Write a two-line funding note tonight

When a specialist calls tomorrow morning, the first minute will go something like: “So tell me what’s going on.” The owners who get to an answer fastest are the ones who can reply in two sentences. Not because they’re polished, but because they’ve already thought it through.

That’s what a funding note is. Two or three plain sentences, written tonight, that you can read out on the phone or paste into an email.

What goes into a funding note?

Five facts:

1. What the money is for.
2. How much you need (after what you can cover yourself).
3. By when it has to land.
4. Why there’s a gap.
5. How it will be repaid.

That’s it. No history of the business, no spreadsheets, no adjectives.

What do good funding notes look like?

Here are illustrative notes for common situations:

Situation	Example note
Payroll	“We need $29k by Wednesday for payroll and super for 23 staff. A government client’s $61k payment is delayed by a system change and is now due on the 18th; we’ll repay from that.”
Supplier	“We need $16k by tomorrow to clear our flour supplier’s overdue balance and keep deliveries running. Winter trade was slow but has recovered; we’ll repay over three months from trading.”
BAS	“We need $32k to pay the balance of our September quarter BAS due on the 28th. We’ve paid $15k ourselves; we’ll repay over six months and have no other ATO debt.”
Settlement	“We need $140k by Thursday to cover a settlement shortfall on our clinic’s premises after the bank reduced its loan. We’ll repay by refinancing once the bank’s revaluation is reviewed, or from savings within 12 months.”
Equipment	“We need $31k tomorrow to pay for a deck oven repair before fitting. Downtime costs us about $4k a day; we’ll repay from trading over four months.”
Opportunity	“We need $48k by 5pm tomorrow to buy discounted stock saving about $25k. The lines usually sell in ten weeks; we’ll repay from those sales.”

Notice what they have in common: numbers, dates and a believable way out.

Why is the repayment source so important?

Lenders care about two things: why you need the money, and how they’ll get it back. Most people explain the first and forget the second.

A strong repayment source is specific and verifiable: a known customer invoice, a signed contract, seasonal sales you can see in last year’s statements, a property sale, an insurance claim. “From trading” is fine too, if your statements show the business can carry the repayments.

If the honest answer is “I’m not sure”, say so. A good specialist would rather help you think it through than find out later.

Should I mention credit issues or tax debt?

Yes, in one line. Past credit issues and ATO debt are considered case by case, and disclosing them up front is faster than having them discovered. For example:

• “We’re on an ATO payment plan and have kept to it since March.”
• “There’s one paid default from 2022, from a disputed supplier account.”
• “We have a short-term loan with about $1,200 a week coming out until December.”

If tax is involved, you can check your balance and any payment plan tonight in the ATO’s Online services for business. See next-day funding with bad credit or ATO debt.

Where do I use the note?

• In your enquiry. Some of it fits naturally into the form’s answers. Start the enquiry and use the note to guide what you write.
• On the call. Read it out when the specialist asks what’s going on.
• With documents. Paste it at the top of the email or upload that accompanies your statements.

Our page on filling in the enquiry explains how each form answer is used.

A simple template

We need [amount] by [day/time] to [purpose]. The gap exists because [cause]. We’ll repay from [source] by [when]. [Any credit or ATO note.]

Fill it in tonight. It takes five minutes and saves far more than that tomorrow.

What makes a funding note weaker?

A few patterns tend to slow the first call:

• Round numbers chosen for comfort. “About $50k to be safe” invites the question “what’s the actual figure?”
• No deadline. Without a date, the specialist can’t plan the timeline.
• A cause that doesn’t explain the gap. “Cash flow is tight” describes the symptom, not the reason.
• A repayment source that depends on hope. “Things should pick up” is not a plan. “Our spring order book is $120k, double last year’s” is.
• Leaving out other debts. They’ll appear in the statements anyway.

Fixing these takes a couple of minutes. If your note is thin because you’re not sure of the numbers, the ten-day cash calendar is a quick way to see exactly what’s due and what’s coming in. For the documents that sit alongside the note, see bank statements and the tonight checklist.

Keep the finished note somewhere you can copy it from quickly — your phone’s notes app is ideal. You’ll use it more than once.

Turn your note into a plan

With a clear note, the first call can go straight to options. The enquiry takes about a minute and there’s no credit check involved. Your details are handled by one team — not auctioned out to lenders — and a real specialist reads your note and calls you. Please keep your answers accurate and specific, especially the amount, deadline and repayment source.

Send my enquiry with the note →