It’s Monday morning and you don’t have enough cash on hand to make Friday’s payroll. What options do you have? Cash flow crunches affect every company. Ideally, you can weather these crises by accessing a line of credit or revolving loan you’ve already set up with your bank, or tapping into cash reserves you’ve put aside for such an occasion. But what can you do if you’ve already exhausted these sources? Carefully consider these triage techniques to help get you through such an emergency:

Collection:  Turn first to reliable, long-term customers who have historically paid on time. Ask a couple of your best customers if they’d be willing to pay their bills, or a portion of them, early. Be upbeat and honest — tell them that you’re tight on cash and would appreciate it if they could pay you now. Consider offering the customer an incentive for early payment — perhaps 1 or 2 percent off the total bill.  For clients with very old debts, offer to forgive 15 or even 25 percent of their outstanding balance if they pay within the week. This is not a cheap solution, but no more expensive than some debt options. And it may help bring in money you’d never see otherwise.

Sale/Lease-Back:  While your office furniture, computers, phone system or other equipment has cash value, you can’t just sell it off and still operate your business. What you can do, however, is find a leasing company that is willing to buy it and lease it back to you. The money you get will be based on the value of your assets, and you can expect the leasing company to charge you a high premium. Use this option carefully. Since the leasing company — not your business — will own the equipment, it probably won’t hesitate to take it back should you miss payments.

Credit Cards:  Skillfully managed, credit cards can get you through a cash flow crisis. But be very careful: entrepreneurs who have successfully bank loans or lines of credit. And unless you repay the money quickly, hefty monthly payments will put future cash flow in jeopardy. If you have no other choice, treat credit card debt as a short-term loan and repay it within a few weeks.

Manage Payables:  If you fail to pay your employees, chances are they’ll quickly start to look for work elsewhere. Suppliers, on the other hand, may be quick to forgive a late payment or two. Call your creditors and ask for a grace period, or arrange to pay only a part of the outstanding balance this month. Closely examine your bills to determine which ones you must pay and which ones can wait. Pay those creditors who are most crucial to the continuation of your business first, and others later. Don’t, however, simply skip a payment; be sure to explain your situation to the creditor first along with your plan on how to catch up.

Bank Products:   Meet with the Treasury Services representative from your bank to explore the products they may be able offer to assist with cash flow.  They may have some technology that can shave a day or two off your collection of receivables and extend the payments on your payables, thus maximizing the utilization of cash within your business.  Ask specifically about Remote Capture technology and EFT or ACH payment options.  Also, inquire about a sweep option if you have a line of credit.

Factor Receivables:  Factors will quickly buy your receivables for cash — often within 24 hours. You will pay a high price — often as much as 15 percent of the value of the receivables — but you can get cash literally overnight. And once factors purchase receivables, they generally take over all the paperwork and accounting aspects of managing them. Since sales to factors are usually confidential, you can also keep your cash flow woes quiet.

Equity Infusion: It may be the case that your business is simply under-capitalized and needs an equity infusion.  Be careful, however, since working capital shortages are an indication of a business that needs fundamental financial and operational attention.  Capital infusions should be accompanied with an aggressive plan of action to remedy the situation.  Remember that the cost of your capital is the highest.