The empirical literature about factoring mainly focuses on the reasons why firms use factoring, suggesting the role of many factors such as the age of the firm, the size, the financial structure and the features of the product, of the distribution channels and of the trade relationships, without analyzing the potential effects that the use of factoring may generate on the firm both on the management and the financial structure. This work focus on two level of analysis: a qualitative survey about the insight of the firms with regard to the effect of factoring, that takes into account the answers given by the firms during a previous research, and a quantitative analysis of their balance sheets. This analysis provides interesting results which confirm some of the theories about the effect of the use of factoring on the firms: firms using factoring in a wide, systematic and long-lasting relationship are more able to identify well the benefits on the trade credit relationship and to correctly evaluate the suitability of factoring in respect to those who use it in a occasional or limited fashion. Moreover, results confirm also some of the theoretical previsions about the effect of a "correct" use of factoring on the balance sheet of the firm in terms of profitability, financial structure and, at the end of the day, a better overall performance
