Quick answer
Perth businesses can borrow without property security, typically $5k to $500k, from online lenders, non-banks and banks. Lenders size the offer on average monthly deposits, which can be tricky for resources-linked firms paid in big, irregular amounts. Showing a full year of statements, a spread of clients and invoices that match the deposits helps. When most of your cash is stuck in unpaid invoices, invoice finance can beat an unsecured loan.
Key points
- Lenders average deposits over six to twelve months, so a full year of statements usually works in a lumpy-income business's favour
- Transfers between your own accounts, loan proceeds and one-off asset sales are normally stripped out before averaging
- If one resources client provides most of your income, invoice finance or a smaller loan may be offered instead
- WA's Small Business Commissioner investigates late payment and non-payment, and reports can be made anonymously
- Typical unsecured range
- $5k to $500k, sized on turnover
- Late payment help
- Small Business Development Corporation (WA)
- WA payroll tax threshold
- $1m a year, tapering to nil at $7.5m
- Security
- No property; director guarantee usual
In short: yes, Perth businesses can borrow without offering property, usually between $5k and $500k, and a decision can come within days. The catch is that unsecured lenders size their offers on your bank statements, and plenty of Perth businesses have statements that look strange to an algorithm built for a suburban cafe. This page explains why, and how to present your figures so the lender sees the business you actually run.
We’re a national directory, not a Perth branch. There’s no local office: you deal with us online and by phone. For property-secured options, Perth’s industrial precincts and the WA economy more broadly, see our Perth city guide.
Why do Perth bank statements look so lumpy?
Much of Perth’s business community sits one or two steps away from the resources sector: maintenance contractors, hydraulic and electrical workshops, labour hire, engineering firms, transport operators and the suppliers behind them. Their income has a recognisable shape.
- Monthly invoicing, slow payment. A contractor bills once a month and a large client pays on 30, 45 or 60-day terms. Deposits arrive as a few large amounts, not a daily stream.
- Shutdowns and campaigns. A site shutdown can produce a month or two of big billing, followed by a quieter stretch.
- Wages every week. Meanwhile the crew, the fuel card and the parts supplier are paid every week or fortnight.
To a human assessor that pattern makes sense. To a quick scoring model reading three months of data, it can look like a business swinging between boom and bust. The good news is that most unsecured lenders have a person look at anything unusual, provided you give them the full picture.
How do lenders work out your turnover?
Lenders don’t take your total deposits at face value. They clean them first, then average them.
| Usually removed before averaging | Why |
|---|---|
| Transfers from your other accounts | It’s your own money moving, not income |
| Loan advances, including other online loans | Borrowed money isn’t turnover |
| Proceeds from selling a vehicle or equipment | One-off, won’t recur |
| Owner top-ups from personal savings | Not trading income |
| Large unexplained cash deposits | Can’t be verified |
What’s left is your trading income. Most lenders then look at the average monthly figure over six or twelve months, the lowest month, and the trend. Our glossary entry on minimum turnover explains how the published thresholds work.
What this means for you: if your income is lumpy, offer twelve months of statements rather than six, even if the lender only asks for six. Twelve months smooths a shutdown spike and a quiet quarter into a fairer average. Then add a short note that maps the big deposits to the invoices behind them and names the clients. That one page often does more than any amount of explaining over the phone.
Unsecured loan or invoice finance?
Perth is one of the places where invoice finance regularly beats an unsecured loan, because so many businesses sell to large, creditworthy companies on long terms.
| Your situation | Usually the better fit |
|---|---|
| Waiting on large invoices from a few big clients, and it happens every month | Invoice finance, which grows as your invoices grow |
| A one-off need: a contract start-up, new hires, a tender bond, a marketing push | Unsecured business loan |
| Buying a specific vehicle, compressor or machine | Equipment finance in Perth |
| An uneven, recurring gap you’d like to draw and repay | Business line of credit |
| More than a third of turnover needed, and you own property | Property-secured lending, such as caveat loans in Perth |
The two aren’t mutually exclusive. Plenty of contractors use invoice finance for the monthly cycle and a modest unsecured loan to fund the first month of a new contract before any invoice exists.
The one-big-client question
Expect a lender to ask how much of your income depends on your biggest customer. If it’s over about half, expect a smaller offer or more questions, because one decision in a head office can stop your income. It isn’t a judgement on your work; it’s arithmetic.
Things that help: the length of the relationship, a written contract or panel arrangement with time left to run, evidence of repeat purchase orders, and a second or third client whose share is growing. Our page on business loans with irregular income covers the wider set of tactics.
Wondering how a lender would read your mix of clients? Ask us for a straight answer. Asking doesn’t involve a credit check.
When a client pays late, is there local help?
Borrowing to cover a client who is simply refusing to pay is sometimes necessary, but it’s worth pursuing the money too. In WA, the Small Business Development Corporation provides free advice from experienced advisers, and the Small Business Commissioner will investigate conduct by private businesses, State Government and local government bodies that harms small businesses, including subcontractors. According to the SBDC, that covers late payment, non-payment, unfair contract terms and breaches of contract. Reports can be made anonymously through its Safe2Say channel, which matters when the late payer is a client you want to keep.
WA payroll tax and your repayments
The WA Government’s employer guide puts the payroll tax threshold at $1m in annual Australian taxable wages, reducing gradually until it disappears at $7.5m. Labour-heavy businesses such as labour hire and maintenance contractors reach the threshold sooner than their profit might suggest. Lenders count payroll tax as a fixed outgoing when checking whether repayments fit, so a loan that funds more staff should be tested against the tax those staff will add. The cash flow gap calculator helps model the timing.
Where Perth borrows unsecured
- Welshpool, Kewdale and Forrestfield: transport, engineering and parts suppliers near the airport and freight terminals.
- Malaga, Wangara and Osborne Park: trades, wholesalers, showrooms and light manufacturing.
- Henderson and the Australian Marine Complex: marine, fabrication and defence maintenance suppliers.
- Northbridge, Leederville and Fremantle: hospitality and retail funding fit-outs, staff and stock for summer.
- West Perth and the CBD: consultancies and professional firms bridging slow corporate clients.
A worked Perth example
Illustrative figures only.
A hydraulic hose and fittings workshop in Kewdale turns over about $1.4m. Three resources contractors make up 70% of its income, all paying on 45-day terms. Its last three months of statements show deposits of $40k, $215k and $70k, which look wild in isolation; twelve months average out at around $117k a month.
The owner needs $60k to stock up for a large maintenance shutdown that will be invoiced in six weeks. An online lender, shown the full year and a page tying each large deposit to its invoice, offers $60k over 12 months with weekly repayments of about $1,340, or roughly $69,700 in total. Separately, the owner sets up invoice finance for the shutdown invoices so the next one doesn’t need a loan at all. Before signing, the owner checks the early payout terms, because the shutdown money could clear the loan well before the 12 months are up.
Banks first, then wider
Perth’s banks and their business bankers are often the cheapest source of money for established firms with up-to-date financials, and an offer from one deserves serious consideration. Where banks struggle is speed, newer ABNs, concentrated client lists and accounts that are a year behind. That’s when online lenders such as Moula and OnDeck, and the invoice financiers in our directory, are worth a look.
Make your Perth numbers work for you
A lumpy year isn’t a weak year. Read properly, by a lender who understands it and with a clear explanation attached, it can still support sensible borrowing. That’s the part we can help with.
Filling in the enquiry is a sixty-second job, and it leaves no mark on your credit history. Your information isn’t forwarded in bulk to every funder going. Instead, a real member of our team works through your answers and rings to discuss them. Be accurate with your figures, including the share your biggest client makes up, so we can steer you to the most suitable lender at the first attempt rather than the third.
Frequently asked questions
How do lenders treat irregular deposits from mining clients?
Most average your deposits over six to twelve months and look at the lowest months as well as the average. A business paid monthly in large amounts can look erratic over three months but steady over twelve, so give the lender the longer history.
Can a Perth business with one big client get an unsecured loan?
Often, but the amount may be smaller. Lenders worry that if the main client pauses work or changes contractors, your income drops overnight. Showing a long relationship, a contract term or a second client growing helps.
Is invoice finance better than an unsecured loan for mining services?
When the problem is waiting 30 to 60 days for a large, creditworthy client to pay, invoice finance often fits better, because the funding grows with your invoices. An unsecured loan suits a one-off need like a new contract start, hiring or a piece of kit.
A client is paying me late. Where can I get help in WA?
The Small Business Development Corporation offers free advice and dispute help, and the WA Small Business Commissioner can investigate late or non-payment by private businesses and government bodies. You can report anonymously through its Safe2Say channel.
Do lenders count WA payroll tax when sizing my loan?
Yes. It's treated as a fixed cost alongside wages and super. If you're registered, make sure your returns are up to date, because arrears show up as a red flag in the same way as overdue BAS.