Fractional CFO invoice financing turns selected client invoices into cash before customers pay, without adding a loan or handing the whole ledger to a factor. A fractional CFO sees the same timing gap at several companies: payroll and vendors are due now, while invoices sit on net-30 to net-90 terms. The useful move is to fund only the invoices that close that gap and to know the fee before the client says yes.
Talk with a Now specialist about a client invoice
This guide is for advisors who sit across a book of U.S. B2B clients. It shows how to sort which invoices to fund, how to compare all-in cost and how to keep the client as the biller. It is not a primer on what invoice financing is in general and it is not a cash-flow plan for one consulting firm. Those answers live on other pages. Here the job is the portfolio decision.
What fractional CFO invoice financing covers
A fractional CFO is hired for part of the week, often by more than one company. The financing question is rarely whether to factor everything. It is which invoices at which client to fund this month. That is a different job from the one an in-house finance lead does for a single company.
Start with three facts for each client. What are the payment terms? Which invoices are for finished accepted work? When does cash actually need to leave the account? A reconciled aging report plus a short cash calendar answers those questions faster than a generic rate sheet.
Revenue On Demand is built for that selective use. The business uploads an invoice or connects its accounting system. It then picks the customers and invoices to include. The business can receive the invoice amount, less a flat fee, within 24 to 48 hours after approval. The business stays the biller. Customer terms stay the same. The remittance address is the part that changes so the customer payment goes to Now.
That last point matters when you advise more than one owner. A client who hears that the invoices were sold often hears that the relationship was sold. You can point them to how invoice financing can protect client relationships and then show the narrower version. Their name stays on the bill. They do not reissue it to a new party.
Now is not a loan. There is no interest schedule and no new debt line for the normal use of the product. It is also not traditional factoring, where a factor takes the ledger and the collections role. If a client asks for the longer comparison, send them to the B2B invoice financing guide. Keep this conversation on which invoices in their book deserve funding.
Sort the client book before you fund anything
Do not open the review with a provider pitch. Open with the client book, and use a weekly pass that groups companies into three piles.
- Cash is already matched to bills. Leave these invoices alone.
- One or two slow accounts create a real gap. These are candidates.
- The business is using financing to hide weak billing or weak credit. Fix the process first.
Pile two is where fractional CFO invoice financing earns its place. A staffing client may need Friday payroll while a hospital invoice is on net-60 terms. A consulting client may have deployed senior people against a milestone that will not be billed as paid for another month. A manufacturer may need materials for a season while a distributor sits on net-45. The pattern is the same. Good work is done. Cash is late relative to costs.
Write the gap in dates rather than impressions. List the invoice, the buyer, the amount, the due date and the obligation that cash must cover. If you cannot name that obligation, you do not yet have a financing decision. You have a concern.
Also mark who the buyer is. Creditworthy repeat customers are easier to explain to an owner than a brand-new account with thin history. Now serves U.S. B2B businesses, commonly in a revenue range of about $2 million to $40 million, that already offer net-15 to net-90 terms. A client outside that shape may still have a cash problem. It may not be a fit for this product and you should say so.
Eligibility details belong on the qualification page, not in a slogan. When an owner asks whether they will qualify, use how to qualify for invoice financing as the checklist. Then return to the invoice in front of you.
Compare the real cost, not the teaser rate
Headline rates mislead fractional CFOs more than they mislead anyone else. You will be asked to defend the number in a board pack. Compare the full cost of one invoice against the next best option. Put four items on the page. List the fee and whether it grows if the customer pays late. Then note what happens to the customer relationship and whether the choice adds debt.
The U.S. Small Business Administration describes invoice financing as a way to free cash from unpaid invoices. It also notes a difference from factoring. Clients can keep paying the business rather than a factor. That distinction is the one owners feel. A line of credit can also bridge a gap but it is debt and the business has to be able to service it. The SBA’s working-capital note makes the same point. If the cash flow cannot service the debt, borrowing is a weak fit.
| Choice | What the client pays | If the customer pays late | Who keeps the relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue On Demand. | Flat fee by invoice term plus a one-time $250 activation fee. | Fee stays fixed to the term, not the pay date. | Client stays the biller. Remittance address updates. |
| Traditional factoring. | Often a discount plus added fees. | Fees can keep accruing. | Factor often notifies the customer and collects. |
| Bank line of credit. | Interest on the drawn balance. | Interest continues until payoff. | Client keeps billing and collecting. |
| Wait for payment. | No financing fee. | No extra fee. Payroll and vendors still come due. | Client keeps the relationship and the timing risk. |
Now’s published fees are tied to the term on the invoice, not to the day the customer happens to pay. The fee does not grow because a buyer pays late. Confirm the current table on the Revenue On Demand pricing page before you put a figure in a client memo. These are the rates on that page now:
- 15 days: 2.50%. The shortest published term.
- 30 days: 2.75%. A $100,000 net-30 invoice is paid at $97,250.
- 45 days: 3.75%. A typical term for many B2B invoices.
- 60 days: 5.25%. Common when a large buyer sets longer terms.
- 75 days: 6.25%. Still a flat fee, not daily interest.
- 90 days: 7.50%. The longest term on the published table.
A one-time $250 activation fee covers account setup. Invoices from customers outside the U.S. add a 1% surcharge, so a net-30 international invoice is 3.75% rather than 2.75%. The pricing page also says the rate can improve with volume and consistency as the client keeps using Now. There is no published discount table, so do not quote a better rate until a specialist confirms it.
That fixed-to-term design is the point to show a skeptical owner. Many factoring quotes look cheaper on day one and then rise if the buyer pays on day 70. A flat fee does not. For the pricing logic in more depth, read how flat-fee invoice financing keeps the price predictable.
Do not skip the activation fee when you quote a first invoice. On a small bill it is a real share of the cost. On a run of net-30 invoices it fades. Say both things.
Use a selective draw, not the whole ledger
Whole-ledger factoring asks the client to run most or all receivables through one provider. Some firms want that. Most of the companies a fractional CFO serves do not. They want the slow account funded and the fast accounts left alone.
Selective funding matches that preference. The client chooses the invoice. There is no requirement to fund every bill and no long-term contract that locks the next quarter. You can see the contract contrast in invoice financing without long-term contracts. If the owner wants the factoring version of the same choice, spot factoring versus whole-ledger factoring lays out the trade.
A practical rule is to fund an invoice only when three tests pass.
- The work is complete and the invoice is approved, not a forecast.
- You can name the cash use and the date it is due.
- The fee is smaller than the cost of missing that date. Think of a missed payroll, a declined materials order or a contract you would otherwise turn down.
Fail any test and wait. Financing is a tool for timing, and it is a poor tool for a customer who was never going to pay or for a project priced below cost. Say that directly, because owners trust the advisor who declines a draw.
Across a book, keep a one-page log. Client, invoice, term, fee, cash received and the bill it covered. After a month you can see whether selective draws are a habit or a crutch. If the same customer appears every cycle, the conversation shifts from financing to credit terms.
Keep the client relationship and the balance sheet clear
Two objections show up in almost every first call. Owners ask whether the customer will think they are in trouble, and they also ask whether the choice will look like debt.
On the first, be concrete. With Revenue On Demand the business name stays on the invoice and the terms stay the same. The customer is told. The remittance address is updated so payment reaches Now. You do not reissue the invoice under someone else’s name. That is the opposite of a factor who becomes the new collector. Walk the owner through how Revenue On Demand works so they see the three steps before they imagine a worse process.
On the second, separate accounting treatment from marketing language. Now describes the product as not a loan and not new balance-sheet debt in the ordinary course. It can sit beside an existing SBA or bank loan. Now’s FAQ says the team usually reviews the loan paperwork and confirms the business is current on payments. It is still wise to have the client’s accountant confirm presentation. A short read on what off-balance-sheet financing means gives you shared vocabulary without turning this article into an accounting memo.
Risk needs the same plain speech. In the normal course the client is not taking on a personal guarantee for the invoice. Now does reserve the right to recover losses in cases of intentional fraud or bad faith. Do not tell an owner the product is risk-free. Tell them where the exception sits and let their counsel read the agreement.
Professional-services clients feel the relationship point most sharply, because the buyer is often a few named executives. If that is the whole question, the guide to invoice financing for professional services goes deeper on the firm. Your job in this review is still the cross-client one. Which of those firms has a dated gap this month?
Build a monthly review your clients can follow
A fractional CFO does not need a new software stack to run this. You need a rhythm the owner can repeat when you are sitting with another client.
Once a week, refresh the aging report and the 13-week cash view if you already keep one. Circle only the invoices that fail the date test, meaning cash out is scheduled before cash in. Once a month, pick the draws, record the fee from the pricing table and note what the cash covered. Once a quarter, ask whether the same buyers keep appearing. Repeated names are a collections issue rather than a financing issue.
Share the memo in one page. Name the invoice, the fee in dollars, the cash date and the bill it pays. Link the owner to common questions on Revenue On Demand for the “is this a loan?” moment so you are not retyping it. For consulting clients, the industry page on consulting firm cash flow shows the milestone pattern without replacing your invoice-level call.
Advisors who want a market statistic for the memo can cite a primary source rather than a blog roundup. Xero’s 2026 guide for accountants, written by CPA Jotika Teli, points to the 2025 QuickBooks Small Business Late Payments Report. That report found that 44% of U.S. B2B invoices are overdue. The figure provides context for why this conversation keeps returning. It is not a reason to fund every overdue bill.
NerdWallet’s invoice financing guide says lenders may advance as much as 90% of an unpaid invoice, then collect repayment plus fees when the customer pays. That is a loan-style advance, not Now’s model. Now pays the invoice amount minus the published fee, so the holdback is the fee itself rather than a reserve that settles later. Quote the fee from the pricing table. Do not borrow a market range you cannot source.
When the book is ready for a first draw, the next step is a conversation, not a stack of forms sent cold. A specialist can confirm fit, timing and the current fee before anyone moves an invoice.
Book a short call about a client invoice
How fractional CFO invoice financing fits a monthly review
Fractional CFO invoice financing belongs in the monthly review only when a dated gap is real. Bring the aging report, the fee in dollars and the bill that cash will cover. Leave the rest of the ledger on normal terms. If the same buyer shows up every month, change the credit terms instead of funding the invoice again.
Use the same one-page memo with every client so the recommendation looks the same from company to company. Name the invoice, the term, the fee and the date cash has to leave. That is the whole decision, and a specialist can confirm the current fee before the first draw.
Frequently asked questions
Is invoice financing a good idea for every client?
No. It fits when a real invoice for finished work can cover a dated cash need and the fee is clear. It is a weak idea when the problem is bad credit, underpricing or a customer who will not pay. Fund the exception, not the habit.
Does fractional CFO invoice financing add a loan?
Revenue On Demand is not a loan. The client is choosing when to get paid on an approved invoice. There is no interest schedule. A bank line is the option that adds debt and has to be serviced. Say which one you are recommending.
Will the client’s customer see a change?
Yes, they are informed. What they should not see is a new biller. The business name and the payment terms stay. The remittance address is updated so the payment goes to Now. Talk through that before the first invoice so the owner is not surprised.
How should a fractional CFO quote the fee?
Use the term on the invoice, not a guessed “as low as” rate. A net-30 invoice is 2.75% on the published schedule, so $100,000 yields $97,250. Add the one-time $250 activation fee on a new account and a 1% surcharge if the customer is outside the U.S. Check the pricing page before the memo goes out, because the table is the source of truth.
What if the client already has a bank loan?
Using Now typically does not replace an SBA or bank loan. Now’s FAQ says the team usually reviews the loan paperwork and confirms the business is current on payments. Have the lender’s covenants and the client’s accountant in the loop before you promise that both can run together.