An equipment supplier in Northland: a big camera order to pay for first

Stock bought first, sold later

The business is based in Northland and sells sports cameras and safety equipment to other businesses. Its customers are spread across New Zealand, and the directors were planning the move into Australia.

The stock comes first. A big order of cameras means a deposit to the supplier up front, then the balance when the supplier asks for it. Only then can the cameras go out to customers.

Customers pay on terms. Once an order is delivered, the invoice goes out, and the money arrives about a month later.

A deposit down, a balance to find

When they signed up, the directors told the FundTap team they had paid the deposit on a big order of cameras, and the balance was due well before customers would pay for them.

The invoices already out wouldn’t cover it. The business was healthy and growing, with Australia next, but the timing of one big order sat in the way.

That’s the shape of a stock business. The supplier is paid before the goods land, and the customers pay after they do.

Funding the delivery invoices

They signed up in August 2023 and funded their first invoice in September 2023. From then on, when a delivered order was invoiced on a month’s terms, the directors could fund that invoice and put it towards the next supplier balance.

The fee shows before they commit, and they pay only on the invoices they fund. Their customers pay the business on their usual terms.

The order paid for, and the next one

With the delivery invoices funded, the balance on a big order no longer had to wait for the last order’s customers to pay. The cameras could be ordered, landed and sold, and the money from one delivery could go towards the next.

They funded three invoices in 2023 and 11 in 2024. May 2024 was the busiest month, with three invoices funded as the orders kept coming.

Ready for the next big order

They have funded 14 invoices in all. The most recent was in September 2024, and nothing has been funded or charged since.

When the next big stock order needs its balance paid, the account is there for it.

In a public review, the business described FundTap as among the most useful things a growing business can have, with sign-up simple and day-to-day use simpler still.

The timeline

1. August 2023 Signed up with a deposit paid on a large camera order and the balance still to find.
2. September 2023 Funded their first invoice, for an order already delivered.
3. May 2024 Their busiest month, with three invoices funded.
4. September 2024 The most recent invoice funded. Nothing has been charged since.

In numbers

• 30 days after delivery before their business customers pay
• 14 invoices funded since September 2023
• 11 invoices funded in 2024, up from three in 2023
• 3 invoices funded in May 2024, the busiest month

Sound like your business?

The supplier wants the balance now and your customers pay a month after delivery. Fund the invoice from the last delivery and get the next order moving.

Fund the next order without waiting on the last one.

Invoice finance for makers and distributors  •  All case studies