Man driving a crane to lift-up some equipments

Why Equipment Financing Companies Ask for Additional Documentation

by FinancingIndustry News

It’s Not a Hoop to Jump Through. It’s a Means to Approve Your Financing Application.

Equipment Financing Global FinancialLet’s save you some time. If your credit score is 750 or above, feel free to read another blog. This one doesn’t pertain to you because typically your equipment financing will be approved based on your application alone.

If your credit score is below 750, and especially if it’s much lower, stay with us. Chances are that along with your application, that an equipment financing lender, like Global Financial & Leasing Services (GFLS), will ask for additional financial documentation. Worst case scenario is that your lender doesn’t ask for you additional documentation and simply rejects your financing application. Simply put, don’t look at gathering paperwork as a hoop your lender is asking you to jump through, but rather as a means to get you the funding you need for equipment.

There are two reasons equipment financing lenders ask you for more documentation along with your application.

  1. They want to help you prove your income and your credit worthiness.
  2. They want to help you prove that you have the ability to repay the lease.

The following are the most common financial documents lenders might ask for if additional documentation is required.

Personal and business bank statements from the past three months

Bank statements let lenders visually verify income and provide a general overview of how you handle your finances. If your statements include negative balances and overdrafts, that sends a red flag to lenders that you could have a better handle on managing your finances.

What can you do if your bank statements aren’t going to help your application? Change your focus from getting equipment financing to improving your bank statements. Keep positive balances and avoid overdrafts. Think of the overdraft fees you’ll save. Then, revisit equipment leasing once your financials are in better shape.

Year-end P&L statements and balance sheets from the past one to two years

Profit & loss (P&L) statements and balance sheets are common business financial documents. They offer an excellent overview of a company’s financial health, which is what lenders need to see when deciding whether to take a risk on lending you money for business equipment.

Personal and business tax returns for the past one to two years

Like P&L statements, tax returns show financial strength, and they are seen universally as a legitimate reporting tool. Expect lenders to compare numbers between your P&L statements and balance sheets to your tax returns. If the figures don’t “add up,” lenders will see this as a red flag.

Personal financial statements from the company’s principals

Personal financial statements from your company’s principals might be requested, especially if the they are personally guaranteeing the equipment financing. The statements include assets, such as homes, cars and income, as well as debts, such as mortgages, car loans, etc. Personal financial statements show the principals’ net worth and ability to financially guarantee the loan.

Collateral

Lenders may ask if you hold any assets that can be used for collateral against your equipment financing. If you have an asset, documentation of ownership and worth will be required.

Current vendor quote or invoice for the equipment being financed

The equipment quote or invoice verifies the financing amount matches the sales price.

READ: You Need to Package Your “Story Credit”

Along with your credit score, how much additional documentation you’re asked to provide also depends on the amount of the financing you’re requesting. The higher the amount, the more documentation you might be asked to submit. Regardless of the amount, the more documentation you can provide when asked, the better overall idea the lender has of your financial situation. And, that can make a difference when it comes to approving your equipment leasing application.

If you want to learn more about the equipment financing application process, our team is happy to answer your questions.

Close-up of businessperson give agreement document with graph da

You Need To Package Your “Story Credit”

by FinancingIndustry News

Important To Submit Good Credit Packages 

Package your story creditSales people are typically “coin operated,” which is to say that they are motivated by money. With that said, it is sometimes surprising to me how many sales people don’t understand the importance of submitting a good credit submission package. The reason for that might be for many of the small transactions, credit scoring drives the credit decision. The only thing the sales person needs to supply to the funding source is a completed and signed credit application and a vendor quote/invoice.

Then again, there are the larger transactions that require additional information, such as financial statements and tax returns. In larger transactions, with credit worthy accounts, nothing much more than those basic items is required. The financials (and/or tax returns) tell the “Story” for the credit committee. The Scoring solution requires minimum input from the sales person, and for the larger transactions the financials and tax returns speak for themselves. However, when the transaction is a “Story Credit,” things seem to become challenging for the sales person. This is where many sales people fail to properly “package” the opportunity to obtain the desired results from the funding sources.

What qualifies as a “Story Credit?”

If the credit submission fails either of the above credit reviews, then likely it now qualifies as a “Story Credit” submission. Here the sales person needs to identify why did it not pass the credit review at the bank. For small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), the principals of the business will most likely be required to provide their personal guarantee on the financing. When their credit is pulled, the most frequent reason a bank declines the application is a legacy issue. Those legacy issues include foreclosures, bankruptcies, tax liens, short sales, student loan delinquencies, etc. An issue that occurred just six -months ago can negatively affected the borrowers/lessee’s FICO score. The borrowers/lessee’s FICO score might now be 710, but they had a short sale in 2014. To get these credit submissions approved, someone has to find out about the borrowers/lessee’s “Story.”

How does someone tell the “Story?”

If you want to get this opportunity approved, this is where the work begins. You, the sales person with the opportunity fulfills the roll of “Packager.” You need to ask questions of the borrowers/lessee and share that information with your funding source. What happened, how did it get resolved? If it did not get resolved, where does it stand now? Why did they file bankruptcy? If they did not file bankruptcy, but were severely delinquent with a number of creditors, what did they do and why? Are they now caught up or nearly caught up?

So, what is the funding source looking for? Typically, character of the principal, today’s cash flow and to assess the value of the collateral.

The character of the principal is a good starting point. When they faced adversity, how did they handle it? Did they file bankruptcy because of the divorce and walked away from all their creditors? Did they file bankruptcy and entered into payment plans with their creditors, paying everyone eventually all the money they owed? Assuming everything else is okay, the difference in the action one person took versus the other might mean one get approved and the other declined.

Sometimes, the opportunity is based on being awarded a contract or contracts. As a packager, the lease broker, it is important that a copy of these contracts (signed preferred) be included in the credit submission. Then there is the possible mismatch. The contract is for two years and the lessee wants a five-year financing term. Is there any explanation on how that is going to work out?

We had applicants come into our office several years ago who wanted to get a loan. They were local and since they had a credit “issue” on their credit report, it was their intention to make a good impression. We learned in that meeting that they entered into a loan on equipment with a bank several years earlier. Subsequent to that loan, as so many others did in the down turn, the vendor went out of business. We were told that since the vendor went out of business, they elected to stop paying the bank. Since the vendor would no longer service the equipment, they did not feel they needed to continue to pay the loan. The character of this applicant was clear, this was a business we did not want for our portfolio. We bid him good luck finding a lender for his financing needs. We have seen the lessee who has current or former tax liens. When you know they exist, or existed, you want to obtain the payment plans or document the closure if they have been paid off.

We entertain start-ups and they are never easy. This is where the Packager should be asking a lot of questions and submitting a “Transaction Summary” with all the information they have learned. We require the lessee complete a “Start-Up Questionnaire.” One question is “Do you have a business plan?”, if so include it. I am always amazed when the question is answered with a “Yes,” but the business plan is not included with the credit submission. Then there are those that submit a business plan, and it only contains the details of their idea for the business. No financial projections, no costs identified and no revenues, etc. I guess those folks are hoping for the best and they love the idea no matter if they can pay the bills or not. It is not uncommon for the principal to state on the Questionnaire that they have invested X dollars into the business and not include the details on where it came from nor how it was used. Those are basic details us, as lenders, want to know about and you, as the Packager, will want to include in your submission.

Global Financial & Leasing Services (GFLS) was created in 2008 for the purpose of serving these small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). GFLS has the capability to fund a wide range of businesses. In addition to its own bank lines, GFLS has established its own equipment lease fund. Now, as a funding source, we are able to peel back the layers of a credit request to uncover value and create a structure that will work to assist SMBs secure equipment financing with or without credit blemishes. We know that not every less-than-perfect credit story may fit into the credit boxes used by banks and other financial institutions, but GFLS believes a company’s character is more than its credit rating. In closing, a good Packager is more successful with their submissions and makes more money.

New-Years-Business-Goals

Stick to These Top 3 Resolutions for a “Healthy” Business in 2019

by Financing

Stick to These Top 3 Resolutions for a “Healthy” Business in 2019The midway point of January has passed. That means most people’s well-intentioned resolutions have already fallen by the wayside. Sticking to a resolution is hard. For busy business owners, it’s even harder because, well… you’re focused on running a business. We get it! We’ll skip the treadmill to meet with a new client, too.

As a leading provider in equipment financing, we have a unique perspective of what a “healthy” business looks like based on the hundreds of applications for equipment financing we review. If your 2019 business resolution is to create a “healthier” company, consider following these tips.

The Tax Advantages of a Capital Lease are There for the Taking

Changes in Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax code took effect last year, which allow you to deduct from your gross income the full amount of equipment financed through a capital lease in the year you put said equipment into service. You get the immediate deduction versus having to depreciate its value over years.

If you have long thought having a certain piece of equipment would boost your company’s productivity, sales, profit or a combination thereof, 2019 may just be the year to finance it through a capital lease. After 2022, the law will change.

Pay More Attention to Profit Instead of a Lease Payment

For business owners with less-than-perfect credit, the fear of a high lease payment can keep them from investing in equipment that actually could grow their business and generate profit above and beyond the payment expense.

Take a look at some numbers we ran to illustrate our point here.

Business ownership comes with taking risk. However, some risks are a no-brainer, especially when the numbers add up on your behalf.

Make This the Year to Improve Your Personal Credit for Business Sake

When you are not a corporation, lenders draw no line of distinction between your company’s and your personal credit history. The logic being that how one handles personal finances likely are the same as how one handles the business finances.

Your personal credit history will be reviewed along with a financing application when you apply for equipment lease financing. There are two things you can do to prepare for the inevitable. One, resolve to improve your personal credit by following these steps. Two, work with an equipment lease financier who sees you as more than a credit score and will consider your personal character and other more positive aspects of your financial history along with the numbers on your application.

Business goals are far less prone to slide into oblivion than personal resolutions. In reality, business goals you set for the year are similar to resolutions. The difference is that your commitment to business resolutions can have a measurable effect on your company’s year-end success, profitability and growth. Get in touch with us if you need support or advice to help keep your 2019 business resolutions and lease the equipment that’ll spur business growth.

Business-Lease-x600

The Tax Implications of an Operating Lease

by FinancingWhat about Taxes?

The Tax Benefits of an Operating Lease Depends on the Asset Leased

While capital leases and their tax advantages are in the spotlight due to changes in the Section 179 deductions for 2018, operating leases may still offer tax benefits depending on the type of asset leased. Under an operating lease, the lessor maintains ownership of the asset and the associated deductions, while the lessee deducts lease payments as an operating expense and records those payments on the Profit & Loss statement as they’re paid or incurred.

The ability to deduct payments on an operating lease as an operating expense is one of the most popular tax advantages of this lease type. However, an operating lease’s tax advantages depends on the type of asset you lease.

You might see a greater tax break from the direct expense of each lease payment if the equipment (asset) you’re leasing is anticipated to become obsolete before the entire value can be depreciated off your books. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations determine the amount of depreciation that can be expensed, and the IRS dictates the lifespan of the equipment under normal use.

Another advantage is that you can offset operating expenses dollar for dollar against income earned, reducing your net profit, and thus, your tax obligation.

Read: How do capital lease tax advantages compare?

Whether your equipment lease is classified as a capital or an operating lease has significant implications. Your business’s tax situation is unique to you and your company, so you must determine what classification is most beneficial for your business. The most common distinction being that capital leases allow you now to deduct the full purchase price of equipment in the year it was put in use, while operating leases allow you to deduct lease payments as operating expenses for the term of the lease, reducing your taxable income.

As with all business transactions, a trusted professional can help you determine which type of lease will provide you with the maximum tax advantages based on your goals and financial situation. Global Financial & Leasing Services (GFLS) has been providing financial resources to help small and mid-sized companies gain the equipment they need to grow since 2009. Our team is known for looking beyond credit scores and history to find financing that works for you. Have a question about equipment financing? Contact us.

Section-179-tax-benefitx600

The 2018 Tax Advantages of a Capital Lease

by FinancingWhat about Taxes?

Section 179 Changes Encourage Small Business Owners to Invest in Their Businesses Sooner Versus Later

Changes in Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax code take effect for the 2018 tax year. These changes are anticipated to benefit the bottom lines of those who can now deduct the full amount of equipment financed through a capital lease in the tax year it is placed into service compared to depreciating its value over several years.

Under Section 179, there are requirements that must be met in order to deduct equipment’s full purchase price from your gross income in 2018.

  • The equipment must be used more than 50 percent for business.
  • The capital lease must meet what the IRS considers a capital lease for tax purposes, falling under these four criteria:
  1. Ownership of the leased equipment transfers from the lessor to the lessee at the end of the lease.
  2. There is an option at the conclusion of the lease to buy the leased equipment below its fair market value on the date of the lease’s termination.
  3. The term of the lease is in excess of 75 percent of the useful life of the leased property.
  4. The net present value of future lease payments exceeds 90 percent of the fair market value of the leased property at the start of the lease.
  • If a lease does not meet the criteria of a capital lease, the IRS treats it as an operating lease. The lease payments are considered operating expenses and recorded on your Profit & Loss statement when paid or incurred.

If your lease meets the requirements of the IRS’s capital lease definition, now what? You can deduct the full purchase price in the year it’s placed into service. In many cases, the tax savings from this year-one deduction will boost your bank account balance more so than if you hadn’t financed the equipment in the first place. Meaning the amount you save in taxes can exceed the amount you spend on lease payments.

An example of how this bottom-line friendly deduction plays out in reality:

  Equipment cost: $400,000
  Section 179 deduction: $400,000
  Adjusted basis: $0
  1st year depreciation: $0
  (Assumes double declining ½ year convention)
  Final adjusted basis: $0
  Total 1st year deduction: $400,000
  (Assumes 35% tax bracket)  
  Equipment cost after savings: $260,000
  Percentage discount due to tax savings: 35%

There are a few limits…

The amount that can be written off is $1 million in 2018. On purchases over $2.5 million, the Section 179 deductions decrease dollar for dollar. After the Section 179 benefits are exhausted, bonus depreciation of 100 percent can now be taken until 2022 on the remaining amount of equipment placed into service.

Calculate your tax savings based on your equipment cost here.
Visit section179.org to learn more about the Section 179 deduction.

Bottom line: The specific wording and terms of your lease contract could mean the difference between capitalizing an asset or taking a direct deduction for lease payments. Therefore, determining the classification (capital or operating) of a lease before the lease is signed can be a crucial tax planning tool and help you generate maximum tax savings.

If the time is right for you to invest in equipment to grow your business and reap maximum tax savings, talk to us at Global Financial & Leasing Services (GFLS).

Business man pressing high tech type of modern graph on a virtua

Why Put Profit Above an Equipment Lease Payment?

by Financing

When “Scary” Payments Aren’t So ScaryPut Profit Above an Equipment Lease Payment

If you have been putting off leasing equipment for your business because of your less-than-perfect credit score and fear of a “scary” lease payment, stop. You may be stunting business growth for no good reason. Even if you fall in the B or C credit tier, there is much more to the equation than your equipment finance rate and monthly payments.

In fact, we’re going so far as to say that if the equipment you finance is essential to your business and will generate profit then the finance rate shouldn’t affect your decision to lease. You already know whether new or upgraded equipment is essential to your business. Determining if it will generate revenue (and how much) is a matter of analyzing the numbers.

The best way to illustrate that what you stand to gain is more important than what you spend on a payment is by example.

You have your eye on a piece of equipment that you can invoice $100 per hour in use. Based on competitive research, a conservative estimate of use per week is 30 hours.

$100 x 30 hours = $3,000 in billing per week

$3,000 x 4 weeks in a month = $12,000 in billing per month

Of course, operating and labor costs have to be factored in, and you’ll want to be generous in estimating these. For our example, we’ll use $45 per hour.

$45 x 30 hours = $1,350 in expenses per week

$1,350 x 4 weeks in a month = $5,400 in expenses per month

 

$12,000 in billing per month – $5,400 in expenses per month = $6,600 PROFIT

 

Now, let’s look at the equipment lease payment.

Falling in the B or C credit tier, your rate, and therefore payment, will be higher than a rate based on a better credit, which is a reason to improve your personal and business credit score. However, your credit score is what it is for the time being. Your rate and monthly payment will reflect that.

$6,600 monthly PROFIT – $1,200 per month payment = $5,400 per month PROFIT

With a better credit rating, the payment might fall in the $700 range

$6,600 monthly PROFIT – $700 per month payment = $5,900 per month PROFIT

Do you want to spend more on a monthly payment because of less-than-perfect credit? Of course not. But can your business growth afford to be stunted because of it? Usually not. Even paying a higher rate due to poor credit, you’re still generating an extra $5,400 a month profit. And, every month you make your equipment lease payment on time, you’re improving your credit score. The next time you lease equipment you’ll be better positioned to earn a lower rate. Last, but not least, there are many other benefits to consider when leasing equipment that outweigh the expense of the lease payments.

When Other Lenders Say No, We Often Say Yes

Global Financial & Leasing Services (GFLS) strives to approve equipment leases regardless of your credit score. We work with business owners across many industries, such as health/medical, construction, restaurant, machinery/manufacturing, printing, logging/forestry and many others. Our team listens to your story and business goals. We help you run realistic numbers to determine whether leasing equipment with what may seem like “scary” higher rate makes sense for your situation and growth rate.

For an objective look at what’s possible, talk to us.

Improve-Personal-Credit

How to Improve Your Personal Credit Before Financing Business Equipment

by Financing

Show You’re More Than an ApplicationImprove Personal Credit Score

When you own a small business and its growth depends on financing an equipment lease, your personal credit matters. It matters even if your company’s credit history is blemish free. Equipment lease financiers draw a correlation between your personal and business money habits. In other words, people are likely to treat their business accounts much like they do their personal accounts.

Equipment lease financiers review more than your financing application, including your personal credit history. If you’re a new business owner, your personal credit plays a larger role in your application because your business hasn’t had time to establish a history. There is a saying: Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. Your past credit history serves as a crystal ball for creditors determining the odds of getting their money back. 

After the Great Recession, small business owners’ credit history is under even more scrutiny than ever. Ironically, the recession is one reason some personal credit histories have blemishes. Before applying for financing to lease equipment essential to your business, everything you do to improve your personal credit is time and effort well spent.   

Start Improving Your Personal Credit

  • Order a credit report and verify that the information it contains is accurate. It’s common for credit reports to have errors whether they be from inaccurate reporting to someone else’s information being mistakenly added to yours.
  • Don’t miss any payments or have insufficient fund notices on any account for three to six months preceding your equipment lease financing application.
  • Unless absolutely necessary, do not apply for new loans or open new credit accounts in the months prior to financing an equipment lease.
  • Rather than close accounts, pay off the balances. Keeping an account open improves credit age. The longer accounts are open, the better.
  • If possible, pay off delinquent balances that have landed in collections. Contact the creditor and request a stop to collections in exchange for full payment.
  • Make small purchases and pay the balance off fully every month.
  • Remember that just because you have a credit limit, it doesn’t mean you should max out that limit. Keep credit balances in check with your income. A good rule of thumb is to keep the amount you owe less than 30 percent of your income.
  • Slow and steady wins the race. Improving your credit score takes time, but it can and will happen if you stick to your plan.

Show There Is More to You Than Your Equipment Lease Financing Application

The goal is to highlight your fortitude in facing and conquering challenges. If your credit history isn’t as high as you’d like it to be, show the lender more positive aspects of your financial performance history. Examples such as long periods of positive cash flow, how much your business sells each month, how quickly you were able to turn a profit, how well you have managed expenses, and testimonials from long-time, loyal customers, etc. demonstrate positive aspects of your financial performance history.

Work with a direct lender, like Global Financial & Leasing Services (GFLS), who is willing to see you as more than numbers and an application because those things don’t always portray character and integrity. If you have imperfect credit or a startup, we listen to your whole story and strive to work with you on getting the equipment you need to succeed.

If your credit history is putting your business’s future on hold, work on improving your personal credit and talk to GFLS about your equipment leasing needs.

 

When Other Lenders Say No, We Often Say Yes

Still get financing with low FICO Score

Grow Your Business Despite Low FICO

by Financing

A Low FICO Score Didn’t Keep Ayala Bobcat Service from Financing Essential Equipment to Grow Sales

Chris Ayala and his father joined forces to start a ground clearing business in 2014. Drawing on that Still get financing with low FICO Scoreexperience, Chris set out on his own as a sole proprietor and started Ayala Bobcat Service in 2016. His company, located in San Antonio, Texas, specializes in landscaping, ground clearing and excavating. In just two short years, Chris has cultivated and strengthened business relationships with landowners, homeowners’ associations, and real estate agents and developers. Having such a diverse client base results in a steady stream of landscaping and ground clearing projects.

The Need for Equipment

In Chris’s line of work, projects don’t get done without a compact track loader. Renting this equipment was costing Ayala Bobcat Service $3,000 per month. Chris could get the equipment his business needs to grow and gain measurable cost savings by financing an equipment lease versus renting.

Chris located a used Caterpillar compact truck loader for lease at a local San Antonio equipment company. Not only did the machine meet all of Chris’s requirements, such as horsepower, high-flow hydraulics, oil cooler, and two speeds, it was priced at $48,500, which is well below current market price. An evaluation valued the CAT 299 at $58,150 at auction and $66,141 retail.

Between the CAT 299’s features and attractive price point, Chris knew it would sell quickly. He had to move even quicker.

Overcoming a Low FICO Score to Secure Equipment Financing

In the eyes of big banks and traditional lenders, financing equipment for Ayala Bobcat Service represented risk. Chris is a sole proprietor without big, corporate assets and his FICO score wasn’t perfect. In fact, it was low.

Global Financial & Leasing Services (GFLS) looks beyond what numbers on a financing application. We spoke to Chris after reviewing his application and learned more about his loyal customers, the demand for his services, the outstanding deal he’d found on the CAT 299, and that he was a homeowner with deep roots in his San Antonio community. The compact track loader’s vendor signed a remarketing agreement, so Chris would have help selling the equipment when it goes off-lease at the end of the term. Chris could then use those funds to finance another compact track loader if he chooses.

Yes, Chris’s credit report had a collection blemish, which lowered his FICO score, but all other accounts were paid as agreed.

We worked diligently with Chris to ensure Ayala Bobcat Service had the equipment required to succeed. And, we did it quickly so that Chris didn’t miss out on the perfect compact track loader for his business. If other lenders have said no to financing equipment that is essential to your sales and growth, GFLS can often say yes, so tell us about your financing needs.

38371_smaller

What To Do When The Lender Says No

by Financing

When Other Lenders Say No to Equipment Financing, Global Financial & Leasing Services Can Often Say Yes

There are a number of differences between Global Financial & Leasing Services (GFLS) and other financial lenders. They range from our simplified application process and level of personal customer service to the very people who are able to secure equipment financing through us.

These differences are in GFLS’s DNA. It goes back to the year in which our company was founded, 2009. The biggest financial recession the U.S. had experienced since the Great Depression had taken hold and lenders responded by tightening financing requirements. Small and mid-sized business owners with less than perfect credit were left with few lending options available to them. The financial crisis hit all businesses hard, but small companies took the brunt. Struggling to get access to credit, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, small businesses represented 60 percent of the total job losses in the private sector between 2008 and 2009.

GFLS, like any new business planning for success, opened its doors to fill a need in the marketplace. In order to survive, much less grow, during the Great Recession, business owners had to have access to flexible financing for essential equipment. They needed a lender willing to look beyond credit blemishes. GFLS was created to serve as that much-needed alternative to big bank financing.

We Help Grow Businesses

Traditional lenders such as banks historically viewed small business equipment financing with a more critical eye than they did larger businesses. But, considering the job creating engines small businesses are in our economy, they deserved a lender that would champion their growth. GFLS wanted to become that champion, so we focused on helping small business owners with equipment financing to grow their companies and create jobs.

We Peel Back the Layers of Your Equipment Financing Application Like an Onion

You are more than what is on your financing application. If you have B- or C-tier credit or have a startup company, we listen to you and get the whole picture to help get you the capital you need. Beyond numbers and credit scores, we believe in character. Regardless of credit score, we treat every applicant with respect and kindness.

GFLS Opens Direct Lines of Communication with You

The entire equipment financing process is transparent. There is no rubber stamping and no automatic denials. Once the application is set in motion, we’re in constant communication with you. You receive daily updates on your financing application status, and more importantly, you can speak directly to decision makers. GFLS was founded to be different, and communication is one of our most appreciated differentiators from big banks that give applicants the run around and a frustrating game of phone tag.

Working with a Direct Lender Matters

Since GFLS is a direct lender, we are able to approve credit with our in-house funds, and the typical turnaround time is two to 24 hours, not days, weeks or months. The ability for small and mid-sized businesses to move quickly is one of their most competitive advantages in the marketplace. Our equipment financing services move at that same pace.

Don’t let big banks have the final say on your creditworthiness just because your financing application doesn’t fit their magical algorithms. Despite the economy’s rebound, banks are slow to return to the level of funding for small businesses that preceded the Great Recession. When other lenders say no to financing equipment that is essential to your sales and growth, GFLS can often say yes, so tell us about your financing needs.

Can You Imagine a Big Bank Calling YOU to Defer Your Equipment Lease Payments After a Disaster?

by Company NewsFinancing

Global Financial & Leasing Services’ Clients Can

 

As we’re writing this blog, it’s hurricane season. Right now, millions of people in the southeast are keeping an eye on several storms moving across the Pacific Ocean. Many of these people are small or mid-size business owners. Many more people depend on these companies for their livelihoods. Should one or more of these storms develop in to full-fledged hurricanes, like Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in 2017, damage easily runs into the billions. For small to medium-sized businesses, hurricanes not only cause physical damage to structures and equipment, but also forces their owners and employees to face the hardships of rebuilding and reopening the doors.

While business owners keep an eye on approaching storms, who’s keeping an eye out for their best interests when a hurricane makes landfall? Their equipment financing provider is the least expected answer. However, that’s exactly what happened last year after Harvey and Irma tracked devastating paths in the south and southeast.

It’s not a common occurrence for most equipment financing customers to receive a payment deferral on equipment leases after a disaster. Usually a customer would have to contact their lender/lessor and request a payment deferral due to a tragedy. What’s special about working with a personal service-focused equipment-financing provider, like Global Financial & Leasing Services (GFLS), is that they will often reach out to their customers adversely affected and address their needs.

GFLS president, Judi Jenks, explains, “As a small business, we respond quickly because we don’t have to go through layers upon layers of decision makers. Our management team watched the news footage of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and we wanted to help in a way that made a fast, positive impact on our clients. We did a search of our database for lessees in the affected areas and automatically applied the payment deferral. Then, I personally called each one to let them know they had one less thing to worry about.”

The difference between obtaining financing for essential business equipment from a “big bank” and a smaller equipment financing provider was never so evident than it was for a GFLS Services’ client in Florida. He had lived in the Sunshine State all his life, yet Hurricane Irma was the first time he had to deal with insurance companies.

Judi recalls, “This client lost the roof off his personal residence among other damage. That alone was a nightmare situation. When I called him to tell him about the equipment financing deferral, he was simply ecstatic over what we had done and was so appreciative. It was the least we could do given the circumstances, but took a burden off his shoulders while he began to get life back to normal.”

It’s heartbreaking to watch coverage of cities being battered by waves, rain and wind. What people tend to forget is that along with damage to homes and city infrastructure, business owners are facing the same problems on two fronts – home and business.

“Even though GFLS Services is located in Scottsdale, Arizona, we’re still looking out for our equipment financing clients across the country. We always encourage our clients to call us at (480) 478-7400 and ask to speak directly to me or Rachelle, our operations manager, should they be dealing with a disaster and need help,” says Judi.