Trucks off the road until they’re fixed
The workshop specialises in heavy vehicle repair, with civil and general engineering on the side. Most of the work is certification repair: a truck fails its inspection, and the operator needs it fixed and signed off before it can earn again.
Most customers pay a deposit up front and the balance on a week’s terms. Councils work differently: no deposit, and like some of the larger firms, payment on the 20th of the month after the invoice.
No deposit, and a bigger bill
A council truck comes in with a quote attached. Once it’s on the hoist, the problem is sometimes bigger than it looked, and the final invoice ends up higher than the quote. All of that is paid for before the 20th comes round: the parts, the hours, the engineering.
At sign-up in August 2024, the director told the FundTap team that most customers pay a deposit but the council doesn’t.
The director also explained that an invoice can end up bigger than the quote when the fault turns out to be larger than expected. The workshop’s own bills fall due on fixed dates regardless, which is where the wait on a 20th-of-the-month invoice bites.
Funding an invoice
They signed up in August 2024 and funded their first invoice in September 2024. Going in, the director asked the FundTap team how funding would work on invoices where a deposit had already been paid, and the FundTap team confirmed it could.
The fee is shown before the invoice is funded. The customer pays the workshop on its usual terms, with nothing changed on its side.
Bills paid on their dates
With an invoice funded, the workshop’s fixed bills went out on their dates rather than waiting on a customer’s 20th.
They funded a second invoice in December 2024. Two invoices in all, both chosen for the gap they closed. Nothing has needed funding since, and the account has cost nothing in the meantime.
In a public review, the business described the whole process as very easy.
The timeline
- August 2024 Signed up and connected their accounting software, with council invoices paying on the 20th of the month after.
- September 2024 Funded their first invoice.
- December 2024 Funded a second invoice, the most recent in the records.
In numbers
- 7 days: the usual terms for customers who pay a deposit
- 20th of the month after: when councils and some larger firms pay
- 2 invoices funded, in September and December 2024
Sound like your business?
The truck’s fixed and back on the road, and the council pays on the 20th of next month, no deposit. Fund that invoice and keep the workshop’s bills on their dates.
Get paid now for work you’ve already done.
Invoice finance for construction and trades • All case studies
