Option 1 of 12
Working Capital Loans (Revenue-Based)
The fastest, most flexible option — and the closest competitor to an MCA, but at half the cost.
Cost
1.25%–4% per month (18–48% APR equivalent)
Collateral
None — revenue-based
Working capital loans (also called revenue-based financing) underwrite to your bank deposits, not your tax return — which is exactly why they fund in days when a bank would take weeks. The trade-off is cost: at 1.25–4% per month they sit between a bank line and a merchant cash advance, but their fixed monthly payment is structurally safer than the daily-pull MCA structure that destroys cash flow. For most growing companies whose bank just said no, this is the first product we shop, and the one our debt-refinance work usually rolls borrowers into.
Pick this if
- •You need cash in days, not weeks
- •Your bank line is maxed but revenue is growing
- •You want a fixed monthly payment, not daily extractions
- •Your tax return doesn't reflect current revenue trajectory
Skip this if
- •You have strong AR or hard assets — asset-based lending or factoring will cost 5–10 points less
- •You can wait 4–8 weeks for an SBA loan
Real outcome: Borrowers refinancing out of MCA into working capital loans typically cut monthly debt service by 30–50% while preserving the speed that made them choose the MCA in the first place.
Closest alternatives: Consolidation & Recapitalization, Bridge Funding, Asset-Based Lending (ABL).
Option 2 of 12
Invoice Factoring (AR Financing)
The cheapest fast option when your customers are creditworthy and your tax return isn't.
Speed
2–3 week setup, then 24–48 hours per invoice
Cost
Prime + 1–6% + 0.25–1% per invoice
Collateral
Unpaid B2B invoices (no other collateral needed)
Invoice factoring is the answer to the same problem as a working capital loan — slow customer payments choking growth — but priced like a bank product because the lender is underwriting your customers' credit, not yours. You get 75–95% of an invoice's value within 24–48 hours of issuance and the balance (minus fees) when the customer pays. It's self-liquidating, scales automatically with sales, and is one of the only products that works when your business is growing fast but your tax return shows a loss.
Pick this if
- •You sell B2B with net-30 to net-90 terms
- •Your customers have strong credit even if you don't
- •Your sales are growing faster than your bank line
- •Your tax return doesn't reflect current reality
Skip this if
- •You sell B2C or take card payments — there are no invoices to factor
- •Your AR concentration is one customer (factors discount heavily)
Real outcome: One healthcare-supply manufacturer started at $1MM at Prime + 2% (single-digit blended) and scaled the facility to $1.5MM within two months as sales grew — no re-underwriting required.
Closest alternatives: Working Capital Loans (Revenue-Based), Asset-Based Lending (ABL), Inventory Financing.
Option 3 of 12
Asset-Based Lending (ABL)
The bank-line replacement when you've outgrown a traditional credit box but still have hard collateral.
Collateral
AR + inventory + equipment + sometimes real estate
ABL is a revolving credit line backed by everything liquid on your balance sheet: receivables, inventory, equipment, sometimes real estate. Compared to invoice factoring it gives you more borrowing power per dollar of assets (you're not capped at AR) and reads more like a bank line on your balance sheet. Compared to a working capital loan it costs less but takes longer to close — so we shop ABL when speed is in weeks rather than days and the borrower has multiple asset types to lend against.
Pick this if
- •You have $250K+ in AR plus inventory and/or equipment
- •You want a single revolving facility, not multiple products
- •You can wait 4–8 weeks for a cheaper rate than working capital
- •You're consolidating multiple expensive debts
Skip this if
- •You need cash this week
- •Your only collateral is AR (factoring will be simpler and faster)
Real outcome: Most ABL banks won't look below $3–5MM. We facilitate facilities from $250K because we shop the deal across 30+ lenders with different size minimums.
Closest alternatives: Invoice Factoring (AR Financing), Working Capital Loans (Revenue-Based), Inventory Financing.
Option 4 of 12
Equipment Leasing & Financing
The right answer when the capital need is the equipment itself — not general working capital.
Collateral
The equipment being financed (plus sometimes a PG)
When the capital you need is tied to a specific asset purchase — a machine, a truck, a server rack — financing the asset directly is almost always cheaper than drawing on a general working-capital line. Terms run 3–7 years, advance rates are 70–85% of liquidation value, and sale-leaseback structures let you extract equity from equipment you already own. This is where ABL borrowers go when the new collateral isn't AR or inventory but a piece of hardware.
Pick this if
- •You're buying a specific, identifiable asset
- •You want to preserve your bank line for working capital
- •You already own equipment and want to extract equity (sale-leaseback)
- •You want to match payment term to useful life of the asset
Skip this if
- •You need general operating cash — use working capital or ABL
Real outcome: Sale-leaseback against owned equipment routinely unlocks 50–70% of liquidation value in capital without adding a new debt covenant.
Closest alternatives: Asset-Based Lending (ABL), SBA Loans.
Option 5 of 12
Inventory Financing
The bridge between an asset-based line and a purchase-order loan when stock is the bottleneck.
Collateral
Inventory (up to 85% of liquidation value)
If your growth is constrained by inventory you can't afford to hold — a holiday build for e-commerce, raw materials for a contracted production run — inventory financing advances against the stock itself. It costs more than an ABL line because inventory is harder to liquidate than AR, but it works for B2C and direct-to-consumer companies that factoring won't touch.
Pick this if
- •Your business is e-commerce or retail with inventory turns
- •You can't qualify for factoring (no B2B invoices)
- •You need to scale stock ahead of a known demand spike
Skip this if
- •You have unpaid B2B invoices (factoring is cheaper)
- •The need is for upstream supplier payment — see PO funding
Real outcome: Most lenders cap inventory advances at 85% of liquidation value, which is why we layer it with a PO facility for international importers managing tariff cycles.
Closest alternatives: Asset-Based Lending (ABL), Purchase Order Funding.
Option 6 of 12
Purchase Order Funding
The one product that pays your suppliers before your customer pays you.
Speed
2–4 weeks approval, 5–10 days per draw
Collateral
The purchase order itself + supplier invoices
PO funding is the answer when the cash shortage sits between you and your supplier — a customer has placed an order, but you need to pay an overseas factory before the customer pays you. It funds 70–100% of the PO value, supports international suppliers, and combines naturally with invoice factoring (PO funds production, factoring funds the wait after delivery).
Pick this if
- •You have a confirmed customer PO you can't fulfill from cash on hand
- •Your supplier is overseas and demands payment up front
- •You're managing tariff cycles with bulk orders
Skip this if
- •The need is to hold inventory speculatively (no committed PO yet) — use inventory financing
Real outcome: A specialty coffee importer capped at $150K by their existing lender closed a $1MM PO facility in two weeks — enough to pay overseas suppliers and capitalize on a corporate-roaster demand surge.
Closest alternatives: Inventory Financing, Invoice Factoring (AR Financing).
Option 7 of 12
Government Contract Financing
Industry-specific AR financing for the 30–90+ day payment cycle every government client runs.
Collateral
The government contract itself + AR against it
Government clients (federal, state, local) routinely pay net-60, net-90, or quarterly. That timing gap kills growing contractors and subcontractors who fronted the materials and payroll. Government contract financing advances up to 90% of contract value against your award, structured around quirks unique to the sector (retainage, prime/sub payment flow, GSA terms). It's a specialized cousin of invoice factoring with underwriting that understands the contract structure.
Pick this if
- •You hold federal (GSA, DoD), state, or local government contracts
- •You're a subcontractor waiting on a prime contractor's payment
- •You need to fund payroll and materials before the government pays
Skip this if
- •Your customer is commercial — standard invoice factoring is cheaper
Real outcome: A federal GSA contractor closed $500K in 20 business days when payroll was due before the government payment cycle completed.
Closest alternatives: Invoice Factoring (AR Financing), Asset-Based Lending (ABL).
Option 8 of 12
Real Estate Lending (Bridge & Cash-Out)
Long-term capital priced like long-term capital — for property purchases or to extract equity for working capital.
Collateral
The commercial property (or personal real estate for some products)
When the business need is property — buying, refinancing, or cashing out equity for working capital — real estate lending is the right structure. Bridge loans (12–36 months, interest-only) cover acquisition timing gaps; permanent loans (25–30 year amortization) replace them once the deal closes. Cash-out refinances are how owner-operators turn dead equity into deployable capital for the operating business.
Pick this if
- •You're buying or refinancing commercial property
- •You have equity in commercial or personal real estate to extract
- •You need a long-amortization payment to match a long-term need
Skip this if
- •You need cash this week (bridge funding is faster)
- •You don't own real estate (this isn't the product)
Real outcome: A surgeon used a $550K second mortgage on personal real estate as the third layer of a $1.79MM capital stack that funded both year-end operations and a hospital-system acquisition.
Closest alternatives: Subordinated & Unsecured Credit, SBA Loans, Asset-Based Lending (ABL).
Option 9 of 12
Subordinated & Unsecured Credit
Stretch capital that sits on top of every other layer — no collateral, no UCC on some products, fast close.
Collateral
None on unsecured products; 2nd lien on subordinated debt
Unsecured and subordinated credit fills the gap when you've already pledged everything that can be pledged but still need more runway. Unsecured term loans (no UCC, no collateral) work for growing companies with strong revenue but thin asset bases. Subordinated debt sits behind a senior lender at 1–5× EBITDA and is how layered-capital strategies actually get built — you stack it on top of an AR revolver and a real-estate lien to maximize total deployable capital.
Pick this if
- •You've maxed bank and ABL but still have growth opportunities
- •You don't want another UCC filing on your business
- •You're structuring a layered capital stack for an acquisition or expansion
Skip this if
- •You have unused asset collateral — secured products will cost less
Real outcome: A medical device company combined a $1MM AR revolver, a $240K unsecured term loan, and a $550K second mortgage into a $1.79MM stack that funded 30%+ growth in ten months.
Closest alternatives: Bridge Funding, Working Capital Loans (Revenue-Based), Real Estate Lending (Bridge & Cash-Out).
Option 10 of 12
Bridge Funding
Pure timing capital — interest-only, exits when the larger deal closes.
Cost
Prime + 4–8% (interest-only typical)
Collateral
Varies — often unsecured for short terms
Bridge funding is the right product when you know the exit: a contract is about to close, an acquisition is about to fund, a property is about to sell. Interest-only payments preserve cash while you wait, and an aggressive early-payoff discount means you only pay for the days you actually use the money. It's expensive per month but cheap in absolute terms because you're only in the loan for 30–180 days.
Pick this if
- •You can identify the specific event that will pay off the loan
- •You need cash before that event in days, not weeks
- •Interest-only payments matter more than absolute rate
Skip this if
- •You don't have a clear payoff event — bridge debt becomes permanent debt at painful rates
Real outcome: A surgeon closed $1.475MM in M&A bridge capital in weeks to cover year-end operations while a hospital-system acquisition finalized — then refinanced into permanent capital at closing.
Closest alternatives: Subordinated & Unsecured Credit, Working Capital Loans (Revenue-Based).
Option 11 of 12
SBA Loans
The cheapest capital available — if you can wait 4–12 weeks and your business fits the SBA box.
Collateral
Varies by program (7a, 504, Express)
SBA loans are the cheapest capital most growing businesses will ever access — government-backed guarantees let banks lend at Prime + 2–3% over up to 10 years. The cost is time and paperwork: 4–12 weeks of underwriting, full tax returns, full personal financials, and a credit box that excludes a lot of fast-growing companies. When the timeline allows it and the business qualifies, SBA is almost always the right first stop.
Pick this if
- •You can wait 4–12 weeks for closing
- •You have 2+ years of clean financials and decent credit
- •You want the longest amortization possible
Skip this if
- •You need cash in days
- •Your tax return shows a loss or your credit is mid-500s
Real outcome: SBA pricing sits 5–10 percentage points below working capital loans — making it the right destination after you refinance out of expensive bridge debt.
Closest alternatives: Working Capital Loans (Revenue-Based), Asset-Based Lending (ABL), Real Estate Lending (Bridge & Cash-Out).
Option 12 of 12
Consolidation & Recapitalization
Not really a product — it's the strategy that uses the products above to replace expensive debt with cheaper debt.
Cost
Depends on the product you refinance into
Collateral
Whatever the new product requires
Debt refinance is what you do *with* the other eleven products on this page. Most often it means taking a borrower trapped in daily-pull MCA debt and consolidating into a single monthly working-capital loan or an ABL line, freeing up 30–50% of cash flow and dropping the all-in rate by 5–10 percentage points. The "product" being shopped is whichever of the above eleven the borrower's assets, revenue, and timeline qualify them for.
Pick this if
- •You have stacked MCAs eating daily cash flow
- •You have multiple loans with different payments
- •Your current debt was priced for a worse version of your business
Skip this if
- •You're not paying above market — there's nothing to refinance
Real outcome: A staffing agency paying $15K/month in MCA fees refinanced into an $8K/month term loan, freeing $7K monthly for growth.
Closest alternatives: Working Capital Loans (Revenue-Based), Asset-Based Lending (ABL), Invoice Factoring (AR Financing).
