Oiling the process

One might say that Fabien Jacquot has particularly good intuition. At a time when obtaining cash is a widespread preoccupation and inter-business credit has never come at such a high cost – notably due to uncertainties weighing down on the banking world –, this former collaborator of the American company Bottomline Technologies, has recently created Corporate LinX which aims at encouraging relationships between suppliers and ordering parties.
Oiling up the process, from order forms to invoicing, from the act of purchasing to delivery, this is the aim of the web portal commercialised by the brand new company that already counts ten employees in France and Great Britain. The aim is to allow the financial director or treasurer of a large group to draw greater visibility and greater reactivity for receivables and to benefit from discounts. “Until now, business piloting tools offered treasurers only partial view of the purchase-payment cycle,” explains Fabien Jacquot who bought from his former employer the exclusive rights for the software solution baptised Corporate Linx exchange. “Thanks to our accompaniment services and tools, it is possible to link the crucial acts of company life as a whole and to offer profit levers to everyone.” Allowing the optimisation of purchasing conditions, processing time and payment or credit terms with suppliers and banks: these are the goals of this
new tool compatible with software suites piloting business management.
Concretely, at a time when the economy is experiencing tension and when credit granted to companies, notably SMEs, is strictly overseen by banks, the technical solutions of Corporate LinX allow the acceleration of the purchasing-payment processing cycle in view of benefiting from optimal discounting conditions. Baptised reverse factoring or supply chain finance, the solutions implemented by Corporate LinX allow improving the triangular relationship between the supplier, the purchaser (ordering party) and the financer. Instead of placing the burden of credit risk on the supplier (to whom the purchaser is in debt) – as in classic factoring – the credit rating of the financer is used to allow the supplier to have access to more lucrative credit rates.
Already used in many countries such as Spain and the United Kingdom or in certain activity sectors such as retailing, the reverse factoring mechanism is developing slowly in France. However, the law of the modernisation of the economy can only accelerate the growth of this type of mechanism that can be piloted by tools such as those developed by Corporate LinX. Financial piloting of companies should also take into account the needs of suppliers that deserve some attention. “Companies are evolving in an economic system that is much more integrated than previously,” considers Fabien Jacquot. “This is why they need more stable and fluid relationships with their suppliers.”
Targeting a turnover of 2.5 million euros for 2008-2009, Corporate LinX, whose first commercial targets have been significant ordering parties and financial institutions, also hopes for changes in the attitudes of players in the public sector regarding their suppliers. Often mistreated in this type of relationship, the latter should be able to benefit from better access to public markets with more favourable payment or anticipated financing conditions.
If this ambition is concretised, ordering parties in the public sector will have reason to call on the financial sector more often to allow their suppliers to enjoy more favourable credit conditions. A move that undoubtedly brightens future prospects for Corporate LinX!