The cash-flow challenge in import/export
Overseas suppliers want payment or letters of credit before goods ship, and transit adds weeks before you can invoice.
Customers in this sector typically pay in 60–120 days including transit. That gap is not a sign of a badly run business — it is simply how the sector trades, and it is why so many import/export companies hit a ceiling that has nothing to do with demand.
How purchase order financing solves it
Trade-focused PO financing issues LCs or wires to foreign suppliers, then converts to AR financing on delivery.
PO financing is built for product businesses — distributors, wholesalers, importers and government resellers — that win orders larger than their working capital. It lets you say yes to growth instead of turning down the biggest contract of the year.
Because approval rests on your customers' creditworthiness rather than your own balance sheet, newer import/export companies and those rebuilding credit qualify on the same basis as established firms. Facilities run from $25,000 to $25 million and grow as your invoicing grows.
What import/export clients use funding for
- Letters of credit
- Supplier wires
- Freight & duties
- Container volume
Who qualifies
- You resell finished goods (no heavy in-house manufacturing)
- Confirmed, non-cancellable PO from a creditworthy customer
- Gross margin of roughly 15% or more on the deal
- Reliable supplier with a delivery track record
What Import/Export businesses need to apply
Applying takes about ten minutes. Most Import/Export companies already have everything on this list, and nothing here affects your personal credit score.
- The confirmed, non-cancellable purchase order from your customer
- Your supplier's quote or pro-forma invoice
- A cost breakdown showing your gross margin on the deal
- Articles of incorporation and your EIN
- Supplier references or a delivery track record
Why it pays to move now
The cost of waiting is rarely just interest. It is the contract you could not staff, the order you could not fill and the supplier discount you could not take. Purchase Order Financing converts work you have already delivered into cash you can deploy this week.
