Downside Of Canadian ABL Asset Based Finance ? P.S. There Is No Downside! Business Financing And Lending That Works

So, which is it? We're big proponents of ABL asset based finance in Canada. So once in awhile a client pops the question. What's the question? It's ' Is there any downside to asset based financing for a Canadian firm?" Fair enough. ABL lending seems to have only good things attached to it in terms of the benefits. So about that downside...

We often hear the term perception versus reality. In the mind of the perceiver the perception is of course reality.

The world of ABL financing in Canada is in some ways fairly new. It's used by wholesalers, distributors, retailers, and manufacturers as an alte
ative to the commonly known ' bank operating line of credit '. One guesses that to be able to ' pan ' something and express conce
s about the downside that you have to know what you're talking about.

In simple terms ABL lending in the context we're talking about it is a revolving line of credit secured by the assets of your company. Those assets are most commonly A/R, inventories, and in some cases we can throw unencumbered fixed assets and real estate into the mix. Again, simply speaking you borrow on a daily basis against the total value of all those assets once the asset value is agreed upon between yourself and the ABL lender.

So, on to that perceived downside! Many business owners and financial managers make the assumption that their firm must have the same credit quality that Canadian chartered banks require - that being profits, clean balance sheets, owner guarantees, the necessity for outside collateral on occasion, etc.

So the perception is that the downside here is that approval for ABL asset based finance is challenging. That clearly is not the case, if your firm has assets that can be financed you are in fact the best candidate for asset based lending.

Pricing. That clearly is perceived by many clients as the downside to this newer method of financing Canadian business. So, again, perception, or reality?! The reality is as follows: larger asset based lines of credit; particularly those in excess of 3 Million dollars are priced ultra competitively with Canadian banks. In some cases they might be lower!

How's that for a perception breaker?! For facilities between 250k and the, say 3 Million range pricing is done based on credit quality. In general these facilities are in fact priced higher, but in fact become the only alte
ative for firms that can't access any form of traditional financing at all.

‘Our company is public ' says a CFO. So we assume we can't access ABL revolver facilities?' Nothing can be further from the truth, as our ABL financing solution serves both private and publicly controlled companies, either on the TSX or Venture exchange in Canada. Even subsidiaries of U.S. companies by the way could qualify for asset based lines of credit. And in fact we think shareholders of public companies would like the idea that asset based facilities tend to grow and provide ongoing capital as the firm grows.

Fees. That’s the other common complaint we occasionally here about asset based finance. Here's where we will give in a little bit to those naysayers, as yes, there are some miscellaneous fees associated with ABL lending. But those fees only are a bit larger when we're talking about those very large revolving facilities, and in that case the pricing and access to more credit and working capital tend to offset any cost such as an appraisal fee, commitment fee, etc.

Finally, time to get approved and closed. Clients perceive ABL financing, perhaps because it’s different, as taking long to close. If you have solid reporting, can talk intelligently about your business and are prepared to commit to a new lending relationship we don't think there is any more time involved versus a bank line of credit.

So, perceptions. Realities. You decide, but be open to accessing this new method of financing. Speak to a trusted credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor for assistance in your reality check!