Quick answer
Concreters use cash flow finance to cover concrete orders, pump hire, steel, wages and tax while builders and customers take time to pay. Unsecured amounts typically run from $5k to $500k based on turnover and bank statements, and property-secured options start at $20k. Business use only, and your first enquiry involves no credit check.
Key points
- Every pour burns concrete, pump and labour costs within hours
- Rain and heat can cancel or reshuffle a pour at short notice
- Builders often pay slabs on stage, weeks after the finish
- Equipment such as formwork and finishing gear is a big outlay
- No credit check when you first enquire
Concreting is a business where the cost comes in a rush. Once the truck is ordered and the pump is booked, the money is committed, and if the weather turns, you may be paying for the booking anyway. The payment, on the other hand, often arrives weeks after the surface has been finished and the crew has moved on.
Why is a pour so cash-hungry?
A single slab brings a bundle of costs in a short window:
- Ready-mix concrete, charged by volume
- Pump hire or a boom, often with a minimum booking
- Reinforcing steel, mesh, chairs, formwork and pegs
- A crew of finishers and labourers on the day, plus the prep and cleanup either side
- Fuel, plant transport and consumables like curing compounds and sealers
You pay out most of it within days of the pour, but your invoice sits in a builder’s queue for a payment cycle. When you chain two or three pours in a week, the gap multiplies.
How does payment work for different concreting jobs?
| Job type | Typical payment | Cash challenge |
|---|---|---|
| Residential driveways and paths | Deposit, then balance on completion | Customers paying late or disputing finish |
| House slabs and footings | Stage payment from the builder | Weeks between pour and payment |
| Commercial slabs and tilt panels | Progress claims, often with retention | Long certification chains |
| Exposed aggregate and decorative | Deposit plus balance | Sealers and specialty products up front |
| Council or civil work | Contract terms, often 30 days or longer | Large plant costs before payment |
For the commercial side, see slow-paying builders.
What does the weather do to a concreter’s cash?
More than most trades. Rain can stop a pour entirely, and a hot, windy day can force an early start and extra crew. Cold or wet conditions delay curing and finishing. If you cancel a pour, you may still owe a cancellation or wait fee on concrete and pump bookings, depending on the supplier’s terms.
Your wages, vehicle costs and insurance continue regardless. A run of lost days at the wrong time of year can leave the account short even though the order book is full. The wet weather cash flow page looks at planning for it.
Is equipment better financed separately?
Usually, yes. Formwork, laser levels, concrete mixers, vibrators, power trowels, compactors and trailers are assets, and equipment finance spreads their cost across their working life. Keeping that separate from working capital stops one big tool purchase leaving the business short on wages. See concrete equipment finance, and if you want to test whether a purchase pays for itself, use the equipment payback calculator.
Want to see where you stand?
If you have a few big pours lined up, you can check your options here. It takes about a minute, with no credit check at the first stage.
An illustrative example
This is a made-up scenario for explanation only.
A concreting business with four crew members wins a batch of house slabs from a project builder. The builder pays after each slab is inspected. In the first fortnight the business will place several pours, each requiring concrete, pump hire and steel on account or on delivery. Wages for the crew keep running, and a few rain days in the second week push two pours back.
The cash picture looks like this: costs spike in weeks one and two, income arrives in weeks four to six, and the delayed pours stretch it a bit further. If the owner borrowed to cover only the confirmed material costs and wages across that period, and repaid from the first inspection payments, the loan would be short-lived. If the weather went well, the facility would be repaid early.
How should concreters prepare to apply?
- Pull recent business bank statements, which will show the lumpy pattern
- Gather your ABN and the date you started trading
- List your regular builder clients and typical payment times
- Note your largest recurring costs: concrete supplier, pump company, wages
- Be ready to explain the purpose and the repayment source
What cash habits protect a concreting business?
- Take a deposit on every residential job, enough to cover concrete and steel.
- Confirm booking and cancellation terms with your supplier and pump company.
- Build a few lost weather days into quotes and cash plans.
- Invoice on the day of the pour while the job is fresh.
- Keep GST and PAYG in a separate account so it is not spent as working cash.
Ready to see if you qualify?
If the work is booked and the gap is timing, a facility sized to your pours could keep the crew busy. If margins are thin, review pricing first.
Please complete the enquiry. Your first enquiry does not involve a credit check, your details will not be sprayed around a crowd of lenders, and a real person looks at your situation. Fill in each answer accurately so the first match is the right one.
What do lenders make of a lumpy concreting year?
Anyone who has run a concreting crew knows that revenue does not arrive in tidy monthly packets. A month with a dozen driveways and two slabs can be followed by a fortnight of rain and a quiet week while a builder sorts out their schedule. Lenders in the trade finance space understand that, which is why looking at a longer run of statements usually tells a fairer story than a single month.
It helps to show the seasonal shape yourself. Note which months are strongest, which are slow, and what drives the difference, whether it is estate releases, school holidays or the build cycle of a regular client. A clear explanation turns an uneven graph into a pattern that a person assessing your file can work with, and it shows you have thought about how to cover the slower stretches.
Frequently asked questions
Can a concreter get finance with irregular monthly income?
Yes. Lenders expect pours to bunch up. Showing several months of statements helps put an uneven month in context.
Can I fund a concrete pump or a laser screed?
Those are assets, so equipment finance usually suits them better than a working-capital loan. Cash flow finance covers running costs.
What about wet weather?
A line of credit or short-term facility can carry wages through a run of lost days. It helps to plan for a few every year.
Can I borrow if my customers are mostly builders on 30-day terms?
Yes. Builder payment terms are one of the most common reasons concreters want a working-capital buffer, and lenders see them regularly.
Do I need property security?
No. Unsecured options are available for trading businesses, with property security helping at larger amounts.
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