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Internal and External Influencing Factors for the Use of Invoice Trading

An Empirical Study of German and French SMEs

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Abstract

The access to financing is one of the main challenges for SMEs. Since traditional forms of funding are usually not suitable for them, they need to obtain capital from alternative sources. This contribution focuses on invoice trading as a financing method for small companies and examines why it is more popular in France than in Germany. To determine which factors influence the form of financing used, telephone interviews were conducted with SMEs in both countries. The results show that French companies require a method to offset long payment terms and resulting negative cash flows which is why they often utilise invoice trading. German firms, on the other hand, are not in favour of external funding in general and their knowledge of invoice trading is limited. Efforts should thus be made in countries such as Germany to highlight the benefits of this form of financing, especially for small companies.

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Blässe, C. (2021). Internal and External Influencing Factors for the Use of Invoice Trading. In: Haag, P. (eds) KMU- und Start-up-Management. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-34700-0_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-34700-0_12

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  • Publisher Name: Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-658-34699-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-658-34700-0

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