Invoice Finance 101: How to Turn Outstanding Invoices Into Cashflow Within 24–48 Hours
Invoice Finance Australia 2025 – Switchboard Finance
Waiting 30–90 days for customers to pay invoices is one of the biggest cashflow challenges for Australian SMEs. Invoice Finance solves this by turning your unpaid invoices into cash within 24–48 hours.
This powerful tool helps businesses avoid cashflow bottlenecks and pairs perfectly with short-term products like Working Capital Loans and Business Line of Credit. Used together, they create a predictable funding ecosystem — which we unpack in the Cashflow System Guide.
This article breaks down how Invoice Finance works, what it costs, when to use it, and how SMEs across trades, transport, cafés, and healthcare use it to remove stress from operations.
How Invoice Finance Works
Invoice Finance (also called debtor finance) lets you access most of an invoice’s value immediately instead of waiting weeks or months for customers to pay.
Typical process:
- You issue an invoice to your customer
- A lender advances 70–90% of its value within 24–48 hours
- You receive the remaining balance (minus fees) when the customer pays
It’s a cashflow accelerator, not a loan — meaning it doesn’t add long-term debt. It’s ideal for industries with slow-paying customers or extended trading terms such as logistics, trade services, wholesale, medical and professional services.
Even the ATO acknowledges cashflow timing pressure as a top reason SMEs fall behind — Invoice Finance directly addresses this issue.
When Invoice Finance Makes the Most Sense
Invoice Finance works best when your business:
- Has customers on 30–90 day payment terms
- Experiences recurring cash gaps
- Needs funds for wages, stock or operating expenses
- Is growing fast and reinvesting heavily
- Wants to avoid traditional loans when cashflow is uneven
Businesses that struggle during BAS cycles often also benefit from insights like Low Doc BAS & ATO Support or Low Doc Cashflow Loans.
How Much Can You Access?
The amount you can access depends on your invoice volume and customer payment behaviour — not traditional lending metrics.
Lenders assess:
- Monthly invoice turnover
- Customer creditworthiness
- Industry stability
- Your trading history
This makes Invoice Finance ideal for businesses with strong sales but slow cash turnover. It also pairs extremely well with a Line of Credit for ongoing liquidity and WCL for short, sharp cash demands.
Why SMEs Combine Invoice Finance With WCL & LOC
These three tools complement each other perfectly:
- Invoice Finance: fast access to cash already owed to you
- Working Capital Loan: short-term top-ups when expenses spike
- Line of Credit: flexible reserve for ongoing operational needs
This structure is explained in detail in the Business Cashflow System Guide, and it’s becoming the default setup for many growing SMEs.
Industries with highly irregular cash cycles — cafés, transport, medical clinics, and trades — often add other support options like financing operational costs or low doc growth loans to strengthen their position.
What Does Invoice Finance Cost?
Costs vary by provider and invoice quality, but typically involve:
- A small percentage fee per invoice
- Administration or facility fees (depending on product)
- No interest charges in most cases
In many industries, the ability to access funds immediately — rather than waiting 30–90 days — delivers more value than the cost itself.
Businesses assessing multiple options should also read: Red Flags in Business Loan Deals.
