In before the connections crew
The business does underground utility work around Auckland, laying ducting for power and water networks. Its work comes from two network contracts and a few developers it trusts.
Every project runs in stages. The crew does the civil work before the connections team arrives, helps them on site, then comes back to reinstate the ground once they’re done. A job isn’t finished until that last stage is.
The network contracts pay fortnightly. The developers pay as a project moves: a deposit, then a progress payment, then a final payment at the end.
“...It’s a three-stage kind of process, each project. We come back in and reinstate it once they’re finished.”
From a call with the FundTap team, April 2026
When the progress payments stall
A single project can run for a month or six weeks. The crew, the gear and the fuel are paid for all the way through, while the developer’s next payment can drift, even on confirmed work. Even the network contract work has been up and down.
The owners chase those payments themselves. The developers do pay in the end, and then they want the next stage done. The business has started putting an expiry date on its quotes, too.
On a call with the FundTap team in April 2026, the owner mentioned getting daily emails about rising diesel costs.
“...we are continuously chasing really... it is a little bit of a battle, a bit of a challenge, but we do have three really good developers that we can rely on...”
From a call with the FundTap team, April 2026
Funding the slow claims
Their broker introduced them to FundTap, and they signed up in August 2023. The account then sat ready, costing nothing, until they needed it in March 2025.
They started with two invoices and funded three that month. Since then they’ve picked the claims to fund: some in full, some in part, with the balance funded later if the job needs it. Mostly it’s the stalled progress payments they fund, the ones that keep a job moving.
The developers and the network contractors still pay the business directly, on their usual terms. FundTap never contacts them.
“...we had a part-funded invoice last time, so I just thought we could do the balance of that same one.”
From a call with the FundTap team, October 2025
Saying yes to the next stage
With the slow claims funded, the crew can move on to the next stage without waiting for the last payment to land. When a developer they trust wants the next job started, the answer can be yes. Month-end, when the business pays its own bills, is when a funded claim does the most work.
The work is growing. In April 2026, the owner told the FundTap team things were looking a lot more positive than the year before. They funded 33 invoices in 2025 and 64 in 2026 to September. Their funding limit has been raised 13 times since June 2025 to keep pace.
When the developers pay on time, the account sits there and costs nothing.
“...we’re quite confident in the future works, you know, and our contract work is picking up again.”
From a call with the FundTap team, April 2026
In a public review, the business described FundTap as clear and efficient, with friendly staff they could count on.
The timeline
- August 2023 Introduced by their broker and signed up, then left the account ready at no cost.
- March 2025 Funded their first claims, three in the first month.
- June 2025 Funding limit raised for the first time as the work built up.
- March 2026 Their busiest month so far, with 21 invoices funded.
- August 2026 Funding limit raised again, the 13th increase, with contract work picking up.
In numbers
- 3 stages in a developer project, each one paid separately
- 97 invoices funded since March 2025, each claim picked by the business
- 13 increases to their funding limit as the work grew
- 64 invoices funded in 2026 to September, up from 33 in 2025
Sound like your business?
Your work runs in stages and the developer pays when it suits them. Fund the claim that’s holding up the next stage, and leave the rest.
Get paid now for work you’ve already done.
Invoice finance for construction and trades • All case studies
