Paid on progress claims, not deposits
The business is a small commercial construction company in Auckland. It does new builds and refurbishment projects for commercial clients.
It bills on progress claims. A claim for the work completed goes in at the start of the month, and the client pays from the 20th. The money for a month’s work can arrive up to a month after the claim.
There’s no deposit coming the other way. The business is paid for work it has completed, and only through the claims.
Deposits before the claims land
Costs and claims don’t line up. Materials and subcontractors are paid as the job runs, and the claim that covers them is paid weeks later.
In the sign-up notes, the owner explained the company is paid only on claims for completed work, and its outgoings had got out of step with them.
The company used to carry that gap from its own cash. Then came a quiet year. When the work came back it came back bigger, with deposits to pay before a job’s first claim could go in.
“...we’re a small construction company, commercial construction predominantly... come out of a bit of a quiet period back into what I would say is getting back into a busier period, and we’ve just got some growth pains, I guess you would call it...”
From a call with the FundTap team, February 2026
Funding the claims as they go in
Their broker introduced them to FundTap. They signed up in February 2026, connected Xero and funded their first two progress claims.
On the first call in February 2026, the owner asked the FundTap team how the funding worked, with bigger contracts ahead and deposits to put down on them.
The fee shows before they commit, and the clients still pay the business directly from the 20th, as the contract says.
“...that’s definitely helpful in the construction industry that we’re in. Sometimes we’ll get areas where we need to provide a deposit... And I sort of didn’t realize this even existed, to be honest. So yeah, I’m very, very happy to hear that there’s this sort of thing available to us...”
From a call with the FundTap team, February 2026
Deposits paid, bigger jobs started
With a claim funded, the money for completed work arrives while the next deposit is due, not a month after it. The bigger contracts could be taken on.
They’ve funded seven claims in 2026 to September. There’s no lock-in, and the stretches between claims cost nothing.
In the back pocket as the work grows
Their first month, February 2026, is still the busiest, with two claims funded. The rest have come as the jobs needed them.
“...I guess my intent is to use this for as short a time as possible, but I think the reality of it is as we keep growing it may be a valuable thing to have in the back pocket...”
From a call with the FundTap team, February 2026
The timeline
- February 2026 Introduced by their broker and signed up, coming out of a quiet year with bigger contracts ahead.
- February 2026 Funded their first two progress claims.
- September 2026 Funded another claim, the most recent in the records.
In numbers
- 20th of the month: when the clients start paying the claims that went in at the start
- 7 progress claims funded since February 2026, as the bigger jobs needed them
- 30 days, at most, between a claim going in and the client paying it
Sound like your business?
The contract’s bigger, the deposit’s due now, and your claim won’t be paid until the 20th. Fund the claim and start the job.
Get paid now for work you’ve already done.
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