About 25 providers in Australia offer cash-flow finance, in the form of both invoice discounting and factoring, where the factor also manages the sales ledger and collection of accounts. According to Factors Chain International (FCI), Australian factoring turnover amounted to US$8.99bn in 2002. The Institute for Factors and Discounters of Australia and New Zealand (IFD), a local industry group, said discounting and factoring volumes together grew at about 30% a year over the decade to 2003, with growth accelerating in later years. By IFD’s calculations, turnover in both types of finance totalled A$20.1bn in 2002/03, up from A$15.2bn in 2001/02. Discounting expanded faster than factoring, growing eight-fold between 1994 and 2003; factoring doubled during the same period.
