Factoring for manufacturers: pay suppliers now, get paid by customers later.
Your suppliers want to be paid before they ship. Your customers pay in 30, 60 or 90 days. Factoring turns invoices for orders you already delivered into working capital, and 1st Commercial Credit can add purchase order and trade payable financing for the orders still to come.
Daniel Chirino · Business Development Officer, 1st Commercial Credit
Updated: October 28, 2026
Why manufacturers run short of cash
- Suppliers demand payment before they ship materials.
- Duties and logistics have to be paid upfront.
- Customers pay past the terms they agreed to.
- Receivables become a large asset that most lenders don't want to lend against.
When orders grow faster than working capital, the symptoms are always the same: materials bought late, payroll under pressure, production bottlenecks and bigger orders you have to turn down. The orders are there. The cash arrives 60 days after you need it.
How factoring works for a manufacturer
Ship and invoice
Deliver the order and invoice your customer on your usual terms.
Sell the invoice
1st Commercial Credit reviews the invoice and your customer's credit, and pays you a large share of the invoice upfront, usually within 24 hours.
Your customer pays 1st Commercial Credit
When the invoice is due. You receive the rest, minus the fee.
What 1st Commercial Credit offers manufacturers
The offer
- Rates from 0.69% to 1.59%, depending on your volume, how fast your customers pay and their credit.
- Account setup in 3 to 5 days. Funds usually within 24 hours.
- No financial statements up to $350,000. Low credit scores accepted.
- Approval based on your customers' credit strength, not your company's.
Programs for manufacturers
- Invoice factoring or an accounts receivable line of credit.
- Purchase order financing, to produce larger orders.
- Trade payable financing, to pay suppliers.
- Supply chain finance programs, for qualified plants.
1st Commercial Credit works with industrial and heavy equipment makers, metal fabrication and machine shops, automotive parts and OEM components, plastics and packaging, electronics, textiles and consumer goods, furniture and woodworking, non-perishable food and beverage, and chemical and specialty materials.
Source: 1st Commercial Credit's manufacturers page, read October 28, 2026. Rates and terms are confirmed in writing before you sign.
A real deal
Published by 1st Commercial Credit. See all deals.
When factoring is not the answer for a manufacturer
- Your customers pay on delivery or in under 15 days.
- You sell to consumers. Factoring works on invoices to other businesses or the government.
- The order hasn't shipped yet. Factoring buys invoices for delivered goods; funding an order before it ships is purchase order financing, a separate program with its own terms.
- The problem is margin, not timing. Getting paid faster on a job that loses money only loses it faster.
Questions manufacturers ask me
Can you fund an order before I build it?
That's purchase order financing, which 1st Commercial Credit offers to qualified manufacturers. It's reviewed separately from invoice factoring.
Do I need financial statements?
Not for facilities up to $350,000. The review focuses on your customers' credit.
My credit isn't great. Is that a problem?
Low credit scores are accepted. What weighs most is the credit of the companies that pay your invoices.
How fast is the first funding?
Account setup takes 3 to 5 days. After that, funds usually arrive within 24 hours.
Who are your customers?
Tell me who you sell to and on what terms. I'll tell you which program fits.
Also read: how invoice factoring works · distribution · factoring behind an SBA loan