CHOCCS stands for “Client Handles Own Credit Control service”. It is an invoice finance arrangement in which your business keeps responsibility for chasing and collecting customer payments. Check the proposed agreement for the exact collection duties, reporting requirements and customer disclosure arrangements.
Keeping collections does not guarantee confidentiality
Skipton describes its CHOCS product as disclosed factoring: customers know a finance provider is involved, while the business continues its own credit control. This is the key difference from confidential invoice discounting, which is designed to avoid routine disclosure. Ask each provider to confirm its arrangements rather than treating the acronym as a confidentiality promise.
What happens in practice?
The provider agrees which invoices it will fund and the advance, limits and reporting terms. Your team maintains contact with customers and follows up payments. The agreement specifies where receipts must go and how they reduce the funded balance. Retaining customer contact does not necessarily mean receipts can be used freely outside that process.
Compare the collection responsibilities
| Structure | Routine chasing | Customer awareness |
|---|---|---|
| Standard disclosed factoring | Normally the provider | Customers know the provider is involved |
| CHOCCS or CHOCS | Your business | Commonly disclosed; confirm the product |
| Confidential invoice discounting | Your business | Not routinely disclosed; exceptions depend on terms |
Do not assume these labels fix every detail. Ask about debt verification, contact following default, and any right for the provider to take over collections.
A practical handover checklist
Before starting, give one person responsibility for reconciling receipts and another responsibility for resolving customer queries. These can be roles within a small team, but the work must still be assigned. Prepare a list of payment instructions and reporting deadlines, and agree a backup for holidays or staff absence.
Consider a customer who pays the old account after receiving new instructions. Ask how your team must identify, report and transfer that receipt. Then consider an invoice that becomes disputed after funding: find out who contacts the customer, whether availability changes and what your business must do next.
What should you compare on cost?
Request the complete fee schedule and compare it with both a factoring service and a discounting proposal. Include the cost of keeping your own collections team. Do not assume CHOCCS is always cheaper or available to every business simply because a provider performs less day-to-day chasing.
Ask whether fees are based on sales, selected invoices, drawings or a minimum charge. Test a quiet month and a late-paying customer as well as the expected trading pattern.
Questions to put in writing
- Is this a disclosed or confidential facility, and what must customers be told?
- Who sends reminders, handles disputes and approves payment plans?
- Where do customer receipts go and who reconciles them?
- When can the provider contact customers or take over credit control?
- What records and reporting must the business maintain?
- What recourse, security and exit terms apply?
CHOCCS may be worth comparing when you want funding and already have a reliable collection process. The choice should follow the work your team can perform and the written terms, rather than the product name alone.
Sources and verification
Published material checked on 27 October 2026. Provider terms can change; confirm them before applying. Examples and comparison methods are our own illustrations.
