Funding, finance and commercial support for growing businesses
Buzz Business Financial Services helps with funding to grow, cash flow, commercial and property finance, banking, and protection for the business, its shareholders and its key people, alongside your accounts.
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Twelve areas of business financial support
Business finance covers growth, cash flow, risk, banking, funding and protection decisions. We work out which kind of finance or provider fits, and introduce you to it.
Growth
Business funding
Funding to move, grow or stabilise the business.
Commercial finance
Wider business borrowing for growth and investment.
A cash gap
Working capital
Short-term cash flow support when you need it.
Invoice finance
Unlocking cash tied up in unpaid invoices.
Equipment and vehicles
Asset finance
Equipment, vehicles and asset purchases without straining cash.
Buying a business
Acquisition finance
Funding for acquisitions and strategic expansion.
Premises
Commercial mortgages
Property finance for buying, refinancing or investing.
Banking and cash
Business bank accounts
Guidance on the right day-to-day banking options.
Savings and deposit products
Options for putting surplus business cash to work.
FX and international payments
Managing foreign exchange and cross-border payments.
Protection
Business insurance
Protection around the risks that matter most to your business.
Business and shareholder protection
Risk planning that protects continuity if the unexpected happens.
When to talk to us about finance
- You’re growing faster than cash allows, and every new order makes the bank balance worse before it makes it better.
- You need equipment or vehicles and don’t want to strip the cash out to buy them.
- You’re buying premises, or your lease is up and buying looks better than renting.
- You’re acquiring a business, or buying out a shareholder.
- You have surplus cash sitting in a current account earning nothing.
- The business would struggle if you or a key person were out of action for six months.
How a funding application runs
What the money is for, and when
The money might be for growth, a cash gap, an asset, an acquisition or a difficult few months. The purpose decides the product: a working capital gap needs short-term finance, and a five-year loan is the wrong fit for it.
We look at the position a lender will see
We review these before a lender does, because the lender will see all of them.
Options, with the total cost in pounds
We set out each option, such as a term loan, overdraft, invoice finance, asset finance or commercial mortgage, with the total amount repayable as well as the monthly figure and the headline rate.
The application pack
We present the numbers with a forecast the lender can test.
Decision, and what you sign
We read the personal guarantees, security, covenants and early repayment charges with you before you sign, because that is where most of the cost of borrowing sits.
Invoice finance, in numbers
Illustrative figures showing the mechanics. Advance rates and fees vary by provider and by your customer base.
A business raises a £50,000 invoice on 60-day terms. Under an invoice finance facility, most of the value is advanced against it rather than waited for.
Balance released when the customer pays, less fees
£7,500What is the all-in cost?
Service fee plus discount charge, expressed in pounds over a year.
Is the problem actually the invoice?
Terms may be too long, with nobody chasing. Fixing a collections problem is an outsourced finance team job. Where borrowing genuinely is the answer, we work with banking and funding partners to find it.
Common questions about business finance
Who makes the lending decision?
The lender. We help you work out what you actually need, present the numbers properly and access the right kind of facility through funding and banking partners. What we change is the quality of the application: a costed forecast, management accounts that reconcile to the last filed accounts, and clear answers to the questions lenders always ask.
Will applying damage my credit file?
A full application leaves a footprint; an indicative or soft enquiry usually does not. The mistake that does real damage is applying widely and hoping: several hard searches in a short period reads as distress to the next lender who looks. Be deliberate about the order: match the facility to the need first, approach the lender most likely to say yes second, and only broaden if that fails. For company borrowing, expect a personal guarantee to be requested for most small business lending, and read what it actually covers before signing it.
We have HMRC arrears. Can we still borrow?
Some lenders will consider arrears, particularly where a Time to Pay arrangement is agreed and being met, because that demonstrates the position is managed. Sorting the arrangement first often changes the answer entirely. What sinks applications is arrears the lender discovers before you disclose them, at which point every other figure you have given them is in question. Talk to HMRC before they escalate. Time to Pay is considerably easier to agree before enforcement action than after.
How long does funding usually take?
It depends on the product. Invoice finance and asset finance can move within days once the paperwork is complete. Unsecured term lending typically takes longer because the underwriting is on the business rather than the asset. Commercial mortgages involve valuation and legal work and take months rather than weeks. In almost every case the delay is documents rather than decisions, which is why the application pack matters: incomplete management figures, missing bank statements or a forecast that does not reconcile will add weeks to any of these.
Should we buy equipment outright or finance it?
It comes down to three things: the cash you want to keep, the total cost of the finance over its term, and the tax treatment of each route. Outright purchase may qualify for full expensing or the Annual Investment Allowance, giving relief now. Hire purchase generally lets you claim capital allowances on the asset while spreading the cash, with interest relieved separately. An operating lease is treated differently again, with the rentals deducted as they arise. The right answer changes with your tax position, so it is a calculation worth running properly.
What does it cost to use you for this?
The fee is agreed in writing before any work starts, and where a commission is payable by a lender or provider that is disclosed too. Ask specifically who is paying whom. Brokered lending is frequently paid for by the lender, which means the broker’s incentive is to complete a deal. Quite often the outcome of these conversations is a decision not to borrow, because the cash is already in the working capital cycle.
When is borrowing the wrong answer?
When it is being used to fund a loss rather than an asset or a genuine timing gap. Debt does not fix a business that is unprofitable at the current price and cost base; it adds a repayment to the losses. The other common case is borrowing to cover a shortfall that is really uncollected debt: several months of profit sitting in debtors and stock, retrievable by tightening collections.
Talk to us about funding
Call or WhatsApp 07476 989568, email hello@buzzaccounting.co.uk or book a free call
Business protection and director pensions
Key person cover, shareholder protection, relevant life cover and company pension contributions are regulated advice, given by Buzz Financial Services.
Buzz Financial Services is a trading style of Equity & General Financial Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (No. 474163).
Accreditations and partnerships
