Call it a bad situation getting much worse. Tax season came to a close yesterday and you just realized that your struggling business not only owes money to the IRS but that you are unable to pay. As a small business owner, you have many options available to you each with varying consequences.

File for an Extension and Get Help with Invoice Factoring

In this difficult economy, more and more businesses are filing tax extensions this year to defer payment. The IRS will still hit you with fines and added interest for going this route, but they will be minimal when compared to other options such as failing to file (which the IRS hates and penalizes the most).

Getting an extension or payment plan will provide you with more time to review your books, collect outstanding invoices, and bolster your cash flow. The extension is intended to provide a time-buffer allowing you to pool all your available resources so that you can pay the IRS with minimal fines.

Factoring Invoices Can Solve the Late-Paying Customer Problem

Whether or not you file for an extension, invoice factoring is an option your business can consider as a way to secure this money to pay your levies. Maybe you are waiting on a late-paying customer or a sure-thing deal fell through at the last minute. You were going to use this money to pay your taxes but now you can’t and you don’t know what other options you have. Factoring services can help.

Account receivables factoring, which has been around hundreds of years and grown in popularity more recently, is a financing method where a company’s existing invoices are used as collateral in securing need-it-now cash. Unlike bank loans, invoice factoring does not rely on credit reports so businesses with so-so FICO scores can take advantage of invoice factoring services. Moreover, bank loans can take weeks or months to secure where Factoring receivables takes only a matter of days.

Account Receivables Factoring Is Easier than It Seems

And unlike the tax laws, which must be deciphered by a Certified Public Accountant, the factoring invoices guidelines will be explained by a customer-service oriented specialist who can tell you exactly the percentage they charge and exactly when you will get your money. Most factoring services cost about 4-6% of the value of your money meaning you get up to 96% of your money. Unlike filing your taxes, ease of use is actually one of the essential components of factoring receivables.