bePayd, powered by Proactis, enables small suppliers of large buying organisations to be paid sooner for invoices that are not yet due for payment. It requires no commitment, no security and is completely optional on an invoice by invoice basis. The process of accelerating an invoice has never been simpler.
There is no need for a supplier to call or chase payments from their customers, log in to a portal or even pay fees to use bePayd. In addition, there is no security required, intrusive information needed, or application process to go through. In fact, it is so simple that it takes less than 3 minutes for a one-time supplier set up, and then any future accelerated payment can be agreed in seconds. bePayd is completely unique and works regardless of business size, invoice value or risk profile, supporting swifter payments and meaning that cash can flow, including to those that need it most.
All a supplier has to do is share some basic details and bePayd deliver the mechanisms to do make it happen. There are no costs to the buyer either, in fact there are a suite of commercial upsides.
Supply chain health is pivotal to any organisation, it delivers consistency, continuity of supply, supplier loyalty and efficiencies throughout. In the wake of numerous high-profile business failures, the importance of maintaining a healthy supply chain has never seen such great focus, with recognition particularly targeted towards the SME community, who often suffer the most when a supply chain breaks down. As such having a robust corporate social responsibility agenda that acknowledges the challenges SMEs face has become more important than ever and often plays a key part in the decision making of contract awards.
Small businesses are generally resilient, resourceful and the source of innovation. Small business owners also wear many hats, often managing sales, marketing, operations, cash collection, as well as other business functions, which requires versatility and bravery. And as with all organisations strong cash management is vital for them. In fact, cash flow is the primary reason for small business failure, with an estimated 80-90% of business failures being cash flow related. In addition, access to finance that could support them, is often limited in supply, costly and complex to source, causing distraction and potential worry.
However, there is a way for larger organisations, to support small businesses, without any negative impact on their own cash flow. Moreover, a way that would drive supplier loyalty, create additional efficiencies that can result in increased success and supports social responsibility, with no charge for implementation. As importantly, there is next to no effort and no cost at all, for you to provide this service to your supply chain.
Making a sale is or should be one of the most glorious feelings to a business owner, but that can quickly turn into one of the worst. When a customer pays late or not at all, it can be crippling to a business owner. They will have inevitably incurred costs and expenses either through their own time or through their own suppliers that need to be funded. For most, these expenses will be paid for through cash received from sales. However, this can only happen when and if sales do convert to cash.
bePayds story begins some time ago when the now Proactis CEO, Tim Sykes and the now Financial Solutions Director Ant Persse met. Ant and Tim recognised that businesses globally have challenges with buying and selling goods and services, yet in a world of fast-moving technology and data availability it should be much simpler. They also recognised that one of the biggest challenges that businesses face is managing cash, highlighted by the fact that it is the primary result of business failure.
After leading, working with, financing and or advising many businesses and seeing some of the challenges that they face Tim and Ant decided to join forces and build a solution within Proactis that would make doing business a lot simpler. By bringing businesses together as a community and taking away the friction created by terms of trade. However, recognising that there is a disconnect and that access to finance can be complex and costly, especially when we consider the time and effort involved in many. Then there is the level of security required and the complex cost structures involved, often with hidden or unforeseen costs, which may not be a direct facet of the financier, but simply attracted in serving a facility.
bePayd is powered by Proactis, a globally listed spend management company.
bePayd exists to make doing business better. Businesses are brave, enterprising, innovative and resilient. Yet they all face a degree of uncertainty. Therefore, it is our intention to create increased certainty, with the simplest, most convenient, most transparent and swiftest way for businesses to trade.
To start we have created a way for businesses to access payments against invoices not yet due for payment. We have built a mobile led solution, albeit with no need to download an app (MOST CONVENIENT) that can be available on the move and at a time that works for a business owner. Through our interface we let businesses know when their invoice has been approved for payment andthat they can accelerate that payment. We don’t ask businesses to log into a portal or provide lots of information. We only ask for a information that is required, with no application process to go through. In fact, our one-time set-up is so simple it can take just couple of minutes and then any acceleration after that can be done in just 3 clicks (THE SIMPLEST). After the simple set-up payments can be accelerated in seconds (THE FASTEST). We will make the payment for only invoices that are selected (completely flexible) with a small discount applied, this discount is highlighted from the very first interaction and will not be applied unless an invoice has been accelerated. There are no other costs orprocesses to go though. We don’t take security of any kind and simplify the legal docs with a keyfeatures document (MOST TRANSPARENT).
The green grocer and the manufacturer
Businesses have traded on terms of credit for centuries it is a way of recognising the time it takes for a customer to turn goods and services into cash. This is no different today. However, there can be a clear disconnect between businesses in converting goods or services into cash. Below highlights this.
Paul is a greengrocer, he buys and sells fruit and veg and pays his wholesaler on 14 day terms of credit. However, when you or I go to a grocer to buy food we pay for it in cash, or at least by making an immediate payment, and the fruit is unlikely to be on the shelves in 14 days-time. I suspect that all the fruit or veg will be sold within just a few days (probably less than 5 days) of Paul buying them. If we assume that Paul does sell all the fruit and veg within 5 days and for the same price he paid, he will have cash in his bank 9 days before he needs to pay anything to his wholesaler. This means that if Paul wants to pay staff weekly, he can, if he has an unexpected bill he needs to pay in cash, he can, etc, etc.
Then there is Jo, she runs a manufacturing business, she buys raw materials that have to go into a manufacturing process and is given 30-day terms to pay for them. However, when she receives them, they go into a manufacturing process that can take 20 days to complete. Then, when her goods are complete, she has to wait for the goods to be sold which takes another 10 days. When she sells the goods her retail clients suggest that it will take at least 30 days for all of her goods to be sold and therefore negotiate 30-day terms with Jo. The difficulty for Jo is that it will ultimately be 70 days before she gets paid. However, she must pay for the stock she has bought in 30 days. She also has her staff to pay, monthly rent to make, finance charges to make on her plant & machinery etc, etc all of whichare essential to her business’s survival.
There are options for Jo, she could seek finance, through something like invoice finance. However, remember, Jo only made the sale on day 30 so wold need the invoice financier to give her the money asap and it can take weeks to put a facility in place, after Jo has provided all of the information needed to get an invoice finance facility in place and the financiers underwriting team have reviewed the information to give her a decision. She will also be likely to hand over a debenture over all of her assets including any future payments owed for sale, any assets she has already bought and paid for and evenlikely to have to issue a personal guarantee which means that if the invoice financier doesn’t get paidthey could seek to get that from her. This can be incredibly scary. She will also likely need to evidenceher company’s financial position on a periodic (say monthly) basis, which takes time, effort and cost.
