Knowledge base · Factoring · 7 minuten · 9 Sep 2026

Combined working capital finance: factoring, stock and a loan in one

Most SMEs do not have one funding problem but a connected question. Slow payers, capital in stock, and a bank that will not go further. This article sets out what combined working capital finance at SOOF Finance is, how the three components interlock, and what you give up for it.

A desk overlooking both the warehouse and the yard, with three sets of documents

What combined working capital finance is

Combined working capital finance is one facility made up of more than one form. At SOOF Finance those are factoring, inventory finance and a business loan, separately or combined.

That is not a marketing term. In the terms and conditions, finance is defined as factoring, inventory finance, a business loan, or a combination of those.

So you have one counterparty, one agreement and one point of contact, even with three mechanisms underneath.

Why the question is rarely one thing

At a trading or manufacturing business, working capital is locked up in more than one place. In your receivables, in your warehouse, and sometimes behind a pledge that blocks everything.

A single solution then touches one of the three. You free up your invoices, but your stock stays where it is. Or you buy out your bank and still have no running headroom afterwards.

That also explains why orientation is the hardest step. In 2025, 15 per cent of Dutch SMEs had a need for new external finance, but only 9 per cent got as far as an application. Of the businesses that did apply, 93 per cent were granted the amount in full or in part, against 84 per cent in 2019.¹

The three components, and what each solves

Factoring works on your receivables. You submit an invoice after delivery, SOOF advances up to 90 per cent, and the remainder follows once your client has paid. The headroom moves with your invoicing.

Inventory finance works on your stock. The headroom follows the assessed stock value and the percentage from your agreement. You submit stock lists periodically and your position does not have to be run down.

The business loan works on your security. It funds the buy-out of the bank, which releases an existing pledge and only then makes the other two forms possible.

The order is often compulsory. As long as your assets are taken, there is nothing to combine.

How the combination fits together

Each form has its own provisions, even inside one agreement. For factoring, the performance must have been delivered and the receivable must be free of third-party rights. For inventory finance, you submit lists and cooperate with inspections and valuations.

Above that sits the facility: the maximum headroom available to you at any given moment. That facility is assessed on a continuing basis, on your creditworthiness and on that of your debtors.

The security is created as a coherent whole. SOOF also releases it, as soon as everything has been settled and no obligations remain.

What the combination gives you

The first gain is coverage. You fund not one item but the whole cycle from purchase to payment.

The second is control. With separate financiers you have to run the coordination on pledges yourself. With one party that coordination sits with the financier.

The third is speed when things change. If your question shifts from receivables to stock, the centre of gravity shifts within the same facility.

What you give up for it

An honest page names the other side too. Combining means concentration with one financier.

SOOF may set off what you owe against what SOOF owes you, whichever agreement that arises from. And assets pledged to SOOF are not pledged to a third party without written consent.

The reporting load is also higher than with factoring alone. Inventory finance calls for periodic lists and inspections that a factoring line does not have.

What it does to your balance sheet

For a CFO or controller this is a reporting question as well. Whether receivables come off your balance sheet depends on who carries the risk.

The combination does not make that question harder, but it does make it broader: the treatment differs per component. The detail is in factoring and your annual accounts, and the effect on your ratios in improving liquidity and improving solvency.

What it comes down to

Combining is not an upgrade of factoring. It is the logical form as soon as your capital is locked up in more than one place.

If you do not yet know which components apply to you, start with which type of finance fits you. If you want to know the pitfalls before you start comparing, download the guide to working capital finance.

Sources

Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, Mkb'er krijgt aangevraagde financiering vaker toegewezen, 4 February 2026.

About the author

Jaap van Aalst

Commercieel directeur, SOOF Finance

Jaap van Aalst started his first business almost thirty years ago, in staffing and secondment. That is where he saw for himself how many opportunities are lost when money sits too long in unpaid invoices.

Around eighteen years ago he moved into the factoring world, as commercial director. Since then he has sat across the table from countless business owners and seen at first hand what financing questions look like in practice. He looks further than the balance sheet: what the business does, where the opportunities are, and which form of finance genuinely moves it forward.

That is also the basis of his work at SOOF Finance. His starting point is simple: finance is not an end in itself, but a means by which a good entrepreneur delivers on their plans.

Ask your question

Frequently asked questions

One agreement with one financier. Within it, each form of finance has its own provisions, for example on delivery under factoring and on stock lists under inventory finance.

No. The forms can be taken separately. Combining is an option that fits as soon as your capital is locked up in more than one place.

You concentrate your funding with one financier. SOOF may set off across agreements, and pledged assets are not used elsewhere without consent.