Working capital
Working capital finance: smooth the gap between the work and the money.
Most growing businesses die of timing, not losses: the work is done, the invoice is out, the wages are due. Working capital facilities bridge that gap, and the right structure costs a fraction of the wrong one.
Rated 5.0 from 261 Google reviews · Brisbane finance brokers
- Overdrafts, invoice finance, trade and import facilities, short-term loans
- Facilities matched to the cash-flow shape: seasonal, project-based or growth
- Unsecured options exist; secured ones price far better, and we show both
Match the facility to the gap.
Different gaps want different tools:
- Invoice finance: unlock 80-90% of invoices immediately; suits B2B businesses with 30-90 day terms
- Overdraft: the flexible buffer for lumpy months; cheapest when secured
- Trade finance: fund stock and imports between paying suppliers and selling through
- Short-term loans: fast, purpose-built capital for a defined bridge (priced accordingly)
How invoice finance works, mechanically.
You raise an invoice on your usual terms, and the financier advances most of it immediately, commonly 80-90% of face value. When your customer pays, the remainder comes to you minus the financier's fees. The facility is secured by the receivables themselves and grows with your ledger, which is the feature that matters: a business doubling its sales doesn't have to renegotiate a limit every quarter.
Two flavours: disclosed, where your customer pays the financier directly and knows about the arrangement, and confidential, where you collect as normal and customers see nothing. Confidential facilities usually want stronger businesses with better systems, and price accordingly. Debtor quality drives everything: invoices to solid businesses on clean terms are the easiest money to unlock.
A worked example: the timing gap in dollars.
An example with checkable arithmetic. A labour-hire firm invoices $100,000 for a month's work on 60-day terms, but roughly $70,000 of wages for that same month is due now. An invoice finance facility advancing 85% releases $85,000 (85% of $100,000) as soon as the invoice is raised: wages covered, growth intact, no awkward call asking the client to pay early.
The remaining $15,000 arrives, minus fees, when the customer pays at day 60. The facility's cost is real, so the question we always model is whether the funded work earns more than the fees. For businesses turning away contracts because of cash timing, it usually does, and we show you that arithmetic before you sign.
The process: usually days, not weeks.
Working capital moves faster than any other commercial lending:
- A conversation about the gap: seasonal, growth, one big contract, or structural
- Recent bank statements, aged receivables and basic financials (your accountant or LINK Advisors can pull these fast)
- Indicative offers within days for invoice finance and unsecured products; one to three weeks for secured overdrafts
- Facility live: invoice finance can be funding within a week of the paperwork
The honest pricing conversation.
Unsecured cash-flow lending is the most expensive mainstream debt a business can carry: fast money priced for risk. Sometimes it's still right (a contract worth far more than the interest). But often a secured facility, a restructure of existing debt, or fixing the actual cash-flow driver (terms, collections, stock) beats borrowing. We tell you which one you're looking at before anything is signed.
Common working capital mistakes.
The pattern behind most expensive facilities:
- Using short-term money for long-term purposes: equipment and fitouts belong on asset finance terms
- Stacking a second and third cash-flow loan on top of the first instead of restructuring once
- Treating the overdraft as permanent capital, so it's maxed the day it's actually needed
- Borrowing to cover a collections problem, when the fix is invoicing terms, not debt
- Renewing the same facility every year without re-testing the market
Your broker, not a call centre.
Hugh, Callum and Jacob write every loan themselves: the person who meets you is the person who structures the deal, drives the approval and reprices your rate every six months after settlement. That's why 261 Google reviews name them personally.
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Building a house can be so stressful and overwhelming let alone dealing with the finance aspect of it, however with Callum it has been the exact opposite. He has been so patient and extremely helpful throughout the whole process. Highly recommend!
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Hugh and the rest of the team were excellent at securing us a home loan. Knowledgeable, friendly, very communicative and made the entire process stress free and easy. We can’t recommend Hugh and the rest of the team at Link Advance enough.
Frequently asked questions.
How fast can working capital be approved?
Invoice finance and unsecured facilities can approve in days; secured overdrafts and bank facilities take one to three weeks. If there's a hard deadline, say so first. It changes the lender list.
What does invoice finance cost?
Typically a service fee plus interest on drawn funds. All-in costs commonly land in the high single digits to low teens annually depending on volume and debtor quality. It scales with use, which is the point: it grows with your receivables.
Will I need property security?
Not necessarily: invoice finance is secured by the receivables themselves, and unsecured products exist. But property-backed facilities price dramatically better; if you have security and expect to use the facility often, using it usually wins.
Can this consolidate expensive short-term debts?
Often, yes: rolling multiple high-rate cash-flow loans into one properly structured facility is one of the most valuable things a commercial broker does. Bring the loan statements; the comparison takes a day.
What's the difference between invoice finance and factoring?
Factoring is the traditional, disclosed version: the financier buys your invoices and collects from your customers directly. Modern invoice finance (discounting) can be confidential, with you collecting as normal. The economics are similar; the customer-facing experience isn't. Which fits depends on your systems, your margins and how you feel about customers seeing the arrangement.
Will my customers know I'm using invoice finance?
Only if the facility is disclosed. Confidential invoice discounting keeps collections with you, and your customers see nothing different. Confidential facilities generally want established businesses with sound ledgers and reporting; if that's you, disclosure is a choice rather than a requirement.
Is an overdraft better than a loan?
They do different jobs. An overdraft is a buffer you dip into and clear, priced for flexibility; a term loan is a lump sum with a schedule, priced for certainty. Using an overdraft as a permanent loan is expensive, and using a term loan for a fluctuating gap is clumsy. Match the shape of the money to the shape of the gap.
Can a new business get working capital finance?
Harder, but not closed. Invoice finance works on your debtors' strength as much as yours, so a young business invoicing solid customers can qualify. Unsecured lenders usually want trading history, commonly six to twelve months. Security, a strong contract in hand, or a director's property can open doors earlier. We'll be straight about which lane you're in.
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