Fast funds route planner

Start with what happened, not the loan

When something goes wrong in a business, the instinct is to search for the fastest loan going. The better first question is what problem you're actually solving. A dead coffee machine, a wage run on Thursday and a letter from the ATO all feel equally urgent, but each has a different best fix. Sometimes that's a loan paid straight to a supplier, sometimes a short cash flow loan, sometimes a phone call to the ATO before any borrowing at all. The planner starts there, then works out which route can land before your deadline.

The timelines use the speed ranges lenders work to once the file is complete. Same-day funding is possible for smaller unsecured amounts. With property, $20k to $250k is possible same day, and up to $5m is possible within 24–48 hours. Missing statements, unavailable signers and unclear property details are what push those out, and the planner shows which of them apply to you.

How it picks a route

• No property in the picture: it checks whether an unsecured business loan is realistic for your trading history, paperwork and credit. Unsecured amounts typically run up to $500,000.
• Property available: it weighs unsecured against property-secured loans, such as a caveat loan or second mortgage, and picks the one that fits the amount and the deadline.
• The tightest deadlines favour the simplest structures: unsecured for smaller amounts, a caveat or second mortgage for larger ones.
• Newer businesses, books that are behind or recent credit issues push it toward property, because those lenders lean on the security and the exit.

An illustrative example

A Toowoomba refrigerated transport operator blows the engine in one of three trucks on a Monday. A replacement engine and fitting comes to $68,000 and the workshop can start Wednesday if paid. The business has traded nine years, its BAS is current and the owner can link statements on the spot. With "equipment broke down", a few days' deadline and statements and signers ticked, the planner suggests an unsecured loan paid directly to the workshop, with same-day funding possible. Untick the statements and it moves to a few business days and puts linking them at the top of the to-do list. Illustrative only.

After the planner

Read the page for what happened to you, work through the to-do list and then start your enquiry. If you're weighing a fast loan against a slower, cheaper one, our guide to the real cost of borrowing in a hurry shows how to compare them.

Want a person to check it?

Tell us what happened, how much you need and when. There's no credit check to make an enquiry, your details aren't sprayed across a list of lenders, and one real person reads it and calls you. Fill the form in accurately, because accurate answers are what let us move quickly. Start your enquiry.