An insulation installer in Auckland: the merchant paid before the builder does

Installed as the house goes up

At sign-up, the owner described the business to the FundTap team as an insulation supply and install service, with trade work alongside. Most of it is new homes around Auckland.

The insulation comes from the building merchants, and the crew fits it when the house is ready for it.

The invoice goes out only when the project is complete. So for every house, the money comes at the very end of the job.

The merchant’s bill comes first

The materials are the catch. The insulation for a house is bought from the merchant before the crew can start, and the merchant wants paying on its own terms, not the builder’s.

Then there’s the crew, paid for the install long before the completion invoice goes out. On a run of houses, the business is carrying the materials and the labour for all of them until each one is finished and invoiced.

The gap is the whole job: the merchant paid at the start, the builder paying at the end.

Funding the completion invoices

Their broker introduced them to FundTap. They signed up in November 2024, connected Xero, and in December 2024 funded their first invoices, two of them.

The invoices they fund are the completion invoices, the ones with a merchant’s bill behind them. The fee shows before they commit, and the builders pay the business direct on their usual terms.

Insulation bought for the next house

With a completion invoice funded, the merchant can be paid for the next house’s insulation before the last house’s builder has paid. The crew moves on to the next install instead of waiting.

That’s how the work built up. February 2025 was the busiest month, with eight invoices funded, and the business funded 30 invoices across 2025.

Asking for more room

In April 2026, the owner asked the FundTap team whether their funding limit could go up. Since December 2024 they’ve funded 47 invoices, 15 of them in 2026 to September.

Not every house needs it. Some builders pay before the merchant’s bill bites, and then nothing goes through and nothing is charged. When they don’t, the completion invoice does.

The timeline

1. November 2024 Introduced by their broker, signed up and connected Xero, invoicing only when each project is complete.
2. December 2024 Approved, and funded their first completion invoices, two that month.
3. February 2025 The busiest month so far, with eight invoices funded.
4. April 2026 Asked the FundTap team whether their funding limit could go up.
5. September 2026 Most recent invoices funded, two that month, with 15 funded in 2026 to September.

In numbers

• 47 invoices funded since December 2024, with the merchant paid before the builder
• 8 invoices funded in February 2025, the busiest month
• 30 invoices funded in 2025, with 15 more in 2026 to September

Sound like your business?

You can’t invoice until the house is complete, and the merchant wanted paying weeks ago. Fund the completion invoice and get the next house started.

Get paid now for work you’ve already done.

Invoice finance for construction and trades  •  All case studies