You've won the tender and the deposit is due: a 72-hour plan to fund it

You’ve won the job. The letter of acceptance is in your inbox, and the champagne lasts about ten minutes — until the supplier asks for a deposit on the steel, the hire company wants money up front, and the client’s first payment is weeks away. Winning work and funding it are two different problems, and the second one usually arrives with a deadline attached.

This is a 72-hour plan for getting the money in place. It assumes the deposit or mobilisation cost is due within days, not months, and that the contract itself will pay for everything once claims start flowing.

What does the cash gap actually look like?

Before you ring anyone, put a number on it. Owners often underestimate the gap because they think only about the first invoice. The real figure is everything that goes out before enough comes back in.

Cost that lands early	Typical timing	Who usually wants it
Supplier or materials deposit	On order	Manufacturer, wholesaler
Equipment hire or mobilisation	Before work starts	Hire company, transport
Extra labour and subcontractors	Weekly or fortnightly	Your team, your subbies
Insurance top-ups and site set-up	Before site access	Insurer, safety supplier
Your normal running costs	Ongoing	Rent, wages, BAS

Now write down when the first payment arrives. That’s the date that matters most, because it’s the date your short-term loan starts getting paid back. The gap is the total of everything above, from today until that day, minus any deposit the client pays you.

Hour 0 to 12: what do you check in the contract?

Read the payment clauses before you read anything else. You’re looking for:

• Advance or deposit payments. Does the client pay anything upfront? If so, how much and when?
• Claim cycle. Monthly progress claims, milestone payments, or payment on completion?
• Payment terms. How many days after a claim is approved does the money arrive?
• Retention. Is a percentage held back until practical completion or the end of the defects period?
• Security. Does the client want a bank guarantee or other security? That can affect what property you have free.

If your client is an Australian Government agency, the Department of Finance’s Supplier Pay On-Time or Pay Interest policy sets a maximum payment term of 20 calendar days for standard invoices, and five calendar days where both sides have agreed to e-invoice through the Peppol network. State, council and private clients set their own terms, so read your contract rather than assuming.

Hour 12 to 24: which funding structure fits?

There are two broad paths, and the right one depends on whether you have property and how big the gap is.

If you have property with equity, a short-term property-secured loan is usually the fastest and largest option. Loans run from $20,000 to $5,000,000 against residential or commercial property, for business purposes. The structure depends on the property:

• Victorian property — a caveat loan, quick to put in place.
• Property in any other state or territory — a short-term registered second mortgage behind your existing bank loan, usually arranged just as quickly.
• Property with no mortgage — a short-term first mortgage can be simplest of all.

If you don’t own property, a trading business may qualify for unsecured or cash-flow funding, typically $5,000 to $500,000, sized on turnover and bank statements. It suits smaller gaps, and it leans heavily on recent trading history.

Our large order or contract page goes deeper into matching the structure to the size of the job. If you’d rather talk it through now, tell us about the contract — it takes a minute and there’s no credit check to enquire.

Hour 24 to 48: what paperwork moves things fastest?

Speed comes from having everything ready before you’re asked. Pull these together while we review your enquiry:

1. Signed contract or letter of acceptance.
2. The supplier’s quote or invoice showing the deposit and when it’s due.
3. Recent business bank statements.
4. ID for every borrower and director.
5. For property security: the address, who’s on the title, the current mortgage balance and a recent statement.
6. A one-page cash-flow sketch: what goes out, what comes in, and when.

That last item is underrated. A simple timeline showing the first progress claim paying the loan down tells us you’ve thought about the exit, which is exactly what a short-term loan is built around. The full list is on our documents checklist.

If the property needs a valuation, it’s usually ordered at this stage. We decide what kind of valuation we need, and a clear title, an up-to-date mortgage statement and easy access to the property all help the valuer turn it around quickly.

What usually stalls a 72-hour plan?

Most delays have nothing to do with our appetite to lend. They come from small gaps that take a day each to close. The common ones:

• A co-owner who isn’t in the loop. If someone else is on the property title, they’ll need to sign. Tell them before the documents arrive, not after.
• The wrong entity. The contract is in the company’s name, the property is in yours, and the bank statements belong to a trust. That’s all workable, but say so upfront so the documents are drawn correctly the first time.
• A missing mortgage statement. Lenders need the current balance of any existing loan on the property. Download it from your banking app before you enquire.
• An unclear due date. “Sometime next week” isn’t a deadline. Get the supplier to confirm the date and amount in writing, and share it.
• Hidden tax debt. ATO debt is considered case by case, so it’s rarely a deal-breaker — but it becomes one when it surfaces late. Mention it at the start.

Fix these before you press submit and the 72-hour plan has a real chance of finishing early.

Hour 48 to 72: settle and pay

Once the loan is approved and documents are signed, funds can be paid out. For property-secured loans of $20,000 to $250,000, same-day funding can be possible; larger loans up to $5 million can be possible within 24 to 48 hours. Our page on same-day funding explains what has to line up for that to happen.

Consider having the deposit paid directly to the supplier. It keeps the purpose of the loan clean on paper and saves a transfer on your side.

An illustrative example

Invented scenario, round numbers, no real business.

A Brisbane shopfitting company wins a contract to fit out a medical centre. The builder pays monthly claims, with the first one expected about six weeks after site start. The joinery supplier wants a $90,000 deposit within four days, and the company needs another $30,000 for hire and extra labour before the first claim lands — a gap of $120,000.

The director owns an industrial unit worth around $1,000,000 with a bank loan of $450,000. A further $120,000 brings total borrowing to $570,000, a loan-to-value ratio of 57%. Because the unit is in Queensland, the loan is a short-term registered second mortgage. The documents go in on day one, the title and valuation are checked on day two, and the supplier is paid on day three.

The company plans to repay the loan from the first two progress claims, with the second claim as a buffer if the first one is approved late.

How do you make sure the contract pays the loan back?

The weakest point in any contract-funded loan is the gap between doing the work and getting paid. Protect it:

• Submit claims on day one of the claim window, with every supporting document attached.
• Chase approvals early. A claim stuck with a superintendent or project manager doesn’t pay anything.
• Watch for retention. It won’t come back for a while, so don’t count it towards the loan.
• Keep BAS current. A contract win often lifts GST and PAYG withholding; budget for them before you budget for anything else.
• Build in a buffer. If the plan only works when every claim pays on time, it’s a tight plan.

If the job grows, or a variation adds cost, talk to us early. Topping up a loan before you’re stretched is far easier than asking for help after a missed payment.

Turn the win into a funded start

Winning work you can’t afford to start is one of the most frustrating spots in business. The good news is that it’s a short, specific problem with a clear answer: a dated loan, repaid from the contract you’ve already secured. Tell us what you’ve won, what’s due and when the first payment lands, and someone from our team will look at the numbers and ring you.

It takes about a minute, and nobody pulls your credit file at the enquiry stage. We won’t spread your details across a long list of lenders. Please be precise about the property you’re offering, the state it’s in and the date the deposit is due — those three details decide how fast we can move.

Get the deposit sorted →