A plan B for cash flow is a funding option you know about and can be confident in before you need it, so a bill, a delay or a supplier change doesn’t leave you scrambling. If your business owns equipment, vehicles or machinery, a fast equity release can be that plan B. When you’re out of time, you’re not out of options.
Facing the ATO? See paying the ATO without a credit card or ATO debt funding.
A business needs a plan B whenever it needs cash faster than its normal funding can deliver it. A tax bill falls due, an invoice sits unpaid, a settlement slips or a supplier changes terms. The businesses that cope best know their option and can be confident in it before it happens, so they act in days instead of scrambling for weeks. These are the moments that catch businesses out.
Income isn't where it needs to be and the bill still lands. See ATO debt funding and DPN funding.
The work is done and approved, but payment sits in 60-day terms while wages and suppliers are due now.
Settlement is delayed but a deposit or purchase is already committed. See bridge funding.
A key supplier moves you to payment before delivery, and the stock you need to fill orders has to be paid for now.
Payroll, tax and super pile up on top of seasonal cash cycles. It is still ahead for most businesses.
A bulk discount expires in 48 hours, or an auction closes tomorrow. See emergency funding.
The common thread: whatever happens, the bills still land. It pays to have a plan B before you need one.
There is no single right answer. It depends on how fast you need the money and what you own. Here is how the common options compare. For a deeper look, see asset-based lending versus cash flow lending.
| Option | Speed | What’s assessed | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank loan | Weeks | Cash flow, credit and financials | Slower, and assessed on cash flow and financials, so approval can stall when the plan changes |
| ATO payment plan (tax debt only) | Depends on the ATO | Your ability to pay and your history | Interest keeps accruing, and the plan can be cancelled if payments are missed |
| Credit card | Immediate while accepted | Your card limit | The limit is often too low for the amount you need. For tax debt, the ATO accepts cards until 30 June 2027, then third-party providers with their own fees |
| Selling an asset | Depends on a buyer | What the market will pay | A rushed sale means a discounted price, and the asset that earns for you is gone |
| Asset-based (ABL) | Typically 24 to 48 hours once the asset is secured | The asset only | Short-term by design: typically 1 to 3 months, extendable to 9. It suits contingency, not long-term financing |
The asset can be owned by the business, by a director personally or by a third party, as long as it is owned outright or mostly paid off, ownership is clear and we can secure against it. How we secure it depends on the asset.
If the asset earns for the business, such as a truck, van or machine, we secure it with a GPS tracker and you keep using it for the length of the loan. See Track It.
For a personal asset, or any asset you don’t need day to day, Park It gets you our best rate. We hold onto the asset for the length of the loan and return it when you repay. See Park It.
We release funding once the asset is secured.
None of this commits you to anything. It just means you have the answer ready when something happens.
Equipment, vehicles, machinery, boats or high-value goods that are owned outright or mostly paid off. See eligible assets.
Ask for a free desktop valuation to see what it could release, with no obligation to proceed.
Track It if the asset has to keep working. Park It if you can spare it, at our best rate. Compare all three products.
We take it from there. If time is critical, call 1300 225 101.
Three ways to use what you already own. The right product depends on whether you can spare the asset, need to keep using it or are ready to release it entirely. Compare all three products.
| Park It | Track It | Sell It | |
|---|---|---|---|
| In a line | Asset stored. Capital now. | Keep using it. Capital now. | Capital now. The sale completes the loan. |
| Where the asset is | Securely stored | Stays with you, GPS-secured | Prepared for auction |
| Use during the term | None | Continued, as normal | None |
| Asset returns | Yes, when you’re done | Yes, when you’re done | No, the sale closes the loan |
| Best for | An asset you can park for the term | An asset that needs to stay in service | A strategic exit on an asset you’re ready to release |
| Learn more | View Park It | View Track It | View Sell It |
Steve Heavey, Managing Director of Asset Based Lending, explains how a cash out solution works and when it fits: you own the asset, time is short and your other options are slow or closing.
This is a real equity release play. There are a lot of businesses out there that are asset rich but cash poor. They're sitting on assets because they know that at some point they may need them. If you're talking about a construction company, that could be trucks, cranes and excavators, all sitting around waiting for the next job. Those assets are doing nothing, when they could be used to resolve some of the short-term cash flow challenges the business may face.
So it's about educating people that this is a short-term solution that helps businesses smooth out their cash flow and resolve those issues, using assets they already own instead of taking on more lending, which puts them under even more pressure.
We had an organisation recently that was on the winding-up list at the ATO. The ATO were trying to wind up their transport company, and they were two days from losing the business to liquidation. Within two days we were able to provide enough money for the business to pay the ATO back, get off the winding-up list and keep trading. One of the best outcomes was that their broker came in and refinanced the family home, so they could pay us back, and the business continued. That saved 40 jobs. This business had 20 trucks on the road, and it lives to fight another day.
I think that's the greatest part of asset based lending. We're here to help businesses survive right now. We can do that because we can move quickly. Nine times out of 10, it's the urgency that's required in these situations where ABL is able to come to the fore, and we provide the bridging solution so they can resolve their issues and get the help they need, whether that's through their accountant or their finance broker.
Well, you could do that, but a lot of our clients are in urgent need of cash. If you go down the traditional path of selling an asset, or going to a bank to secure finance, you can safely say it's going to take at least two to four weeks before that even happens. In some cases with banks, it could be up to three months before you get a decision on commercial finance.
Asset Based Lending can provide a solution the same day. If you've got assets sitting idle and you're willing to park those assets with us, we can release funds on day one.
Steve: We'll lend money for up to six months. We've probably had several customers in that situation at the end of the term, and every one of them has said to us that they were going to sell the asset anyway. It was one of their exit strategies from the start. What Asset Based Lending does is buy people time. We allow them to resolve the issue and get out the other side. Because you can access the funding straight away, you can resolve that tax debt straight away, take the pressure off, get the wolves from the door, and really focus on your business and get yourself out of trouble.
Update, October 2026: the maximum term is now nine months.
At the end of the term, every single person we've talked to has said, "Steve, we were going to sell the asset anyway, but you provided a short-term solution and got us out of trouble at the time. What we're doing now is what we were going to do right at the start, and it's been a great outcome for us."
Interviewer: That time piece is really interesting. If you're going to sell, you need a valuation anyway, but then the time keeps going while you try to find the person who's going to pay at that valuation. And we know the market: you're never going to get the price it's valued at. It's always going to be under.
Steve: Yeah. You never get full price at a liquidation sale, I can tell you that. So in the situations where we do sell assets at the end of the term, we run a proper four-week campaign. It's all transparent and all online. We've got a business partner in Lloyds Auctions & Valuations, where everything's transparent and you can see live bids coming in on your asset. Because we're lending 70% of the forced liquidation value, not the market value, there's always a surplus at the end of the term. We take our principal and interest back, and whatever's left after the asset's sold goes back to the client.
A plan B for cash flow is a funding option you know about and can be confident in before you need it, so a bill, a delay or a supplier change doesn't leave you scrambling. For businesses that own equipment, vehicles or machinery, one option is a fast equity release: short-term secured funding against an asset you already own.
Because your options narrow once you are under pressure. Banks take weeks, a rushed sale means a discounted price, and rules can change without warning. Knowing what your assets could release now means you can move the day it matters.
It depends on your situation. A credit card is fast but capped by your limit, and a sale depends on finding a buyer. With an asset you already own, ABL releases funding once the asset is secured, typically 24 to 48 hours from enquiry. Indicative terms come within 2 hours.
Yes, as long as it is owned outright or mostly paid off and we can secure against it. If a small balance is owing, the payout can be added to the loan. The asset can be owned by the business, a director personally or a third party.
No. We don't run credit checks and we don't ask for BAS, tax returns or financial statements. We assess the value of the asset, not the borrower.
Yes. ABL provides short-term secured commercial lending. The loan is secured against an asset, not your home or other property. With Park It we hold the asset for the length of the loan, and with Track It you keep using it while it is GPS-tracked.
Most terms are one to three months, and we can extend up to nine if you need more time. You can exit any time after month one with no penalty, and you pay only for the days you use.
Yes. We provide a free desktop valuation with no obligation to proceed, so you have the number ready if and when you need it.
More questions? See all ABL FAQs.
No commitment. A free desktop valuation. See what your assets could release, so you’re ready when something happens.
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Page last updated 12 October 2026. ATO details are taken from the ATO’s media release published 9 October 2026. ABL provides short-term secured commercial lending. Loans are secured against your asset.
