What does factoring cost? How your rate is built up

Why there is no rate card

SOOF Finance does not publish rates. Every facility is tailored, and two businesses with the same turnover get a different rate.

That is not an evasive answer, it follows from how the assessment works. What is possible is to set out exactly which items there are, so that you can read a quotation and compare it.

The two cost items under factoring

Under factoring you can face at most two kinds of cost. That is fewer than most people expect.

The factoring fee is a fixed percentage of the invoice value. It covers taking over the receivable, the administrative processing and, if you choose it, the receivables management.

The daily fee is added only when an invoice has still not been paid by your debtor after 30 days. So in most cases it stays at the factoring fee.

That second point matters when you compare providers. A low factoring fee with a fast-rising second item can work out dearer than a higher fee with no tail.

Your client's payment term counts

Because the daily fee starts after 30 days, the payment behaviour of your clients sets part of your cost. And that term is not yours to fix.

Without an agreement the payment term is 30 days. Between businesses it may run to 60 days, and from a large company to an SME supplier a maximum of 30 days applies.¹

If you work with clients who take 60 days as standard, that is a structural item rather than an incident. It belongs in your sums before you compare.

What sets your rate

Your rate does not come from a table but from an assessment. These six things count:

• the form of finance, or the combination of forms
• the size of the facility and how intensively you use it
• the quality and spread of your receivables book
• the nature and the value of the security
• the sector you work in and the payment terms that apply there
• whether SOOF takes over an existing pledge from your bank

The third is the item business owners most often misjudge. Twenty spread customers assess differently from one large client who is eighty per cent of your turnover.

If you combine several forms, the whole is assessed. That is usually more favourable than taking the same forms separately from different parties, as set out in combined working capital finance.

Costs that can come on top

Alongside the fee there are items that do not come from SOOF itself but are for your account:

• the cost of assessing the application
• notary and registration costs for creating or taking over security
• the cost of credit insurance, where that is part of your solution
• the cost of third parties such as valuers or credit reference agencies

Under inventory finance you pay interest on the amount drawn, plus the cost of establishing and periodically testing the stock value. Under a business loan, interest on the principal, with any arrangement fee named separately. The full build-up per form is set out under rates and fees.

What you get on paper in advance

This is the test you can apply to any provider. Before you sign, these five things belong on paper:

• the funding amount and the term
• every rate as a percentage and in euros
• all additional costs, named separately
• the total cost of the finance
• the conditions under which a rate can change

If a cost item is not in there, it is not charged either.

Dearer than the bank, and why that is the wrong comparison

Interest on bank credit is generally lower than the cost of factoring. In March 2026 Dutch SMEs paid an average of around 3.6 per cent on outstanding bank credit, against 3.1 per cent for larger businesses.²

Only then you are comparing two different things. With a loan you pay interest on the whole amount, including the part you do not use, and the limit is fixed. With factoring you pay per invoice and the headroom moves with your invoicing. The full trade-off is in factoring or bank credit.

There is one more item that often stays out of the sums. Many suppliers give a discount if you pay within ten days. At a high purchase value that discount covers part of your funding cost, as worked through in the early payment discount from your suppliers.

What it comes down to

Under factoring there are two cost items, and the second only starts after 30 days. What you pay depends on your book, your sector and your security, not on a table.

Want a first indication for your situation, take the Quickscan. Want to put another quotation alongside it, use the five points above as your checklist.

Sources

1. Rijksoverheid, Minister Herbert: bedrijven en overheden, betaal je leveranciers op tijd, 18 June 2026.
2. De Nederlandsche Bank, Bijna helft van bedrijfsleningen naar mkb, rente ligt iets hoger, 13 May 2026.