Creative Financing Insights for Commercial Bankers
A couple years ago, I got a call from a woman who had just won a $3.6 million federal government contract. She was crying. Not from joy — from fear.
She’d spent eight months pursuing the contract. She built the relationships, submitted the proposals, passed the vetting. She won. And then she sat down with her accountant and realized she had 30 days to staff up, purchase materials, and begin delivery — on a contract that would pay her in 90 to 120 days, per standard government payment terms.
Her bank had approved her a $150,000 SBA line the prior year. It wasn’t enough. Not even close. She needed $1,400,000 in working capital immediately to fund the contract without going under while she waited for Uncle Sam to pay.
We funded her within four days. We verified her government invoices, confirmed the contract terms, and advanced against her receivables as she submitted them. She staffed the contract, delivered on time, and built a relationship with a federal agency that led to two more contracts in the following year.
She also came back to her bank — stronger, more established, with eighteen months of government contract performance on her record. Her banker told me later she was now one of their best small business clients.
The Pattern Is Consistent
Government contractors represent one of the highest-quality receivables categories in commercial finance. The federal government does not default. State and local agencies rarely do. Payment terms are long, but the credit risk is as close to zero as exists in the business world.
Yet small business government contractors are chronically underserved by traditional bank lending, because underwriting looks at the business — not the customer. A two-year-old small business with a million-dollar federal contract is not a strong bank borrower on paper. But their invoices are among the safest assets in the market. Learn more about how we serve government contractors and other industries.
That woman who called me crying? She sent us a video testimonial. You can find it by searching Asset Commercial Credit™ on YouTube. She tells the story better than I do.
Warm regards,
Shaun Rovai
CEO, Asset Commercial Credit™ | 39 Years in Commercial Lending
(916) 614-1850 | www.assetcc.com | srovai@assetcc.com
CA Finance Lender/Broker License #607-1896
Have a client who doesn’t fit your credit box? Send me their name: srovai@assetcc.com
