Maintenance for schools and villages
The business does building maintenance and small refurbishments around Perth, for schools, retirement villages and commercial sites. It’s a small operation run by its owner, and the work is picking up.
The invoices go out on completion, or at agreed milestones on a longer job. Most of the clients are government or institutional, with a site manager or a school office signing off on each payment.
Their standard terms are a couple of weeks to a month. When a payment has to go through a client’s internal approval, it can stretch to two months.
“I’m sort of picking up some good contacts and clients now...”
From a call with the FundTap team, January 2026
Held up in the school office
The gap is on the costs side. The subcontractors and suppliers want paying as the work goes through. Labour and materials for urgent works can’t wait for a client’s sign-off.
When they signed up, the owner told the FundTap team one school project was taking longer to be paid because of the school’s own internal requirements. The payment was confirmed in writing for the month after.
It isn’t that the money is in doubt. It’s that the job is done, the subcontractors are paid, and the payment is still working through someone’s approvals.
“...because the job starts and then you can only work for the end of the month and then it goes another month till you get paid.”
From a call with the FundTap team, January 2026
Funding the school invoice
They signed up in January 2026 with that school invoice in hand, and it became the first invoice they funded.
The business picks the invoice, sees the fee first, and the schools and site managers still pay it directly once their paperwork clears.
“...It’s a good little thing to have, especially starting up a business...”
From a call with the FundTap team, January 2026
Booked out and quoting the next jobs
With the school invoice funded, the subcontractors and suppliers on the next jobs were paid while the school’s payment worked through. The owner could keep quoting on government work with long terms.
That’s what the business wanted: new clients and good contacts coming in, and the diary full enough that the next job starts as the last one finishes.
They’ve funded 11 invoices since January 2026, and August 2026 was their busiest month, with four. The invoices that arrive on time are left alone.
“...Probably I’m booked out for about a month. I’m on another job now...”
From a call with the FundTap team, January 2026
The timeline
- January 2026 Signed up with a school project’s payment held up by the school’s internal process.
- January 2026 Funded that school invoice, the first one.
- January 2026 Booked out for about a month, with more quotes going out for government work.
- August 2026 The busiest month so far, with four invoices funded.
In numbers
- 11 invoices funded since January 2026, the owner choosing which
- 4 invoices funded in August 2026, the busiest month
- 1 school invoice to start with, the one the school was still processing
Invoices funded each month, as a table
| Month | Invoices funded |
|---|---|
| January 2026 | 1 |
| February 2026 | 0 |
| March 2026 | 2 |
| April 2026 | 1 |
| May 2026 | 1 |
| June 2026 | 2 |
| July 2026 | 0 |
| August 2026 | 4 |
| September 2026 | 0 |
Sound like your business?
The school’s happy with the job, but the payment is sitting in someone’s approvals tray and the subbies want paying. Fund that invoice and keep the next job on.
Get paid now for work you’ve already done.
Invoice finance for construction and trades • All case studies
