business software solutions. He was previously Founder and CEO of Inspired Solutions, an Atlanta-based, B2B software and services firm that grew to be the largest reseller of Exact Software in North America, later acquired by Exact. PJ holds a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.