---
title: "Spot factoring"
url: https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/spot-factoring
description: "Spot factoring is selling a single invoice, or a few chosen invoices, to a factor without a long-term contract or any obligation to factor future invoices."
---

# Spot factoring

**Definition:** Spot factoring is selling a single invoice, or a few chosen invoices, to a factor without a long-term contract or any obligation to factor future invoices.

Also called: Single-invoice factoring, Selective factoring. Category: Factoring.

Carriers use spot factoring to cover a cash gap without signing a volume contract. Per-invoice fees are typically higher, and there are no monthly minimums or termination fees.

For the factor, spot deals concentrate risk. The carrier chooses which invoices to sell, and it rarely picks its fastest-paying broker. You do full onboarding work for one invoice, with no relationship or payment history to lean on, and a one-off deal gives a fraudster no reason to stay.

The legal trap is an existing lien. If the carrier already has a [whole-ledger](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/whole-ledger-factoring) factor whose [UCC-1](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/ucc-1) covers all accounts, that earlier filing generally ranks ahead of you under UCC §9-322, and the debtor may already have that factor's NOA. Run a [UCC search](https://carrierkyc.com/tools/ucc-search) before you buy, even for one invoice.

> **Red flag: Red flags** A carrier that wants to spot factor one large invoice from a debtor already paying another factor. A UCC-1 on file from another factor or a merchant cash advance lender. Urgency to fund today on an invoice dated weeks ago.

## Related

- [Whole-ledger factoring](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/whole-ledger-factoring)
- [UCC-1 financing statement](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/ucc-1)
- [Double factoring](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/double-factoring)
- [How to run a UCC lien search before you fund a carrier](https://carrierkyc.com/guides/ucc-search-before-funding)
- [50-state UCC search directory](https://carrierkyc.com/tools/ucc-search)

## Sources

- [UCC §9-322: Priorities among conflicting security interests](https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/9/9-322) (Cornell LII)