End-of-month crunch: funding rent, wages and supplier accounts on time

For many businesses the hardest week of the month isn’t a bad week at all. Sales were fine. The problem is that rent, monthly wages, trade accounts and loan repayments all fall due in the same few days, while the customers who owe you are still inside their 30-day terms.

This page is about getting ahead of that stack — and funding only the part you can’t move.

What actually falls due at the end of the month?

It varies by business, but the usual suspects are:

• Commercial rent, often payable monthly in advance on the 1st.
• Monthly wages and salaries — and from 1 July 2026, the super on them within seven business days of payday.
• 30-day trade accounts — suppliers on “net 30 end of month” terms all want paying around the same date.
• Loan, lease and finance repayments, often scheduled monthly.
• Subscriptions, insurance instalments and utilities.

Meanwhile, receipts move the other way. Customers on 30-day terms pay next month; a big customer on longer terms may pay later still. The big customer payment times guide looks at what to expect from large payers.

How do you work out the real shortfall?

Don’t start with the biggest bill. Start with a dated list.

Date	Out	In	Running balance
25th	Supplier A	Customer X
28th	Monthly wages
30th	Supplier B, equipment lease	Customer Y (if on time)
1st	Rent

Fill it in with your actual figures. The lowest point of the running balance is your real end-of-month gap, and the date it hits is your true deadline. Often it’s smaller — or earlier — than you expect.

Then decide which items can move. A supplier might accept payment on the 5th if you ask on the 20th. A landlord might take half now and half on the 10th. Whatever can’t move is what funding needs to cover.

What are the options by timeline?

How far ahead	Realistic options	Notes
Two weeks or more	Line of credit, short-term loan, secured or unsecured	Time to compare and choose
One week	Unsecured cash-flow loan; secured loan if property is simple	Have documents ready
A few days	Smaller unsecured amounts; property-secured possible within 24–48 hours	Narrower choice
Same day	$20k – $250k possible same day with property; smaller unsecured possible	See need it today

The further ahead you enquire, the more the decision is about what suits you rather than what can move in time. A 60-second enquiry is enough to start.

What to have ready when you call

• the dated list above, with the shortfall and the date it hits
• recent business bank statements or online banking access
• your ABN or ACN and how long you’ve been trading
• who you owe, how much, and which payments can’t move
• property details, if you’re open to using security
• how the money will be repaid — usually incoming receivables

An illustrative month-end stack

Illustrative example only — no real business. A small joinery workshop pays its two suppliers on the 28th, monthly wages on the 30th and rent on the 1st. Together that’s about $64k going out in four days. Two builders owe it $58k, but both pay on 45-day terms and won’t settle until the 12th of next month. The bank balance on the 27th is $21k.

The forecast shows the lowest point is about $43k short, hitting on the 1st. One supplier agrees to take payment on the 8th, which removes $15k. The remaining gap of roughly $28k, plus a small buffer, is what needs funding — and the repayment source is obvious: the builders’ payments on the 12th. Framed like that, it’s a short, well-defined request rather than a vague cash problem.

Loan or line of credit for a month-end crunch?

Ask yourself one question: will this happen again next month?

• If it’s a one-off — an unusually large stock order, a slow-paying customer, a one-time expense — a short-term loan with a clear repayment date is often the cleaner fit.
• If it’s the pattern — the same squeeze every month because of how your terms and costs fall — a revolving facility can smooth it. You draw at month end and repay as receipts arrive.

Either way, the facility should be sized to the gap, not to the largest number a lender will offer.

How can you shrink the gap for next month?

Funding fixes this month. These fix the pattern:

• Invoice earlier and on shorter terms where your industry allows it. business.gov.au’s payment terms guidance is a useful starting point.
• Spread supplier due dates — ask one or two suppliers to move to mid-month terms.
• Watch for three-pay-day months if you pay fortnightly. Two months a year have an extra pay run; the 2026–27 pay-run guide shows which.
• Chase debtors before the 20th, not after the 30th.

Get the end of the month off your mind

Seeing the crunch a week or two early is the best position to be in. Asking the Deadline Desk what’s possible won’t affect your credit file. Your details stay with our team rather than being shopped around, and a real person calls you back to work through it.

When you fill in the enquiry, please be precise about the shortfall and the date it hits — accurate answers mean you’ll hear about options that actually fit the timing. Or ring 1300 752 188.