Working Capital Finance in Brisbane: What Changes in Queensland
How Queensland payroll tax, government payment terms, payment claims and land tax shape working capital for Brisbane businesses, and what lenders check.
Business Owners Hub
Brisbane Working Capital Finance · Queensland Payroll Tax · On-Time Payment
Brisbane businesses rarely run short because sales stop. They run short because Queensland's dates and their customers' dates do not line up. Here is the Queensland cash calendar, and what a lender reads in it.
Quick Answer
For a Brisbane business, the Queensland cash calendar decides when working capital runs short, because payroll tax returns, government invoices, payment schedules and land tax each move cash on fixed dates. Registered small business suppliers to the Queensland Government are paid within 20 calendar days, payment schedules on building work are due within 15 business days of a claim, and land tax is set each 30 June. A working capital loan or line of credit sized to those dates covers the gaps between them.
Also called: working capital loan Brisbane, business cash flow finance Queensland, short term business loan Brisbane. They describe the same need in different searcher wording.
How does working capital finance work for Brisbane businesses?
Working capital finance works the same way for a Brisbane business as for any Australian business: a lender funds day-to-day running costs while you wait to be paid, and is repaid from the cash that comes in. Most lenders that fund working capital lend nationally, so the lender does not need to be in Brisbane. What a Queensland business has to plan around is the Queensland cash calendar: the dates the state takes money out of your account, and the dates its agencies and your customers pay money in.
The general mechanics, from cost and security to sizing, sit in our working capital loans guide. This insight covers the Queensland layer only. A Victorian business works to a different set of dates, set out in working capital finance in Melbourne and Victoria, and more owner-focused reading sits on the Business Owners Hub.
The table sets the calendar out in order. Each row is explained in the sections that follow.
| Date or trigger | What is due or paid | What it does to cash (indicative) |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll tax periodic return | Return and payment due 7 days after the end of each return period, once registered | A regular outflow that grows with the wage bill and usually lands before customers have paid for that period's work |
| Payroll tax annual return | Annual return due by 21 July, reconciling the financial year | Can bring a top-up payment in a month that already carries end of year costs |
| BAS quarter | GST and the other amounts on your BAS, reported and paid each quarter (monthly for some businesses) | Typically larger after a strong quarter, which is also when debtors tend to be highest |
| Super with each payday | Employer super contributions paid alongside each pay run | Turns super from a quarterly lump into a cost that follows every pay run |
| Queensland Government invoice | Registered small business suppliers paid within 20 calendar days of a correctly rendered, undisputed invoice | Sets a known receipt date, with penalty interest available if it runs late |
| Payment schedule window | A payment schedule due within 15 business days of a payment claim on building work | Decides how quickly a trade knows what it will be paid, and whether to chase |
| Land tax | Liability set on land held at midnight 30 June; assessment notices issue from August | One assessment each year for owners; for commercial tenants it can return later as an outgoing |
Sources: Queensland Revenue Office, payroll tax due dates (5 August 2026) and land tax (30 July 2026); Queensland Government, On-time payment policy, last updated 1 July 2026; Queensland Building and Construction Commission, responding to a payment claim (31 August 2021). Read 13 October 2026.
How does Queensland payroll tax hit your working capital?
Queensland payroll tax hits working capital once your wages pass the threshold, because it turns a growing wage bill into a regular payment to the Queensland Revenue Office that falls due before many customers have paid. At the time of writing the threshold is $1.3 million in annual taxable wages, and the rate is 4.75 per cent where taxable wages are up to $6.5 million and 4.95 per cent above that. Regional employers may qualify for a discount; your accountant can confirm whether it applies to you.
When do you have to register and lodge?
You have to register within 7 days after the end of the month in which your wages first pass $25,000 a week, at the time of writing. Periodic returns are then due 7 days after the end of each return period, and the annual return is due by 21 July.
The point for working capital is timing. A business that adds staff for a new contract pays more payroll tax in exactly the months it carries the most wages and the least cash. An unregistered or overdue payroll tax liability is also one of the first things a lender asks about, because it is a debt to the state that sits beside any new loan. Grouping of related businesses for payroll tax is a question for your accountant.
How fast does the Queensland Government pay small business suppliers?
The Queensland Government pays registered small business suppliers within 20 calendar days, at the time of writing, under its On-Time Payment Policy, provided the invoice is correctly rendered and undisputed. A small business here means one with fewer than 20 employees, and the 20 day term depends on registering your details on the On-time Payment Small Business Register. If an eligible invoice runs past 20 days, you can make a claim for penalty interest under the policy, paid at the unpaid tax interest rate for the days the payment was late.
For a supplier, the value of the policy is predictability. A known receipt date lets you size the gap in your cash flow with some precision, and penalty interest compensates for lateness without putting cash in the account on payday. Where the only gap is the wait for a government invoice, invoice finance or a line of credit is often a closer fit than a term loan, because the cost stops when the invoice is paid.
How do project trust accounts and payment claims affect Brisbane trades?
Project trust accounts and payment claims affect Brisbane trades by setting how money moves down a building contract and how quickly you learn what you will be paid. Under Queensland's Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017, a party that receives a payment claim must answer with a payment schedule within 15 business days, stating what it will pay and why.
Project trust accounts apply where more than half of the contract price is project trust work and the contract is worth $1 million or more for Queensland Government or Hospital and Health Service work, or $10 million or more for private and local government work. The rollout to smaller private projects is paused, at the time of writing, so smaller private jobs sit outside the trust account rules for now.
A trust protects money owed to subcontractors once it is in the account. It does not make the head contractor pay faster. Trades still carry wages, materials and plant through each claim cycle, which is where working capital or invoice finance does the work. More on funding building work sits on the Construction Hub. Whether your contract is caught, and how to answer a disputed claim, are questions for your solicitor or the QBCC.
What help is there in Queensland when a customer pays late?
Queensland offers a ladder of free and low cost steps when a customer pays late, starting with the Queensland Small Business Commissioner's guidance and ending at a tribunal or court. The Commissioner's steps are:
- Review the contract. Check the payment terms, the due date and any interest clause.
- Act quickly. Contact the customer as soon as the invoice is overdue.
- Offer a payment plan. A plan often recovers more than a dispute.
- Send a letter of demand. Set a final date and say what happens next.
- Keep records. Every call, email and promise to pay.
Free mediation may be available through a Dispute Resolution Centre. If that fails, the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal hears claims up to $25,000 and the Magistrates Court claims up to $150,000, at the time of writing.
None of those steps is quick, and wages do not wait for them. Invoice finance can advance against debts that are late but not disputed while you chase them; lenders typically will not fund an invoice already in dispute. If late payers are a pattern rather than a one-off, that shows up in your debtor ageing, and a lender will read it there.
When do Queensland land tax and rent outgoings fall?
Queensland land tax falls once a year: the state assesses land tax at midnight 30 June on the land you hold at that moment, and assessment notices issue from August. Interest accrues from the day after the due date on the notice, so an unpaid assessment grows rather than waits.
Rent outgoings then decide whether a tenant carries part of it. Retail tenants cannot be charged land tax under the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994, at the time of writing. Commercial leases outside that Act commonly pass land tax through as an outgoing, so an office or industrial tenant can see it arrive in the months after the notices issue.
How land tax works for companies and trusts that own commercial property, and how a lender reads it on a property file, is covered in low doc commercial loans in Brisbane. If you own two homes, private lenders in Brisbane explains how land tax applies. Your own liability is a question for your accountant or the Queensland Revenue Office.
Which seasons shape Brisbane cash flow?
Brisbane cash flow follows a few seasons that sit on top of the state calendar: tourism and event peaks, the summer wet season, and lumpy infrastructure work.
- Tourism and event peaks. Hospitality and tourism businesses buy stock and roster staff ahead of busy periods, then collect as customers arrive. The outlay comes first.
- The wet season. Summer storms and rain can stop outdoor trades for days at a time while wages, equipment repayments and payroll tax carry on.
- Lumpy infrastructure work. Infrastructure and Games-related construction work arrives as large contracts with long claim cycles: big revenue, paid late, with labour and materials paid up front.
The planning move is to arrange a facility before the season starts, not in the middle of it. A lender reads the busy months and the quiet months in your bank statements together, and a facility approved in a strong month is usually easier to secure than one requested in a tight one. For recurring seasons, a facility you draw and repay as the season turns tends to suit better than a fixed loan.
What does a lender want to see from a Brisbane business?
A lender wants to see that your own accounts can carry the Queensland calendar, and the first thing a lender reads is the movement in your business bank account across those dates. The rest of the credit assessment builds on that.
- Bank statements. Recent bank statements that show payroll tax, BAS and super leaving on time. Our guide to what lenders look for in business bank statements covers the detail.
- State and federal tax position. Payroll tax and BAS lodged and paid, or on an agreed plan that is being kept.
- Debtor ageing. Who owes you, how much and for how long, including any slow government or head contractor accounts.
- Payment history. Evidence of how your larger customers actually pay, which is what the facility is really funding.
- Trading history. How long the business has traded and how revenue has moved through past seasons; see trading history.
The Brisbane files that move quickest arrive with the tax position already explained, and with Queensland Government invoices tracked against the 20 day term, so the lender is reading the business rather than chasing paperwork. Lenders also check for warning signs in the account conduct itself, set out in our bank statement red flags insight. If you want to know where you stand before you speak to a lender, check eligibility first, then compare a working capital loan against a line of credit for your calendar.
Working capital finance in Brisbane is the same product it is anywhere in Australia; what changes is the Queensland cash calendar it has to cover. Payroll tax leaves 7 days after each return period once you pass the threshold, Queensland Government invoices are paid within 20 calendar days to registered small business suppliers, payment schedules on building work are due within 15 business days of a claim, and land tax is set each 30 June with notices from August. Seasons and large contracts then stretch the gaps between those dates.
Key takeaway: map your own year against the Queensland calendar, then arrange the facility before the tightest month arrives, not during it.Frequently Asked Questions
Working capital finance in Brisbane is available from major banks, non-bank lenders and specialist funders, and most of them lend nationally, so the lender does not need a Brisbane office. What decides the fit is your trading history, your bank statements and how long your customers take to pay. A broker compares the options for your cash cycle; our working capital loans page sets out the types we arrange.
The payroll tax threshold in Queensland is $1.3 million in annual taxable wages, at the time of writing. The rate is 4.75 per cent where taxable wages are up to $6.5 million and 4.95 per cent above that, and periodic returns are due 7 days after each return period. Plan the payment into your cash flow, and take grouping questions to your accountant.
The Queensland Government pays small business suppliers with fewer than 20 employees within 20 calendar days, at the time of writing, provided they are on the On-time Payment Small Business Register and the invoice is correctly rendered and undisputed. After 20 days you can make a claim for penalty interest under the On-Time Payment Policy. Invoice finance can cover the wait in the meantime.
Project trust accounts help subcontractors in Queensland by holding money owed to them in trust, but only on contracts large enough to be caught: $1 million or more for Queensland Government or Hospital and Health Service work, or $10 million or more for private and local government work, where more than half the contract is trust work. The trust protects money once it is in the account; it does not make the head contractor pay faster. The rollout to smaller private projects is paused, at the time of writing, so most trades still fund the claim cycle themselves, as our construction finance by business stage insight explains.
A landlord cannot charge land tax to a retail tenant in Queensland, because the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 stops lessors recovering it as an outgoing, at the time of writing. Commercial leases outside that Act commonly do pass land tax through to the tenant. How a lender reads leases and outgoings on a Queensland commercial property is covered in our low doc commercial loans in Brisbane insight, and your own lease is a question for your solicitor.
FBAA Accredited
