Frequently Asked Questions

C2FO Overview

What does C2FO do?

• C2FO (Collaborative Cash Flow Optimisation) manages Early Pay and other programmes on behalf of your buyers to help your business improve cash flow.
• Instead of borrowing money from a third-party or using a static discounting or factoring method, C2FO gives you the power to get paid early and on demand on approved invoices that you select, at a rate you choose.
• Because you control the discounts you offer using C2FO’s Name Your Rate™ technology, you can access on-demand funding for your business at a lower cost than other options, such as factoring. The programme is also flexible. You can choose which approved invoices you want to have paid early and use C2FO whenever you need to control your cash flow.
• C2FO is NOT:
  • A factoring service
  • An electronic payment alternative
  • A traditional bank loan or asset-based lending

How does C2FO help my business?

• For Suppliers:
  • No other working capital option offers the flexibility and control of C2FO.
  • With C2FO you can:
    • Choose which invoices you want to have paid early
    • Choose when you want to participate
    • Lower your days sales outstanding (DSO)
    • Take control of your cash flow
    • Reduce your cost of borrowing and grow your business faster
    • Access working capital without fees or paperwork
    • Name Your Rate™ for working capital
    • Easily view your approved invoices in a secure online environment
    • Meet key cash management metrics
    • Enhance your working capital as needed without changing payment contracts
    • Account for seasonal revenue peaks and valleys
• For Buyers:
  • No other early payment platform offers the flexibility and control of C2FO.
  • With C2FO you can:
    • Support all suppliers with early payment, not just the top tier like most supply chain finance programmes
    • Improve margins while giving your suppliers the capital they need to thrive.
    • Leverage flexible pricing, smart segmentation and an intuitive platform to drive adoption and boost your ROI while helping suppliers maintain healthy cash flow.
    • Fund early payments from your balance sheet, your banking partners, through C2FO’s global network of banking partners or with a hybrid approach across all three.
    • Target suppliers based on any segmentation you can think of
    • Provide a consistent digital supplier experience regardless of region, funder, or pricing, resulting in higher and stable supplier participation

What companies use C2FO?

• We serve companies from small businesses to Fortune 50 buyers in over 160 countries. Each year, we handle millions of transactions and billions of dollars of early cash flow delivery.
• Suppliers use C2FO for early payment because it offers affordable working capital to help grow their businesses, make key investments, and meet seasonal demands. Suppliers also use C2FO to manage financial metrics and take control of cash flow.

Why are my buyers offering this programme?

Buyers who want to improve supply chain health and build better supplier relationships rely on C2FO to help suppliers accelerate invoice payments.

What is the relationship between C2FO and my buyer?

• C2FO is the technology partner of your buyer’s early payment programme. Our secure online platform allows suppliers to be paid on demand on their receivables. This programme is set up by your buyer directly, and they encourage you to join.
• Your buyer has integrated the C2FO technology into their own ERP system. Once invoices have been approved for payment, your customer’s invoices will automatically be reflected on the C2FO platform, allowing you to draw the funds sooner if needed with the discount of your choosing. There is no factoring or financing involved, making C2FO Early Pay a debt-free option whenever your company has liquidity needs.

Is C2FO factoring?

No, C2FO is not factoring. Your buyer continues to pay you directly, and you request acceleration only on the invoices you choose. C2FO is 100% flexible in terms of what invoices you want to be paid early and at what discount rate.

How does C2FO keep my information secure?

• With invoice payment acceleration, C2FO facilitates only the price discovery. No payment account information is stored, so there is no risk. You will continue to be paid directly from your buyers, just sooner.
• View detailed information on C2FO security.

Is this the same thing as supply chain finance?

C2FO Early Pay is different from supply chain finance. You can choose to accelerate payment on receivables from your buyers or through a third party in our funding network — on your terms when you need it. You are not obligated to accelerate all your invoices, which is often required by many factoring agreements. C2FO is 100% on-demand.

Why Use C2FO?

Do I have to use C2FO if I like my payment terms?

• The C2FO programme is optional. However, you should register your C2FO account even if you don’t believe you need the programme today.
• C2FO is unique because you can access funding on demand whenever a need arises. There is no paperwork, no fees and no hassles.
• Consider C2FO for:
  • Visibility into all your invoices and your estimated pay date on Invoice Central within the C2FO platform
  • Seasonal demands
  • Growth initiatives
  • Managing quarter-end financial metrics
  • Unexpected late payments from another buyer
  • Guaranteeing cash flow to take advantage of early payment discounts from your own suppliers
• Using C2FO does not require changing contractual terms. C2FO does not affect any existing discounting on payment terms. Negotiated discounts are applied first. Any early payment through the C2FO marketplace is in addition to your negotiated discount.

Why would I give a discount for early payment?

• If your cost of borrowing is higher than the discount you are offering through C2FO, this programme offers you a better working capital option.
• There are many other reasons your business may need early payment. Some of these are situations you cannot control, such as late payment by another buyer, seasonal demands, or an opportunity to grow your business.
• C2FO lets you take control of cash flow to meet these demands without the hassles and delays of the paperwork required with traditional financing.

I have funding, so why would I need C2FO?

• Third-party financial intermediaries require risk-based underwriting, complicated paperwork, higher rates and recurring fees in general.
• With C2FO, you get access to your cash with no liability, no paperwork and no hassle. Best of all, C2FO offers a lower cost of funding. Because it is flexible and on-demand, you can easily use C2FO as part of a mix of business funding options.
• It’s your money, just paid earlier.

What is the difference between C2FO and other invoice management systems?

• In comparison to the other portals you might use, C2FO lets you view all scheduled invoice payments, then request early payment of individual invoices as you see fit.

How to Use C2FO

Who is eligible to use C2FO?

• Any company with invoices on the C2FO platform is eligible to make offers to accelerate payment. Within your company, the person registered on the C2FO platform should be someone who can make cash management decisions, such as the owner, chief financial officer, finance director, controller or accounts receivable manager.

Do I have to pay to access C2FO?

Your buyer has already paid for the platform, so your company and others in their supply chain can use it. There are no subscription costs or hidden fees. The only cost to you is to receive early payment on an invoice, you will need to grant a small discount to your buyer.

How do I register for C2FO?

Activate your C2FO account on your buyer’s microsite. You can find your buyers here. It takes less than two minutes to register and start participating, because your approved invoices are already uploaded to the C2FO platform for early payment.

How do I find my invoices?

• You may have more than one buyer on the C2FO platform. In these cases, you will see more than one market (listed by buyer name) available to you when you log in.
• When you log in, click on ‘Explore Opportunity’ to view the suggested offers to have your early payment request clear the daily market. If this is your first time logging in, you will need to click the “View Invoices” link next to your company name.
• You can also visit Invoice Central within the platform to view specific invoice details before creating an offer. On the main page, simply scroll down and click on ‘Invoice Central.’
• In Invoice Central, approved invoices eligible for early payment are listed under the ‘Status: Eligible for Early Payment’ category, along with the original pay date for each. To view any invoices uploaded as ineligible for early payment, change the status bar.

Does anything change with my invoicing process?

No, there is no change to your invoicing process, and you can continue to invoice your buyer as you do today.

Do I have to upload my invoices to C2FO?

You don’t need to upload invoices. Your buyers have partnered with us to provide an invoice management platform to all eligible suppliers. Invoices are usually reflected on the C2FO platform once your buyer has finished the matching process and no dispute has been opened. Therefore, all your eligible invoices are already in the system, ready to be reviewed and accelerated at your convenience.

Can I get a copy of my invoices?

Yes. When you log in to your account, you will be able to view and download available invoice data such as invoice amount, original pay date, days paid early, and new pay date.

How long will it take for my new/recent invoices to be available on C2FO?

On average, new invoices can be available up to 15 to 30 days after being received by your buyer’s Accounts Payable team.

My buyer is using C2FO, but I have been unable to register. What happened?

In most cases, this usually means your buyer has not yet added your company to its early payment programme, your customer has not yet transferred your invoices to C2FO or your terms do not qualify you for the Early Pay option. If you have a direct contact at your buyer, please contact them directly for accurate feedback.

I received an email to update my password. Has something changed?

• There are two reasons why you may receive a password reset email:
  • C2FO requires a new password every 90 days.
  • Your account was locked, and C2FO proactively sent you the email.
• We take your information security seriously. We want to ensure that only authorised persons from your business have access to your invoices. Therefore, we require a regular password reset to protect your information.

How to Use Early Pay

How do I make a one-time offer?

• You accelerate the payment date for your invoices by offering a discount or APR you would be willing to accept to receive early payment.
• Click on the ‘Build Your Offer’ button to begin.
• Then you select the buyer for which you would like to accelerate invoices
• You first will choose to create a recurring or a one-time offer to have your invoices paid earlier.
• One-time offers give you specific rate guidance. The likelihood of acceptance will vary depending on which rate you set.
• If you prefer, you can select “Advanced Options” and make your offer in APR vs. a discount percent. An APR-based offer will likely clear faster.  APR also allows you to make a clear comparison between C2FO and other financing options you might have.

What is a recurring offer?

A recurring offer is an offer that applies to all future invoices uploaded by the buyer(s) identified in the offer.

Can I cancel a recurring offer?

Yes, you can cancel a recurring offer at any time by going into your offers within the platform. Or simply contact us.

Do I get a record of my Early Payment transactions?

Yes, you can access your award files and view your account history at any time. Select ‘Early Payment History’ from the drop-down menu under Early Pay. From this screen, you can view your account history and find award files for your early payment on invoices. If you’re not seeing all of your award file history, click ‘View’ on the top right to view your Consolidated History. Click the download symbol on the right side of the individual award file to download only this file or click the download symbol at the top of the list to download all of your invoice history.

How much of a discount should I request for Early Payment?

For most buyers, the discount you offer is completely up to you. C2FO is a marketplace, so the clearing rates change based on market conditions. Some buyers choose to use benchmarked or static rates for discounts.  You will see the options for each buyer once you log in.

Can I test requesting an offer to get paid early?

Yes. Testing an offer on the platform does not immediately communicate anything to your buyer, but you will receive immediate feedback whether your buyer would accept it or not. Most markets clear daily at 5 p.m. GMT, so any offers in the system will be submitted at that time.  Offers submitted after the daily cutoff will be submitted the next business day.

How can I know whether my offer is accepted?

If the offer is accepted, you will receive a confirmation email. All approved offers will also be listed in “Early Pay History” in the navigation bar.

What can I do if my offer is rejected?

You can adjust the rate and request early payment again. If you chose “One-Time” early payment, you need to resubmit your offer on the next working day. If you choose “Recurring” early payment, your outstanding invoices will be automatically submitted on the next working day, at the same rate in the original offer. No additional action is required.

Common C2FO Terms

What do you mean by APR or discount?

• You have the option to enter your offer as either a discount or an APR. To use APR, select ‘Name Your Rate’ on the ‘Set Your Rate’ page. Then, click ‘Advanced Options’ to place an offer in APR.
• A discount offer will apply a flat rate of discount to each of your available invoices.
• An APR offer will use an annual percentage rate to calculate an individual rate of discount for each invoice depending on how early you are getting paid, or by Days Paid Early (DPE).
• You can see the overall discount rate for your invoices when you use the APR option. Using an APR offer also allows for easy comparison to your cost of borrowing or other sources of funding.
• APR is often more advantageous for buyers whose invoice upload time varies greatly. We recommend that you reach out to Supplier Support for additional guidance.

What is Implied APR?

Implied APR is a standardized metric used to express the cost of early invoice payment as an annualized interest rate. By converting a flat discount percentage into a yearly rate based on the number of days payment is accelerated, this figure allows businesses to compare the cost of early payment programs directly against other liquidity options, such as bank lines of credit, factoring, or asset-based lending.

How it is Calculated

The implied APR is determined by the relationship between the discount rate offered and the Days Paid Early (DPE). The DPE is the number of days between the early payment date and the original contractual due date.

Why Equivalency Matters

For a supplier, not all discounts are created equal. A small discount on a very short acceleration can result in a high implied APR, making it a potentially expensive way to access cash. Conversely, a larger discount that clears a payment weeks in advance may yield a lower APR than a traditional short-term loan.

What is “daily market clear”?

• You may make an offer on C2FO at any time. However, offers are transmitted to your buyers only once per day, at the daily market clear time. You have until then to make any changes to your offer.
• Market clear times are based on the location of your customer and are as follows:
  • Americas: 11a.m. CST / 12 p.m. ET
  • Europe / Middle East: 5 p.m. GMT
  • Asia-Pacific: 12 p.m. HKT
  • India: 5 p.m. IST
• Entering an offer before that time will simply allow you to see whether your customer would accept your offer. However, that offer is not submitted and finalised until the market clear time. The countdown clock on the home screen lets you see the time remaining until the next market clear time.

What is “New Pay Date”?
“New Pay Date” is the date that your invoices will be paid should you choose to accelerate. The date is updated regularly until your invoices have passed the due date. You will find the information about the payment date directly on the portal under “Original Due Date.”

What is Available AR?

AR is accounts receivable. For C2FO, this is the total amount of your approved invoices available for early payment.

What does “accepted” mean?

Your offer is sufficient for the invoice(s) in question for early payment with today’s market.

What does “discount” mean?

This is the amount applied in exchange for early payment.

What does “DPE” mean?

This stands for Days Paid Early, or the average number of days your payment could be accelerated.

What does “division” mean?

This is the name your customer has assigned to each vendor number for your company.

What does “eligible” mean?

An invoice has qualified for early payment, and you can make an offer to get paid early.

What does “excluded” mean?

You have chosen to exclude specific invoices. These will not be included with your Early Pay offer.

What does “included” mean?

These are the specific invoices you have chosen to include in your offer for early payment.

What does “Ineligible” mean?

For any number of reasons, the specific invoice is not eligible for early payment.

What does “matched vs. unmatched adjustments” mean?

• Adjustments are credits against an invoice due to various credit terms, often for returns or damaged goods.
• A matched adjustment occurs when a credit must be taken out of a specific invoice, per your customer’s preferences.
• An unmatched adjustment is when a credit can be relieved with any invoice and is not tied to one specific invoice.

What does “not accepted” mean?

Your offer is insufficient for the invoice(s) in question for early payment with the day’s market.

What does “offer” mean?

This is the maximum rate (discount or APR) you are willing to apply in exchange for early payment.

What does “participation” mean?

This term indicates whether you have an active offer for that division.

What does “pay date” mean?

This is the date that your customer will initiate payment if your offer is accepted. Normal float time applies.

Payment Information

How soon do I receive my payment?

• When you are awarded early payment from a buyer through C2FO, your payment will be processed on their next pay date listed. You will see this on your invoice summary and the award file provided by C2FO.
• You can receive payment in as little as 24 hours.
• Remember to take local bank holidays into consideration when anticipating payment.
• If you are paid via check, the next pay date is the date your check will be mailed.
• If you are paid via ACH, your customer’s standard float time on ACH payments still applies. Remember to consider float time as well as local bank holidays when anticipating payment.
• You will be notified by email when any invoices are approved for early payment.

How do I get paid?

• After your payment offer is accepted, you continue to be paid by your customer – just like you do today – only faster.
• C2FO does not make payments on behalf of your buyers. We help you and your buyers match a discount offer in exchange for earlier payment. Invoice processing by your buyers stays the same. The only aspect that changes is how soon you are paid and the invoice amount.
• C2FO provides you with an award file for your records so you can track your invoices that are paid early and the amount paid.

Does using the Early Payment programme change my terms?

Using the programme does not alter any existing terms or payment processes.

Invoice Central

What is Invoice Central?

Invoice Central is part of C2FO’s platform that simplifies how you manage invoices across all your buyers. It provides a single view of all your outstanding and approved invoices, and payment status in one centralised location.

How does Invoice Central differ from traditional supplier portals?

Unlike traditional supplier portals that only show invoices for one buyer, Invoice Central consolidates information from multiple buyers in one place, saving you time and eliminating the need to log into multiple systems.

Is there a cost to use Invoice Central?

Invoice Central is available at no cost to registered suppliers. It’s designed to make invoice management easier while giving you access to potential early payment opportunities.

What are the main features of Invoice Central?

Invoice Central offers:

• A consolidated view of all your invoices across multiple buyers
• Real-time status updates on invoice approvals
• The ability to track payment timing and history
• Options to accelerate payment on approved invoices

How will Invoice Central help my business?

Invoice Central helps your business by:

• Saving time with a single login for multiple buyer relationships
• Providing greater visibility into your receivables
• Improving cash flow predictability
• Offering opportunities for early payment when you need it
• Reducing the administrative burden of tracking invoices across different systems

Can I use Invoice Central to get paid early on my invoices?

Yes. Invoice Central connects seamlessly with C2FO’s early payment programmes. When your invoices are approved, you can choose to accelerate payment on those invoices in exchange for a small discount, giving you control over your cash flow timing.

How do I sign up for Invoice Central?

Invoice Central is integrated into C2FO’s Early Pay.  You can register for C2FO in just a few minutes.  To get started, find your buyer here.  Once registered, your invoices will automatically appear in your dashboard.

Is special technical integration required to use Invoice Central?

No special technical integration is required to start using Invoice Central.  The platform works with the invoice data already flowing between your buyers and C2FO.  Once you are registered for Early Pay, simply log-in and you can access Invoice Central via C2FO’s platform.

How frequently is invoice information updated in Invoice Central?

Invoice Central is updated daily as we receive your invoices and approval/payment status from your buyers.

Can I download my invoice data from Invoice Central?

Yes, Invoice Central allows you to export your invoice data for record-keeping or analysis in your own systems.

How secure is my invoice information in Invoice Central?

C2FO employs industry-leading security measures to protect your data. All information is encrypted, and strict access controls ensure your financial information remains confidential.

Where can I get help using Invoice Central?

Simply connect with us on the Contact Us page or reach out to your Supplier Relationship Manager.

Can Invoice Central be customised for my business needs?

Invoice Central offers flexibility to adjust views and notifications based on your preferences.

How does Invoice Central relate to C2FO’s other supplier solutions?

Invoice Central is part of C2FO’s comprehensive suite of working capital solutions for suppliers. It integrates with C2FO’s early payment programmes to give you complete visibility and control over your receivables.