Compare purchase order funding companies using the same awarded order, supplier budget and payment dates. Establish which costs each offer covers, what your business must pay itself and the amount remaining after settlement. This guide is a working comparison checklist; our purchase order funding companies overview explains the wider selection questions.
For a qualifying government or municipal tender-linked order, request an assessment through Fund The People’s own Purchase Order Funding Solutions. Private corporate orders are outside our funding scope. Start our four-step application with the issued order, current supplier quotations and actual deal value. Proposed funding and terms remain subject to verification and approval.
Fund The People’s published approval timeframe is within 48 hours for complete qualifying applications. Confirm the separate agreement, supplier-payment and delivery dates in the proposal.
Confirm the company and funding role
Identify the legal entity named in the agreement and establish whether it is the funder, an intermediary or an administrator. Ask who approves the transaction, pays the supplier and carries responsibility for statements and complaints.
Compare supplier-payment controls
Ask whether payment goes directly to a verified supplier, which conditions must be met and how a supplier change is approved. Confirm the evidence required before each staged payment and what happens if stock becomes unavailable.
List eligible and excluded costs
Some structures may cover goods while excluding transport, labour, import charges or installation. Put every direct cost into the budget and identify its payer. The business must be able to carry any excluded amount without disrupting delivery.
Calculate the full transaction cost
Compare charges in rand at the expected buyer-payment date. Include initiation, administration, extension and monitoring charges where relevant. Test the remaining gross margin after funding and after a realistic delay.
Read security and recourse terms
Review cessions of buyer proceeds, sureties, debit mandates and rights over other assets or transactions. Establish who bears a buyer dispute, rejected delivery or late payment. Do not infer limited recourse from the product name.
Assess operational fit
Check whether the company’s verification and payment steps match the supplier’s deadline and the buyer’s delivery plan. Ask who resolves a mismatch between the order and quotation and how urgent changes are documented.
Use a written comparison
Record the following fields for each proposal, using the same order, supplier quotations and expected buyer-payment date. Mark an unanswered item as a question for the provider before comparing totals.
| Comparison field | What to record for each offer |
|---|---|
| Company and role | Contracting entity, direct funder or intermediary, and person responsible for queries. |
| Supplier costs covered | Approved supplier payments, excluded costs and your required contribution. |
| Usable funding and timing | Who receives each payment, the release conditions and dates. |
| Total charges in rand | All agreed charges, when they are paid and the basis used to calculate them. |
| Later buyer payment | What changes if settlement is delayed under the proposed terms. |
| Security and recourse | Any cessions, guarantees, assets, continuing duties and responsibility for a dispute. |
| Delivery and settlement | Stock checks, delivery evidence, allocation of buyer proceeds and complaints route. |
An illustrative comparison: charge size and payment date
Assume a R500,000 order, R320,000 in supplier goods and R25,000 in logistics. Hypothetical Offer A charges R12,000 upfront, while Offer B charges R16,000 at settlement. If both pay the R320,000 goods cost directly to suppliers and exclude logistics, your business needs R37,000 upfront under A and R25,000 under B. Using the same VAT basis, the amounts remaining after goods, logistics and funding charges are R143,000 and R139,000 respectively, before overheads and tax.
These figures illustrate the difference between upfront cash needs and total cost; they are not Fund The People quotes or standard terms. Ask how a later buyer-payment date changes each written proposal. Our purchase order funding costs guide explains the cost questions to prepare.
Compare the proposed structure
For a government or municipal tender-linked order, prepare the issued order, supplier quotations and cost schedule, then start our four-step application. Use our document checklist to organise supporting records. Our team assesses your actual transaction and explains the proposed Purchase Order Funding Solutions terms.