ScotPac vs Earlypay: which invoice finance specialist fits your ledger?

ScotPac and Earlypay sell the same core idea: the job is finished and billed, yet the cash is stuck on 30, 45 or 60-day terms, so a specialist lends you most of it now. Where they part ways is in who they’re comfortable funding, what else sits on the shelf beside invoice finance, and how big a facility needs to be before it makes sense.

This comparison uses each lender’s own published material as at October 2026. Earlypay’s website could be read directly. ScotPac’s site restricts automated access, so its details come from its own pages and media releases as shown in search results. Terms change, so confirm the current position with each lender before you rely on a figure.

Who are these two lenders?

ScotPac (Scottish Pacific) has been lending to Australian businesses since 1988 and is based in Sydney. It describes itself as a specialist working capital provider and is best known for invoice finance. Its range also covers trade and asset finance, a business line of credit and an online business loan it calls the Boost Business Loan.

Earlypay is listed on the ASX under the code EPY and has offices in North Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Its website lists invoice factoring, invoice discounting, invoice finance for payroll, trade finance and asset and equipment finance, with several other products named in its menus.

Both are non-bank lenders, and both fund businesses that sell to other businesses. If your customers are consumers who pay at the counter, neither is built for you, and a business line of credit or unsecured business loan is the more realistic route.

How do they compare side by side?

	ScotPac	Earlypay
Advance against invoices	Up to 85% of approved invoices	Typically up to 80%, up to 85% in some cases
Published facility size	No invoice finance minimum on its own pages	$100k to $10m for factoring (its discounting FAQ mentions facilities from $50k)
Single-invoice option	Yes, selective invoice finance	Not listed as a separate product
Credit-impaired or ATO debt	Assessed mainly on customer quality	Says ATO debt, credit issues and short trading histories may still qualify via disclosed factoring
Invoice age	Delivered work on normal trade terms	Generally under 90 days from issue
Speed	Not published as a fixed timeframe	Aims to decide inside a day for Xero or MYOB AccountRight users; funds as soon as one business day
Other products	Trade finance, asset finance, line of credit, Boost Business Loan ($10k to $500k)	Trade finance, equipment finance, payroll-focused invoice finance
Ownership	Privately owned	ASX-listed (EPY)

The headline advance numbers look close, and they are. The difference on a real ledger usually comes from which invoices each lender treats as eligible, not from the percentage on the brochure. A lender that advances 85% but excludes your largest customer can release less cash than one advancing 80% across the whole book. If that term is new, our glossary entry on the concentration limit explains why one dominant customer changes the maths.

Where does ScotPac come out ahead?

• You only need to fund one or two invoices. ScotPac’s selective invoice finance lets you pick specific invoices instead of committing your whole sales ledger, and it says family home security isn’t needed for that product. For a business that has one oversized invoice sitting with a slow-paying government client, that flexibility matters.
• You want a lump sum as well as invoice funding. The Boost Business Loan runs from $10k to $500k, typically capped at 150% of average monthly sales. ScotPac lifted that ceiling from $250k in a published media release. Its pages say loans under $200k don’t need security, and the usual bar is 12 months trading and at least $10k a month in sales.
• You import. Trade finance that pays overseas suppliers before stock lands, sitting beside an invoice facility with the same lender, suits wholesalers who carry stock for weeks before it becomes a receivable. Our trade finance explainer walks through the mechanics.
• Your ledger is already large and clean. A long-established specialist with several product lines can grow with a business whose receivables keep climbing.

Where does Earlypay come out ahead?

• You have an ATO debt or a patchy credit file. Earlypay states plainly that businesses with tax obligations, credit challenges, short trading histories or loans with other lenders may still qualify, usually through disclosed factoring. Few lenders put that on the product page. Read our guide to business loans with ATO tax debt for how lenders weigh it.
• Your books are in Xero or MYOB AccountRight. When it can read your file from one of those platforms, Earlypay targets an answer the same day or next, and aims to fund within 24 hours of approval for invoice discounting.
• Payroll is the pressure point. Earlypay markets an invoice finance product built around covering wages while clients take their time paying, which suits labour hire, security and cleaning contractors. See our page on labour hire business loans.
• You want equipment funded by the same lender. Earlypay’s website shows equipment loans alongside invoice facilities, with published client examples of $225k and $350k.

Not sure which camp your ledger falls into? Sketch your ledger for us, which takes a minute or so, and we’ll say which type of facility looks realistic. Sending it has no effect on your credit score.

What will it cost?

We don’t publish rates for either lender, and neither does a fair comparison need them. Invoice finance is usually priced as a mix of a discount or interest charge on funds drawn, plus service or administration fees, and sometimes minimum usage or exit terms. The number that matters is dollars per month at your expected volume.

Ask both lenders for the same thing: a written estimate of total monthly cost on, say, $300k of eligible invoices turning over every 45 days. Then add any setup fee and the cost of leaving within the first year. Our invoice finance calculator helps you model the cash released, and the loan cost comparison calculator lines up the totals.

A worked example

An illustrative case, not a quote. A commercial cleaning contractor bills $260k a month to eight building managers on 30-day terms, with two clients making up 45% of the ledger. It has a $70k payment plan with the ATO and a director whose credit file shows an old default.

• At ScotPac, the strength of the building managers would carry most of the weight, but the concentration and the director’s file could narrow what’s funded or how the facility is set up.
• At Earlypay, the ATO plan and credit history fit a disclosed factoring structure it openly describes, though customers would know a funder is involved.

At an 80% advance on $260k, roughly $208k could come forward each month before any exclusions. The right choice is whichever lender funds the most of that $260k at the lowest dollar cost, with collection arrangements the contractor can live with.

Decision checklist

1. Do you invoice other Australian businesses for completed work, with invoices under 90 days old?
2. Is your monthly ledger well above $100k, or would a selective or single-invoice option suit better?
3. Do any customers make up more than a quarter of what you’re owed?
4. Is there ATO debt, a default or a short trading history the lender needs to hear about up front?
5. Do you need extras such as trade finance, equipment finance or a lump-sum loan with the same lender?
6. What is the all-in monthly cost in dollars, plus any break or exit charge in year one?

Still weighing up the structure itself? Compare invoice factoring and invoice discounting, or read full profiles of ScotPac and Earlypay.

Want a second opinion on your receivables?

Choosing between two invoice specialists is easier once someone has looked at your actual customer list. The enquiry form takes about sixty seconds, and sending it won’t trigger a credit check. Nothing gets passed along to a queue of funders hoping one bites. Instead, a person who works with receivables finance reads your situation and rings you back. Give us honest numbers on your monthly invoicing, your biggest customers and anything owed to the ATO, so the first facility we point you towards is one you can actually get.

Show us your ledger and get a straight answer →