A safety products distributor: a back-up for when the timing's out of whack

An upper North Island distributor sells electrical safety products to wholesalers and corporate customers. Those customers pay on the 30th of the following month. The stock has to be paid for well before then.

The gap

Distribution runs on the same cycle every month: buy the stock, sell it on to wholesalers, wait for the 30th of the following month. When the business pulled back from Australia and brought its stock home, that gap got harder to carry while the New Zealand side rebuilt.

They didn't want a facility to pay for every month. They wanted something to reach for when the timing went wrong.

A top-up for a few days when cashflow timing is out of whack, so the deadlines still get met.

How they found FundTap

Their finance broker introduced them in October 2023. The first invoices were funded in early December. They've come back to it ever since.

How they use it

Over three years they've funded 455 invoices on 31 separate days. Some months it's a single top-up. Their busiest stretch is summer: in January 2026 they funded on seven separate days.

The gaps in the chart matter as much as the bars. In the 13 months they didn't fund anything, it cost them nothing.

The limit grew with them

The limit started where it sensibly could for a new customer. It's been raised four times since, as their invoice history built up.

About this story. Anonymised: business and director details are withheld. Counts are from FundTap's records to 30 September 2026. Their words are paraphrased.