FAQ

1. FactorFox’s design and production started in 2004, with factor and author Jeff Callender being the driving force behind it. Jeff wanted an online software package for his factoring business, and felt the other packages available were either too expensive or too limited for his own business as well as others. Therefore he teamed up with Robert Vasquez, our Chief Operating Officer and other skilled software programmers to create FactorFox.

2. In many ways! First it was written originally and specifically as a web-based program for factors, not converted to the web from another application, or developed with old technology. That means it runs completely on secure servers and requires no disk space on your hard drive, has seamless integration with the net, and can be shared easily among several users at the same time from any location with an internet connection.

Its reports are available 24/7/365 to virtually anyone you give the pertinent permissions to view, including staff, clients, broker consultants, accountants, and private lenders. Your clients and you can enter schedules any time online, and automatic email notification is sent to you when a new schedule has been submitted. When you approve the schedule, another automatic email is sent to your client.

FactorFox was originally created especially for smaller factoring operations. Thus smaller factoring companies are not forced to fit into molds demanded by big operations. This makes for a more simplified interface and enhanced ease of use. Yet the same easy to use interface is provided in the Management and Enterprise versions for larger companies. Everybody wins.

Cost is significantly lower than other programs, and there are no additional charges for add-ons like annual support, upgrades, web-based report availability, and more than one user. And the written documentation (available within the program) is thorough, clear, and actually answers your questions about using the software on a daily basis. Brief, helpful online videos also show how to use most aspects of the program.

3. Pentium II or higher systems with Windows 98 or higher are recommended, or Mac. FactorFox runs on Mozilla FireFox (recommended), Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, and Opera browsers. High speed connections such as DSL or cable are required. Those using Macs can use FactorFox with Safari, and subscribers also use FactorFox on their iPhones and iPads.

4. A free self-running introductory video is available for viewing, as well as a series of 7 free video demos. This series gives you an excellent idea of the program’s look and feel, easy navigation, and answers most of your preliminary questions.

After viewing the demos, you are welcome to register for a free 30-day free trial (90 days for IFA members) which gives full access to all of FactorFox‘s features. All data entered during this period can be kept and need not be re-entered when you subscribe. We are happy to personally work with you as you get started entering information during the 30-day free trial, and two 60 to 90 minute training sessions are included at no extra cost.

6. Off-site classes are not necessary for several reasons:

> FactorFox is quite easy to learn and use without them.

> With one or two phone and GoToMeeting sessions with a FactorFox staff person during the 30-day or 90-day free trial, new users consistently say a class isn’t needed.

> Support is provided free of charge during and following the 30 or 90 day free trial period...and not just email support. You can call our free ticketing system and/or use the built-in Live Support chat feature. FactorFox support is free to trial users and subscribers.

> The online Users Guide and numerous brief videos answer just about every question new and experienced subscribers have, and are just a mouse click away. Don’t like reading manuals? There are over 60 brief videos under the Help menu on the factor’s module alone! All are just a few minutes long for easy reference and quick learning.

> Costs for travel, lodging, food, and time away for training classes add up quickly and significantly increase your start up costs. If it’s not needed in the first place, why spend it?!

7. Exceptionally well! From the Help page within FactorFox, the full written documentation in PDF format is provided, clearly describing each menu and each page of the program. This are not skimpy instructions which tell you very little beyond the obvious.

The built-in search feature lets you find all references to virtually any word or phrase in the Users Guide in the blink of an eye. Also, brief videos are also a click away from within the program to show how to use many features of the software.

8. FactorFox is provided on a pay-as-you-go basis with the Start Upl and Management version licenses. Management has a one-time activation charge, and subscription charges payable monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually as you choose. Charges for the Enterprise version include an initial set up fee and customization charges if needed, plus annual maintenance charges.

Once you subscribe and your account is activated, you have full use of every one of its features for as long as you subscribe. You are not charged extra for ticketing, email or online chat support, more than one user, web access to reports or schedule creation, nor our handy document sharing module, DocuFox. These are all included.

Payments can be made at intervals convenient to you, with automatic charges to your credit card on an annual, semiannual, quarterly, or monthly basis. They are charged at the same time consistently so you don’t need to hassle with invoices or remember to pay your next bill by check. Costs are explained on the Pricing pages of this site.

To see the costs for the various versions, go to the Pricing menu and view Start Up, Management, Enterprise, and Franchise.

9. Yes. FactorFox uses the safest encryption methods available on the internet (Secure Socket Layer, or SSL), and your data base URL begins “https://” showing this security measure is in place. Further, a firewall is used on our server to provide additional security from unauthorized hacking.

Backup of your data is done automatically by our server so you need not worry about losing the information so vital to your business. Further, additional backups are made twice daily at a remote location from the servers.

10. Currency symbols ($, €, £ etc.) are not used so any currency using a base-10 numeric system will work fine. If you have clients in different countries and need to track data in more than one currency (for example, if you’re in Canada and have both American and Canadian clients and must track each in their own currency), you need a separate data base for each since FactorFox does not provide currency conversions. In this case, your second data base is provided at a discounted price.

11. Over 50 reports come built in to FactorFox, and each has several filtering fields which generate multiple specific and different reports. Together these make about any piece of information you need just a few mouse clicks away from any page in the program.

Reports specific to clients, consultants, and lenders are available in their particular modules, and these individuals have access just to the reports which pertain to them. Only the factor has access to all reports.

Additionally, the Accountant module allows your accountant access to your Reports page so he or she can view any information needed; however accountants cannot view data entry or other pages -- only reports. Likewise, a client’s accountant can view only the reports for that client but nothing more.

Remember, because your clients, consultants, staff, and others can view reports 24/7/365, you do not need to create and send reports to others. They simply log on and view the reports themselves.

What’s more, a Graphs page in the factor’s module provides numerous helpful graphs (such as concentrations, customer payment trends, invoice agings, referral sources, and much more) that show visual data about your transactions.

12. All the reports are viewed on the FactorFox reports page online, and with a simple mouse click, are immediately exported to any of these formats:

PDF
Excel 2007
Excel 2003
Excel XML
OpenDocument Calc
Metafile

If you want to save reports to your hard drive, you can do so using any of these formats, making paper copies optional but unnecessary. If desired, you can email a report in any of the above formats, or print or fax reports using any printer driver you have installed on your computer.

13. Both the factor and clients can create and enter Schedules, as well as the invoices to factor listed on them, at any time. The ability to create invoices (to send to clients’ customers) within FactorFox is provided with a choice of four different layouts -- Professional, Product, Service, and two Trucking invoices.

Both a client and the factor can create invoices and save them in any format (PDF, etc.) described in FAQ #12. The factor or the client can then print the invoices if needed and mail, fax, or email them to customers. Clients choosing to create invoices in other programs such as QuickBooks are welcome to continue doing so; creating invoices in FactorFox is optional.