In September 2026 a Queensland civil earthworks company turning over more than $1 million a month was approved for a $250,000 unsecured business overdraft on six months of bank statements. No property, no tax returns, no contracts. The application went in on a Monday and the funds were in the account on the Tuesday, in time for that week's quarry costs and wages. Here's why it worked, and who it wouldn't work for.
Written and reviewed by John Pierre Saliba, Director and Senior Finance Broker, MFAA Accredited. Last reviewed 18 September 2026.
| Detail | This deal |
|---|---|
| Industry | Civil earthworks (construction) |
| Location | Queensland |
| Trading history | Established, trading for more than 5 years |
| Monthly turnover | More than $1 million |
| Facility | Business overdraft, $250,000 limit |
| Security | None. No property or asset security |
| Documents supplied | Six months of business bank statements. Nothing else |
| Timeline | Submitted on a Monday. Approved and funded on the Tuesday |
| Lender | Non-bank lender on the OverdraftMe panel |
| Bank decline | No. The bank route was never attempted because of the documents and the weeks it would have taken |
| Purpose | Quarry costs and wages due that week, plus working capital to take on more contracts |
Earthworks gets paid in arrears. The crews, the fuel and the plant hire are paid every week. The progress claims go in monthly, and the money comes back thirty days after that if the head contractor is prompt. This company was profitable, growing, and permanently stretched between the two.
The immediate pressure was that week's quarry costs and wages. The longer-term need was a facility that sat in the background, so the director could say yes to the next contract without wondering how he'd carry the first month of it.
Nobody declined this business. The director never lodged a bank application, because he knew what it would involve. At this size a bank wants tax returns, ATO records, financial statements and copies of the contracts, and the answer takes weeks. Wages were due that week. So it was never bank versus non-bank on price. It was a facility inside a day or two, or no facility when it counted.
A $250,000 unsecured business overdraft with a non-bank lender on our panel. Revolving, so he draws what he needs and repays as claims are paid, with interest charged on the drawn balance only and a line fee on the limit. The only documents that went to the lender were six months of business bank statements. No property security, no asset security, no financials. One lender, one credit enquiry. The application went in on the Monday. The approval and the funds came through on the Tuesday.
Be clear about this part, because a $250,000 unsecured limit is not what every business gets. Three things carried it.
The turnover. At more than $1 million a month, $250,000 was a fraction of one month's deposits. Non-bank lenders size an overdraft on what they can see coming into the account, and this ask was conservative against it.
The statements. Six months of consistent deposits, no dishonours, no big unexplained withdrawals. For a bank-statement lender that is the entire assessment, so it has to be clean, and it was.
The business itself. More than five years trading, profitable, in an industry the lender understands. Civil work is lumpy, but the progress-claim cycle was visible in the statements, and lenders like a pattern they can read.
Take those away and the answer changes. A smaller business, say one turning over $80,000 a month, would be looking at a limit closer to one month's revenue, and above $150,000 a lender may ask for financials or security. This deal is the top of the range, not the floor.
Nothing, in this case. But the same application stalls with any of these: a dishonoured payment in the last three months, an ATO balance the director didn't mention up front, a recent default on his personal credit file, or deposits that spike and vanish from month to month. None of those applied, which is why it took a day.
"They needed money fast. Quarry costs and wages were due and there was no time to go through a bank. We had the six months of bank statements in on the Monday, the approval and the funds came through on the Tuesday, no property, no tax returns. One happy client, and a facility they can keep drawing on for the next job."
The lender paid OverdraftMe a commission on settlement. The client paid nothing for the broker service.
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Details anonymised. Figures are as settled.