Financial Float
Float Finanziario
The Financial Float is the liquidity a company generates from the difference between collection times from its clients (shorter) and payment times to its suppliers (longer). It is effectively a zero-cost loan obtained at the suppliers’ expense.
How it works #
A consulting firm collects from the end client at 30 days but pays its consultants at 90 days. The 60-day difference generates a float: for every €100,000 in monthly revenue, the company has ~€200,000 of free liquidity it can invest or use as working capital.
What it’s for #
For large companies it is a structural financial lever. For freelance consultants it is the perverse mechanism by which they find themselves financing their clients interest-free, without guarantees and without alternatives — because the market “works this way.”
Why it matters #
Financial float is an invisible wealth transfer from supplier to client. A consultant who works in October and gets paid in February is providing a four-month loan. Nobody calls it that — they call it “contractual terms.” But economically it is identical.