Your supplier wants payment by tomorrow

The email lands at 4.47pm: “Please arrange payment of the overdue balance by close of business tomorrow, or we’ll have to place your account on hold.” For many businesses, a key supplier going quiet isn’t an inconvenience. It means empty shelves, idle staff or a job that can’t start.

Here’s how to handle the next 24 hours calmly, starting with the step most people skip.

Is the payment request genuine?

Urgent payment requests are exactly what scammers imitate. Scamwatch warns that business email compromise scams send “an invoice you were expecting from a client or supplier, but with altered payee and contact details”. A deadline makes it more convincing, not less.

Before you pay anyone urgently:

• Call the supplier on a number you already have — from their website, an old invoice or your phone contacts, not from the email in front of you.
• Confirm the amount and the bank details they expect payment into.
• Be suspicious of any change to bank details, especially one announced by email.

Our guide on what to do when a supplier changes bank details covers this in more depth. It takes five minutes and can save the whole amount.

Can I buy a bit more time?

Many suppliers would rather be paid a little late than lose a good customer. What worries them is uncertainty. A specific plan gives them something to agree to.

Try offering:

1. A part-payment now from what you have, with the balance on a named date.
2. A firm date for the full amount, backed by the fact that funding is already being arranged.
3. Payment on delivery for new orders while the old balance is cleared.

Keep it short and specific. “We’ll pay $8,000 tonight and the remaining $14,600 by Thursday” is far more persuasive than “we’re working on it”. Our guide on asking a supplier for more time has example wording.

If the supplier won’t budge, you’ll need the money by their deadline — and that’s where tonight’s enquiry matters.

What does a fast supplier-payment request look like?

Lenders see supplier payments every day. The requests that move fastest share a few traits:

Detail	Strong	Weak
Amount	Exact balance owing, minus what you can pay yourself	A round number “to be safe”
Purpose	Named supplier, what they supply and why it matters	“Working capital”
Evidence	The statement of account or overdue notice	Nothing
Repayment	Customer receipts due, a seasonal lift, a refinance	“Trading”
Documents	Statements, ID and ABN ready tonight	“I’ll find them tomorrow”

For trading businesses without property, unsecured funding sized on bank statements can be possible quickly, especially for smaller amounts. Where the balance is larger, property-secured funding of $20k to $250k can be possible same day. Not sure which fits? Tell us about the supplier bill and a specialist will guide you.

Should the money go to me or straight to the supplier?

Either can work. Paying the supplier directly is often tidy because it guarantees the money reaches the right place and gives you an immediate remittance to send them. If you’d rather receive the funds and pay yourself, confirm the payment method the supplier prefers and how long it takes to show in their account.

Fast payments through the New Payments Platform can arrive in near real time, but not every account or transfer uses them. If the supplier’s deadline is a specific hour, ask whether a payment confirmation will satisfy them while the funds clear. Our guide to when money actually arrives explains the options.

What if I think the supplier’s bill is wrong?

Sometimes the “overdue balance” includes charges you dispute. Pay what’s genuinely owed and raise the disputed part separately and in writing. The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman runs a dispute support tool that points small businesses to the most appropriate, low-cost dispute resolution service, including for contract and payment disputes between businesses.

Don’t let a dispute over a small part of the bill put the whole supply relationship at risk.

An illustrative example

Illustrative: A bakery in Hobart owes its flour miller $22,400 across three overdue invoices after a slow winter. The miller calls Tuesday afternoon: pay by Wednesday or deliveries stop Thursday. The owner confirms the balance and bank details by phone on the miller’s known number, offers $6,000 immediately and the balance on Wednesday, and the miller agrees. She enquires for $16,400 that evening and downloads statements. With steady deposits and a clear reason, funds are possible Wednesday and paid directly to the miller.

What if several suppliers are chasing at once?

When cash is tight, one supplier call often means others are close behind. List every overdue supplier tonight with the amount and how critical they are to trading. Pay or fund the ones you can’t trade without, and talk to the rest. A single, well-sized funding request is better than several small ones on consecutive days. If the root cause is a customer who paid late, see customer paid late, and if it keeps happening, a standby line of credit may be the better long-term fix.

Keep your supply chain moving

A supplier deadline is stressful, but it’s also a clear, fundable business purpose. Enquire in about a minute with no credit check involved. Your details aren’t sent out to a pile of lenders; one specialist works on your file and calls to talk it through. Be accurate with the amount owing, what you can pay yourself and your state — it lets us move straight to the right option.

Sort tomorrow’s supplier payment →