Treasury’s small miracle

ETR Digital helps growing companies release cash without taking on debt or straining suppliers, even where conventional supply chain finance falls short.

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Find more cash

Don’t take on more debt

Keep suppliers happy

Only 7,000 companies worldwide have access to an efficient, bank-funded working capital programme that fully supports their suppliers. For everyone else, the problem sounds like this.

As a buyer, we want to improve DPO, but we don’t meet our funders’ minimum requirements for an SCF facility, even though we are a growing company. Or we don’t have available limits, and we don’t want to tie up our own operational cash flow. The other options we have looked at are inflexible, expensive or both.

Mind the gap

1A DPO target you can’t reach
Paying suppliers later on your own strains them, and it comes back to you in pricing.
2Below your funders’ minimums
Conventional supply chain finance is built around larger, stronger-credit buyers.
3A facility with no limits left
Facility limits cap the programme, and paying early from your own cash defeats the objective.

How ETR Digital can help

Find more cash

DPO is too low
We are paying suppliers earlier than we need to, tying up cash that could be used elsewhere in the business.
How we solve it
Working Capital Notes can let you extend payment terms while suppliers access cash earlier, easing the tension between your liquidity and theirs.
Pressure to release cash
We have a target to release cash from working capital, but we have limited opportunities left in inventory and receivables.
How we solve it
ETR Digital gives you an additional accounts payable lever for releasing cash, by supporting a structured extension of supplier payment terms.
DPO varies significantly across the group
Different businesses, countries and procurement teams negotiate different payment terms, making DPO difficult to manage consistently.
How we solve it
ETR Digital can support a structured programme approach to payment-term optimisation across suppliers, business units and geographies.
Cash-flow forecasting is difficult
Our payment dates and supplier arrangements are fragmented, making cash outflows difficult to forecast and optimise.
How we solve it
Issuing notes digitally can create a clear, structured record of payment obligations and maturity dates, giving you greater visibility of future cash requirements.
DPO improvement is too manual
Improving payment terms requires supplier-by-supplier negotiation and significant Procurement and Treasury resources.
How we solve it
ETR Digital can turn payment-term optimisation into a repeatable programme, rather than treating every extension as an isolated negotiation.
We need to improve working capital quickly
Management has given us a significant cash-release target this year, and conventional working capital initiatives will not deliver enough.
How we solve it
ETR Digital can help identify addressable supplier spend and model the potential cash release from targeted payment-term extensions, creating a prioritised implementation programme.
Acquisitions have left inconsistent payment terms
We have acquired businesses with different supplier terms and payment practices, resulting in inefficient group-wide DPO.
How we solve it
ETR Digital can support a harmonisation strategy, identifying where suppliers can move towards more consistent terms while liquidity options ease supplier resistance.
We benchmark poorly against peers
Our DPO is materially below our sector peers, but simply imposing longer terms could damage supplier relationships.
How we solve it
ETR Digital can help create a managed pathway from your current DPO towards a target DPO, supported by supplier liquidity rather than a unilateral extension of terms.

Don’t take on more debt

SCF programme has limited supplier adoption
We already have a supply chain finance programme, but only a relatively small proportion of our suppliers use it.
How we solve it
ETR Digital can provide a complementary liquidity route, potentially reaching suppliers or transactions that are difficult to accommodate within conventional SCF programmes.
SCF capacity is constrained
Our ability to extend DPO depends on the capacity and appetite of our SCF banks.
How we solve it
Working Capital Notes can potentially access a broader funding and investor ecosystem, reducing reliance on a single bank or SCF funding source.
Supplier financing is too expensive
Our smaller suppliers can access finance, but often at rates that make longer payment terms unattractive.
How we solve it
The financing can be linked more closely to your credit quality and payment obligation as the buyer, potentially creating more attractive funding economics for suppliers.
We don’t want more debt
We want to improve liquidity and working capital without taking on additional conventional borrowing.
How we solve it
ETR Digital focuses on optimising the commercial payment cycle, rather than simply providing another traditional loan facility. The appropriate accounting treatment still needs to be assessed.
Existing SCF is operationally cumbersome
Our current supplier finance arrangements involve complex onboarding, documentation and processes that discourage suppliers from participating.
How we solve it
A digital approach can potentially simplify issuance, transfer and funding, reducing the friction associated with traditional financing structures.
We rely too heavily on one SCF provider
Our DPO strategy has become dependent on one bank or platform, creating concentration and continuity risk.
How we solve it
ETR Digital can provide an additional channel and potentially additional sources of liquidity, complementing rather than necessarily replacing your existing SCF.

Keep suppliers happy

Suppliers resist longer terms
We want to extend payment terms, but our suppliers push back because of the impact on their cash flow.
How we solve it
Suppliers can monetise Working Capital Notes rather than simply waiting longer for payment, making extended buyer terms more commercially acceptable.
Extending DPO could damage suppliers
We could improve DPO by simply paying suppliers later, but we don’t want to create financial stress in our supply chain.
How we solve it
Working Capital Notes can separate your payment date from your supplier’s liquidity date, so suppliers can receive liquidity without you paying earlier.
Procurement and Treasury objectives conflict
Treasury wants longer payment terms, but Procurement is concerned that extending terms will damage supplier relationships or increase prices.
How we solve it
Working Capital Notes offer a potential win-win: Treasury can target an improved DPO while Procurement offers suppliers an alternative source of early liquidity.
Suppliers increase prices when terms are extended
When we ask suppliers for longer terms, they compensate by increasing their prices.
How we solve it
A credible liquidity option for suppliers can reduce the economic impact of longer terms, and with it the pressure to price financing costs into goods and services.
We need to protect strategic suppliers
We want to improve working capital, but some of our strategically important suppliers cannot absorb longer payment terms.
How we solve it
Suppliers can potentially receive liquidity well before your final payment date, helping protect supplier cash flow while improving your DPO.
Smaller suppliers are particularly vulnerable
Our SME suppliers need faster payment, while our working capital strategy requires us to pay later.
How we solve it
Working Capital Notes can help reconcile these needs by giving SMEs access to earlier liquidity without you accelerating your own cash payment.

Talk to us about your situation

How it works

Talk to us

Illustrative dataIllustrative workflow and data

Your financing programme

Outside your financing programme

No supplier onboarding and no change to agreed terms.

Your company

Buyer

Note settled

Flownote

WCN-0247

Redeemed£720,000

Your lender

Bank or non-bank lender

Repaid

Your supplier

Existing terms

Paid in full

1Note issued

2For approval

2£720,000

3Paid on the agreed due date

4Repaid at maturity

Your financing programme

Your company

Note settled

Flownote

Redeemed

Your lender

Repaid

Your supplier

Paid in full

Additional term +60 days

1Note issued

2For approval

2£720,000

3Paid on the due date

4Repaid at maturity

Your supplier, outside your financing programme

No supplier onboarding and no change to agreed terms.

Supplier's agreed terms

60 days, unchanged

Additional term for your business

+60 days

Day 0Invoice

Day 60Supplier paid

Day 120You repay

1
Issue the note
Issue a Working Capital Note on Flownote for an approved supplier invoice.
Your companyFlownote
2
Fund the invoice
Your bank or a new lender approves the note and funds the full invoice value.
Your lenderYour company
3
Pay your supplier
Pay your supplier in full on the agreed due date. Nothing changes for them.
Your companyYour supplier
4
Settle at maturity
Repay your lender when the note matures, on the extended term you agreed.
Your companyYour lender