A commercial fit-out firm in Auckland: when the developers moved the dates

Fit-outs for the professional firms

The business does commercial fit-outs, and it has been doing them a long time. Most are for the firms that will occupy the space: law firms, accounting practices and other professional offices. The odd developer is in the mix too.

How it gets paid depends on the client. New clients pay a deposit, then the balance on short terms. The bigger companies and the long-standing clients pay on the 20th of the month. And on a fit-out there is retention: a share of the bill held back until well after the job is finished.

Dates moved, materials on hold

Most of the work is for the end user, who pays when they say they will. Lately the business had taken on a few developer projects, and developers move dates. When a programme shifts, the fit-out’s costs don’t: the materials still have to be bought and the crew still has to be paid.

When they signed up, the owner explained to the FundTap team that a retention payment was still owing on one job. The supplier wanted the final payment on the materials before releasing them, and without the materials there was nothing to install or invoice.

Releasing the materials

Their broker introduced them, and they signed up in March 2023. The owner told the FundTap team they wanted to plan their cashflow around the funding. They funded a first invoice that month, and it paid the supplier: the materials were released, and the next stage could be invoiced.

The clients kept paying the business direct, on whichever terms they were on. The fee on the funded invoice was there to see before the owner committed to it.

The next stage, installed and invoiced

With the materials on site the crew could install, and the business could invoice for the product once it was in. That is the thing with a fit-out: the invoice follows the install, and the install follows the materials. One funded invoice got the whole chain moving again.

Through 2023 they funded seven invoices, and December 2023 was the busiest month, with five.

When the next date moves

Their funding limit was raised in June 2025. They funded four invoices in 2024 and three in 2025, the last in August 2025, 14 in all since March 2023. Since then there’s been nothing to fund and nothing to pay for.

The next time a developer moves a date and a supplier wants paying first, the invoice for the stage already done gets funded, and the rest of the job runs on its usual terms.

The timeline

1. March 2023 Introduced by their broker and signed up, with materials on hold while a retention payment was still to come.
2. March 2023 Funded their first invoice, and the materials for the next stage were released.
3. December 2023 Their busiest month, with five invoices funded.
4. June 2025 Asked for a higher funding limit, and it was raised that month.
5. August 2025 The most recent invoice funded.

In numbers

• 20th of the month: when the bigger companies and long-standing clients pay
• 14 invoices funded since March 2023, one stage at a time
• 5 invoices funded in December 2023, the busiest month
• 1 increase to their funding limit, in June 2025

Sound like your business?

The dates have moved, the supplier wants paying before the materials ship, and the retention is a long way off. Fund the invoice for the stage already done.

Get paid now for work you’ve already done.

Invoice finance for construction and trades  •  All case studies