Cashflow basics every trade business should nail

A trade business can be busy, profitable on paper, and still go under. The reason is almost always the same: cash went out faster than it came in. Materials, wages and fuel are due now; the invoice for the job is due "whenever the client gets around to it."

Here are the fundamentals that keep cash in the bank.

1. Invoice fast and invoice often

Do not save up a month of work and invoice in one go. Invoice as jobs complete — or progress-invoice large jobs in stages. The faster the invoice goes out, the faster the money comes in.

2. Get a deposit on big jobs

For anything with serious material cost, take a deposit up front. It funds the materials and signals the client is serious. A 25–50% deposit on a large job is standard and reasonable.

3. Know your numbers weekly

You do not need to be an accountant, but you should know, each week:

• What is owed to you (and how overdue).
• What you owe (suppliers, wages, GST, tax).
• What is actually in the account.

Most accounting software shows this in two minutes. The owners who check it are rarely the ones caught short.

4. Set money aside for GST and tax

GST and provisional tax sink more trade businesses than any bad job. Every time you get paid, move a slice into a separate account. When the bill comes, it is already there.

5. Chase what you are owed — relentlessly

Your debtors are an interest-free loan you never agreed to give. The single fastest way to improve cashflow is to collect the money you have already earned. That means following up every overdue invoice, every time.

The shortcut

Points 1 to 4 you can build into your own habits. Point 5 — consistent follow-up — is the one that quietly slips, because chasing money is nobody's favourite job.

That is precisely what we take off your plate. TradeFlow calls your debtors so the cash you have earned actually lands in your account. $199/month, $15 per invoice, no lock-in.