If there's an invoice for a non-trivial sum and a legally enforceable claim, there's a price at which someone will be willing to buy the invoice, even if that's pennies on the dollar.
Obviously your invoices are discounted by less if you have proof of shipped goods, the client is a blue chip with a history of prompt past payment and the invoices aren't overdue yet. But consulting assignments with signed contracts and agreed invoicing schedules are fair game.
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has ever done this with a consulting receivable, where the person they sold the receivable to wasn't a friend or colleague or something.
There's certainly no shortage of companies advertising it as a service, and I'm pretty sure my friend's pretty standard micro web agency has used them before. I certainly doubt Matsano would have had much problem factoring their invoices had it made financial sense to do so
Obviously your invoices are discounted by less if you have proof of shipped goods, the client is a blue chip with a history of prompt past payment and the invoices aren't overdue yet. But consulting assignments with signed contracts and agreed invoicing schedules are fair game.