Choosing a factoring provider: eleven questions to ask

Why comparing has got harder

The offering outside the bank has grown. SME finance through Dutch fintechs rose by 27 per cent in 2024 to 3.2 billion euros, while outstanding SME credit at the three large banks fell by 0.7 billion euros.¹

More providers is good news, but it makes choosing harder. Below there are no names and no table of logos, just the questions that let you see the difference yourself.

1. Who am I entering into the agreement with?

The first question is the most important. Are you contracting with the party at the table, or are they placing you with a financier behind them?

Both models work, but it decides who makes the decisions and who you approach when something changes. The difference is set out in direct financier or broker.

At SOOF the agreement is with SOOF Finance B.V. or an affiliated company.

2. Disclosed or undisclosed?

Under disclosed factoring your clients know you use factoring, because they pay using the financier's payment reference. Under undisclosed factoring they notice nothing.

That is not a detail. If you specifically want to keep it invisible to your customers, you need a provider that offers undisclosed factoring.

SOOF works exclusively with disclosed, traditional factoring. Anyone looking for undisclosed factoring is at the wrong address.

3. The whole book or single invoices?

Some providers fund per invoice, so you choose what you submit. Others work on your entire receivables book.

Single invoices give flexibility, a whole book generally gives a better rate and more headroom. SOOF works on the whole book.

4. What advance rate, and what is it based on?

Do not just ask for the percentage, ask how it was set. A high percentage on a narrow definition of fundable invoices delivers less than a lower percentage on your whole book.

At SOOF that is up to 90 per cent of the invoice value, depending on your receivables book, and agreed in advance.

5. How many cost items are there, and when does the second start?

This is where offers differ most. Ask for the number of items, not just the rate.

A low entry fee with a fast-rising second item can work out dearer than a higher fee with no tail. The full build-up at SOOF is in what does factoring cost.

6. What is the limit per debtor?

Almost every provider works with a limit per customer. If a large share of your turnover sits with one client, that limit sets your real headroom, not your total book.

So ask what happens if your largest client is eighty per cent of your book. A provider who waves that away has not worked through your portfolio.

7. What happens if my client does not pay?

There are two questions in here. Is there credit insurance, and can the advance be reversed?

On a dispute, a credit note or a counterclaim, a financier may generally reverse the advance and hand the receivable back to you. At SOOF that is in the terms and conditions, and it is worth asking of every provider.

8. Who handles the receivables management, and how?

If you hand the management over, the financier decides how and when reminders go out. That touches your commercial relationship.

Ask how that works in practice and whether you can agree in advance how your larger clients are approached.

9. Can my bank's pledge be taken over?

This is the question that most often ends the conversation. If your receivables are already pledged to the bank, a financier can do nothing with them unless that position is bought out.

Not every provider runs that process. Ask whether they coordinate it or whether you end up between two parties.

10. Can I combine it with stock or a loan?

If your capital is locked up in more than one place, one provider for the whole is usually more favourable than separate financiers. The flip side is concentration with one party.

What combining gains you and what it costs is set out in combined working capital finance.

11. What do I get on paper in advance?

The last question is the easiest test. Before you sign, these five things belong on paper: the amount and the term, every rate as a percentage and in euros, all additional costs named separately, the total cost, and the conditions under which a rate can change.

If an item is not in there, it may not be charged either. A provider who will not give you that overview up front drops out.

Where SOOF is not the answer

An honest checklist names the exclusions too. SOOF works with SMEs and not with sole traders or one-person businesses, and the starting point is a funding need from around 1 million euros.

If you are below that, or you are looking for undisclosed factoring or funding per single invoice, another provider makes more sense. That is quicker to establish than after three meetings.

What it comes down to

The gate is not the market but the application. In 2025, 9 per cent of Dutch SMEs got as far as a finance application while 15 per cent had a need, and of the businesses that did apply, 93 per cent were granted the amount in full or in part.²

So take these eleven questions into the first meeting, whichever party it is with. If you want to know first where this kind of process goes wrong, download the guide to working capital finance.

Sources

1. De Nederlandsche Bank, Financiering via Nederlandse fintechs in drie jaar tijd meer dan verdubbeld, 6 October 2025.
2. Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, Mkb'er krijgt aangevraagde financiering vaker toegewezen, 4 February 2026.