Cash Flow Gap & Fast Loan Matcher

How the matcher works out your gap

Most cash shortfalls in New Zealand businesses aren't about profit. They're about timing — a GST return due on the 28th, a provisional tax instalment on 15 January, a new contract that pays on the 20th of the following month, or a quiet winter when the lease and wages carry on regardless. The matcher looks at three things: what your account normally does each month, the one-off cost that's coming, and how long the squeeze lasts.

It adds the one-off cost to any monthly shortfall over the squeeze period (including any drop in income you expect), subtracts the cash you can genuinely use now, and adds a modest buffer of about ten percent so you aren't left at zero the day after the bill is paid. That figure is your gap — the amount that, realistically, needs to come from somewhere else.

How the route is chosen

Next, the matcher compares your gap with the kind of funding that's usually fastest for it:

• Unsecured short-term loans are typically sized on monthly deposits, within a usual range of $5,000 to $500,000. If your gap fits comfortably inside a cautious estimate of what your turnover supports, this is often quickest, with same-day funding possible for smaller amounts.
• A line of credit is suggested when the gap is the kind that recurs — GST every period, seasonal dips, payroll peaks — so you aren't reapplying every time.
• Invoice finance comes up when slow-paying customers are the cause.
• Property-secured funding — a caveat-style loan, second mortgage or first mortgage — is suggested when the gap is larger than turnover supports, when trading history is short, or when credit issues or IRD debt are involved. Property-secured amounts of $20,000 to $250,000 can be possible the same day, and up to $5,000,000 within 24 to 48 hours in straightforward cases.

The checklist changes with the route, so you know exactly what to gather before the first call. Preparing those documents in advance is the single biggest thing you can do to speed up funding — our document checklist guide covers each item in detail.

Making the result more accurate

The tool is deliberately simple. For a sharper answer, build a rolling 13-week cash flow forecast and use the lowest point of the running balance as your gap. Include every tax date — GST, PAYE and KiwiSaver, provisional and terminal tax — because those are the payments that most often catch owners out. If the squeeze is a tax bill, our pages on GST bill funding and provisional tax funding go deeper.

What happens if you enquire

If the matcher shows a gap, the next step is a 60-second enquiry. There's no credit check when you first get in touch, and your details aren't fired out to a list of lenders. A real person reads your enquiry, looks at the same numbers you've just entered, and calls you back with the route that genuinely fits. Please give the same honest figures on the form — accurate answers are what let us match you properly first time and move quickly.