Funding a large order or new contract before the customer pays

Winning the big one is the moment every owner works for. It’s also the moment cash flow gets tested hardest. Materials have to be ordered, crews hired, trucks fuelled and equipment hired, and the customer’s first payment might be 30, 60 or 90 days away. A short-term loan bridges that stretch so the job doesn’t strangle the rest of the business.

How big is the cash gap, really?

Start with a simple week-by-week map. The loan should match the deepest point of the gap, not the full contract value. business.gov.au’s cash flow guidance makes the same point in its own way: compare your estimated and actual income and costs “to quickly identify shortfalls”.

Week	Money out	Money in	Running position
1	Materials deposit, equipment hire	—	Gap opens
2–4	Wages, super, fuel, subcontractors	—	Gap deepens
5	Balance on materials	—	Deepest point
6–8	Ongoing wages and costs	First progress payment	Gap narrows
9–12	Final costs	Remaining progress payments	Gap closes

Your timeline will differ, but the shape is common. Mark the lowest point, add a buffer for delays, and that’s your working loan amount.

Don’t forget wages and super. From 1 July 2026, under payday super, the ATO says a contribution is on time if it reaches the employee’s fund “within 7 business days after paying your employee”. Extra staff on a big job means extra super leaving the account almost straight away.

Which structure suits an order or contract?

That depends on the size of the gap, how long it lasts and whether there’s property available as security.

• Small to mid-sized gap, trading business, no property: an unsecured or cash-flow option, typically $5,000 to $500,000, sized on turnover and bank statements.
• Larger gap, Victorian property with a bank mortgage: a caveat loan behind the existing lender.
• Larger gap, property in any other state: a registered second mortgage, which does the same job and is usually arranged just as fast.
• Property owned outright, or a very large contract: a short-term first mortgage with the most borrowing room.

Property-secured loans run from $20,000 to $5,000,000 for business purposes. When a supplier needs paying before materials ship, speed matters: smaller secured amounts up to $250k can sometimes be funded the same day, and up to $5m is possible within 24 to 48 hours.

Ready to put numbers on it? Share the contract details with our desk and we’ll talk through the gap with you.

What does a lender want to see?

The order or contract is the star of the application. Bring:

• the contract, purchase order or letter of award;
• the customer’s payment terms or progress-claim schedule;
• your week-by-week cash map (even a rough one);
• property details and loan balances, if you’re offering security;
• recent business bank statements.

We’re asking two things: is the security sound, and will the customer’s money arrive in time to repay the loan? A clear payment schedule from a reliable customer answers the second question better than any financial statement.

It also helps to show you can actually deliver. A line or two about similar jobs you’ve completed, the crew or subcontractors lined up and the supplier’s confirmed lead times all reassure a lender that the progress payments will be earned on schedule. If the customer is a government body or a large builder with a long payment history, say so — a dependable payer strengthens the exit more than almost anything else you can add.

How do I protect the business while the job runs?

Large jobs can go sideways for reasons outside your control. A few habits reduce the risk:

1. Invoice on time, every time. business.gov.au notes clear payment terms help you get paid on time and manage cash flow.
2. Negotiate a deposit or mobilisation payment if the customer will agree to one.
3. Order materials in stages where you can, rather than all at once.
4. Leave room in the loan term beyond the expected final payment date.
5. Keep your regular customers happy. The big job shouldn’t starve the steady work.

An illustrative example

Example only — invented business, rounded figures.

A Toowoomba steel fabrication business wins an $850,000 contract to supply structural steel for a warehouse. The steel supplier wants $300,000 up front, and the builder pays monthly progress claims on 30-day terms, so the first payment is about seven weeks away. The owner’s cash map shows the deepest point at around $360,000.

The owners hold a Toowoomba investment property worth about $1m with $250k owing, so even after the new loan the combined LVR sits around 63%. Because it’s in Queensland, we fund a registered second mortgage of $380,000 — the gap plus a buffer and costs. Steel is ordered on time. The loan is repaid from the second and third progress claims, with the job finishing in roughly four months.

Had the business been in Bendigo with a Victorian property, a caveat loan would have done the same job.

What if the job is ongoing rather than one-off?

A single big order suits a single short-term loan. But if large contracts are becoming the norm, the business may need a permanent working capital facility instead. Use the short-term loan to win and deliver the first one, then use those results to secure a longer-term arrangement. For seasonal peaks rather than contracts, see funding a seasonal stock buy, and for tenders with a deposit due, our guide on a tender won with a deposit due.

Won the work? Let’s see if you qualify

A full order book is a good problem, and we’d like to help you deliver it. Our enquiry form is short — roughly a minute of your time — with no credit check when you first enquire. We won’t shop your details around to a long list of lenders — the loan comes from us. One real person reads your contract details and the security on offer, then picks up the phone to you.

Accuracy helps us move fast: please give the right property address and state, the contract value and the date the first supplier payment is due.

Fund my order or contract →