Need cash by tomorrow to pay wages?

It is the night before payday, or the morning of the day before, and the numbers do not work. A customer has not paid, a big bill went out earlier than planned, or the quarter’s tax landed at the wrong moment. The good news is that this is one of the most fixable cash problems in business, as long as you move early.

What to do in the next two hours

1. Work out the exact amount. Net wages, PAYG withholding and, from 1 July 2026, the super that now travels with each pay run. The how much do I need planner adds it up with a buffer.
2. Check what is landing before the pay run. Card settlements, customer payments with firm dates.
3. Open online banking so you can share six months of statements through a secure link in minutes.
4. Enquire now. The single biggest factor in same-day funding is how early in the day the enquiry arrives.
5. Keep your phone close. A real person will call, usually within minutes in business hours.

How fast it can realistically happen

When you enquire	What is realistic
Early morning, day before payday	Approval within the hour, funds the same day
Midday, day before payday	Approval the same afternoon, funds that day or first thing next morning
Late afternoon, day before	Approval possible; funds may land payday morning
Payday itself	Talk to us immediately and to your staff about timing

If you would rather talk than read, enquire online or call 07 3106 8922 and a person will walk you through it.

Which funding fits

For most payroll gaps, fast payroll funding on an unsecured basis is the quickest path, sized on your bank statements and repaid when the late customer money lands. If payroll gaps are becoming regular, set up a line of credit so next time it is a transfer, not an emergency.

Talk to your staff if you need to

If there is any chance wages will be late, tell your team before payday, not after. Be specific about when they will be paid. People cope far better with honest information than with a missing deposit. Check the Fair Work Ombudsman’s guidance on pay obligations under your award or agreement, because payment timing rules apply.

Then fix the gap behind it

Once payday is safe, look at why it happened. Common causes are long customer payment terms, invoicing late, one large client dominating revenue or seasonal dips that were not planned for. Our payroll crunch playbook has a plan for each.

A worked example (illustrative)

A security services company pays 22 guards fortnightly on Thursdays. On Tuesday afternoon its largest client advises that a $64,000 payment will be a week late. The owner enquires at 7.45am Wednesday, shares statements by 8am and is approved by 9am. Funds land before lunch, and Thursday’s payroll goes out complete.

What lenders will ask for

Have these within reach and you remove the usual causes of delay:

• Exact payroll total including PAYG and super
• Six months of business bank statements
• The late payment you are waiting on and its expected date
• Photo ID and ABN

Common delays and how to avoid them

These are the things that most often turn a same-day answer into a three-day one:

• Enquiring after lunch on the day before payday
• Not knowing the exact payroll figure
• Bank statements held by an external bookkeeper
• Directors who cannot sign until the evening

One request before you enquire

The enquiry form asks for the amount, purpose, time trading, monthly revenue, credit history, state and whether you own property. Each answer points your enquiry towards the right lane. When the answers are accurate, the first call can go straight to approval. When they are rounded up, guessed or left vague, the assessor has to unpick them, and that is where hours turn into days. If you are unsure of a figure, give your best honest estimate and say so.

Before you go

• Enquire as early in the day as possible
• Bank statements shared online are the key to speed
• Wages, PAYG and payday super all need covering
• Fix the gap behind it once payday is safe

How we keep it fast

Speed comes from doing the slow jobs first. Your enquiry lands with a real person who calls, usually within minutes in business hours, and asks for the evidence that decides the loan straight away: bank statements for unsecured funding, or property details for a secured loan. Property-secured loans need no valuation, so there is no week-long wait for a report. With the key evidence in, approval can come within 15 minutes and approval within the hour is common. Documents are then signed electronically, and funds can land within 24 hours of the first enquiry.

Let’s get it moving

Tell us what you need and when you need it by. There is no credit check to enquire, nothing is passed around the market, and a human being, not an algorithm, reads it. Accurate answers on the form are the single biggest thing you can do to speed things up. See if you qualify.