Insights
ABL Intelligence From the Inside
Expert perspectives on asset-based lending from Donald Clarke — SFNet Hall of Fame inductee, author of the first ABL textbook, and 40+ years of deal execution experience.
What Is Asset-Based Lending? A Borrower's Complete Guide
Asset-based lending explained from a borrower's perspective — real advance rates, collateral types, how borrowing bases work, and when ABL is the right financing structure for your business.
Read ArticleWhy Your ABL Deal Got Declined — And How to Fix It
Most ABL deals don't fail because of the business. They fail because of how they were presented. Here are the three reasons deals get declined — and how to fix each one.
Read ArticleHow to Choose the Right ABL Lender for Your Business
Not all ABL lenders are the same. Banks, independent shops, factors, PE-backed lenders — each has different minimums, advance rates, and risk appetites. Here's how to find the right fit.
Read ArticleAsset-Based Lending in 2026: Market Trends Every CFO Should Know
The ABL market is expected to exceed $1 trillion in 2026. Private credit competition, PE firms embracing ABL, and digital collateral management are reshaping the landscape.
Read ArticleThe ABL Credit Package: What Lenders Actually Want to See
A step-by-step breakdown of what goes into a credit-committee-ready ABL package — financial statements, borrowing base certificates, collateral analysis, projections, and deal narratives.
Read ArticleABL Field Examinations: What Every Borrower Needs to Know
Field examinations are the lender's eyes on your business. Learn what ABL field examiners look for, why lenders require them, and how to prepare so your deal moves forward without surprises.
Read ArticleAccounts Receivable Financing vs. Factoring: Which Is Right for Your Business?
Accounts receivable financing and factoring both use your invoices to generate cash — but they work very differently. Learn the key differences in structure, cost, ownership, and when each is the right fit.
Read ArticleAsset-Based Lending for Turnaround and Distressed Companies
When cash flow lenders walk away, asset-based lending steps in. Learn how ABL provides lifeline financing for turnaround situations — DIP lending, distressed refinances, and what lenders need to see.
Read ArticleThe SBA 7(a) Working Capital Pilot Program: What ABL Borrowers Need to Know
The SBA's 7(a) Working Capital Pilot program now supports asset-based lending for small businesses up to $5M. Learn how it works, who qualifies, and how to access this government-backed ABL option.
Read ArticleABL Borrowing Base Monitoring: Why It Matters and How to Get It Right
Borrowing base monitoring is the lifeblood of every ABL facility. Learn how it works, why lenders require it, common pitfalls that restrict availability, and best practices for maintaining a clean borrowing base.
Read ArticleTariffs and Trade Policy: How They Affect Your ABL Inventory Collateral
Tariff volatility is reshaping how lenders value inventory collateral. Learn how trade policy changes affect your ABL borrowing base, advance rates, and what you can do now to protect your borrowing capacity.
Read ArticleABL vs. Cash Flow Lending: How to Choose the Right Structure for Your Business
Asset-based lending and cash flow lending solve different problems. Choosing wrong constrains liquidity, triggers covenants, and kills deals. Here is how to match the right structure to your business.
Read ArticleThe ABL Term Sheet: Key Terms Every Borrower Should Negotiate
The ABL term sheet is where the deal gets made or broken. Most borrowers focus on rate and miss the provisions that actually determine whether the facility works. Here are the terms that matter and how to negotiate them.
Read ArticleHow Private Credit and Direct Lenders Are Reshaping Asset-Based Lending
Private credit is crossing $2 trillion in 2026, and ABL is ground zero for the expansion. Hybrid structures, new fund launches, and aggressive competition are changing how deals get done. Here is what it means for borrowers.
Read ArticleABL for Acquisition Financing: How Asset-Based Lending Powers Leveraged Buyouts
Asset-based lending is the financing backbone of middle market acquisitions. Here is how ABL structures support leveraged buyouts, add-on acquisitions, and PE platform builds in 2026.
Read ArticleHow Interest Rate Changes Affect ABL Pricing and Structure
With the Fed holding at 3.5-3.75% and SOFR still elevated, rate moves directly hit your ABL interest cost, borrowing base economics, and covenant headroom. Here is how to think about rate risk in your facility.
Read ArticleHow Long Does It Take to Close an ABL Loan? A Realistic Timeline
Most borrowers hear "30 to 60 days" and assume it is routine. It is not. Here is the real week-by-week timeline from first call to funded -- and the four things that blow up the calendar.
Read ArticleWhen to Refinance Your ABL Facility: Signals, Timing, and How to Get Better Terms
Most ABL facilities get refinanced too late or for the wrong reasons. Here are the seven signals that it is time to move, the timing that actually matters, and how to run a refinance that materially improves pricing, advance rates, and covenants.
Read ArticleEligible vs. Ineligible Receivables: What ABL Lenders Exclude and Why
Most borrowers are surprised when their borrowing base comes back smaller than expected. The reason is almost always ineligibles. Here are the eight standard exclusions lenders apply to accounts receivable -- and how to protect availability before the first field exam.
Read ArticleDIP ABL Financing: How Asset-Based Debtor-in-Possession Loans Work
Chapter 11 without liquidity is a liquidation. DIP ABL financing is what keeps a distressed business operating while it restructures. Here is how these facilities are structured, the court-approval timeline, and what CFOs and bankruptcy counsel need to understand before filing.
Read ArticleABL for Government Contractors: Assignment of Claims, Set-Off Risk, and Borrowing Base Mechanics
Government receivables are some of the strongest collateral in the market -- if the lender can actually attach to them. Here is how ABL for federal contractors works, why the Assignment of Claims Act is non-negotiable, and how to structure a facility that survives set-off risk and the contracting cycle.
Read ArticleABL for Healthcare Receivables: Medicare, Medicaid, and Third-Party Payor Mechanics
Healthcare receivables are valuable collateral and complicated collateral. Medicare and Medicaid cannot be assigned, contractual adjustments can run 60 percent or more, and dilution is structurally higher than in commercial AR. Here is how ABL lenders actually advance against healthcare AR, the lockbox and DACA mechanics that make it work, and where borrowers leave availability on the table.
Read ArticleSpringing FCCR Covenants in ABL: How Triggers and Availability Blocks Actually Work
The springing FCCR covenant is the single most important financial covenant in a typical middle-market ABL facility, and one of the least well understood by borrowers. The trigger threshold, the FCCR definition, the availability block, and the cure mechanics are all heavily negotiated -- and small differences in any of them can mean the difference between a covenant that never bites and a covenant that locks down the borrower at the worst possible time.
Read ArticleABL Appraisals Explained: NOLV, FLV, Types, Timing, and Cost
Appraisals are how an ABL lender turns your inventory and equipment into a borrowing base. NOLV percentages, advance rate stacking, who pays, how often the appraisal refreshes, and how a soft appraisal cycle compresses availability -- all of it gets driven by the appraiser. Here is how the process actually works and what borrowers can do to influence the outcome.
Read ArticleABL Intercreditor Agreements: Split Collateral, Standstill, and Payment Blockage
When an ABL facility sits alongside a term loan, mezzanine, or second lien, the intercreditor agreement controls who gets what when things go wrong. The split-collateral structure, the ABL cap, the standstill periods, payment blockage, DIP financing rights, and adequate protection mechanics are all heavily negotiated -- and the wrong language buried in a long ICA can quietly cost the ABL lender or the term lender millions in a workout. Here is how it actually works and where the leverage points are.
Read ArticleCash Dominion in ABL: Full Control vs. Springing, and What It Means Operationally
Cash dominion is the part of an ABL facility that touches the borrower every business day. Full dominion means every dollar of cash collected sweeps to the lender; springing dominion means cash flows freely until a trigger fires. The difference between the two structures is the difference between a treasury function that runs normally and one that runs through the lender. Here is how it actually works, where the trigger thresholds live, and what to negotiate.
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