The Christmas Shutdown Cash Gap on Government Work
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Government work is some of the most reliable work a contractor can win. The customer isn't going anywhere, and the invoice will be paid.
Paying at Christmas is a different story. Approvers go on leave, payment runs get pushed around the public holidays, and on many projects the site closes for a couple of weeks. You still have to pay wages before the break, settle your supplier accounts, and get through a January that starts with very little coming in.
If most of your book is government, council or government-funded infrastructure work, this is the time of year when "they'll pay" and "they'll pay in time" stop meaning the same thing.
What the payment rules say
Both NSW and Queensland have policies for paying small suppliers.
- NSW: Under the Faster Payment Terms Policy, in-scope NSW Government agencies must pay registered small businesses (fewer than 20 full-time-equivalent staff) within 5 business days of receiving a correctly rendered invoice.
- Queensland: Under the On-time Payment Policy, eligible invoices from registered small businesses should be paid within 20 calendar days. If they aren't, interest can be claimed on correctly rendered, undisputed invoices.
Those are useful protections. They still come with conditions:
- You have to be registered, and you have to meet the small business definition.
- The invoice has to be correctly rendered. In NSW the clock starts when the invoice reaches the agency's accounts payable area, not when it lands in your site contact's inbox.
- These policies cover state government agencies. Councils set their own payment terms. If you're subcontracting to a head contractor on a government-funded project, your contract and the security of payment laws decide your terms, not the government's policy.
So the policy can be fast. Your actual payment depends on whether the invoice gets approved before everyone goes on leave.
Why December is different
On a normal month, a claim that slips one payment run only waits a little longer. In December, it can slip past the last run before the break and land in the new year.
A few things stack up at once:
- Approvals slow down before they stop. The person who certifies your claim may take leave well before Christmas, and their backup may not know the job.
- Payment runs move around public holidays. If your customer pays on a weekly or fortnightly cycle, a run can be skipped or shifted.
- Work gets finished in a rush. Lots of contractors try to wrap stages up before the break, so more claims hit the same approvers in the same few weeks.
- January starts slowly. Offices reopen, inboxes are full, and claims submitted in late December are often among the last processed.
None of this means anyone is doing the wrong thing. It's simply how the calendar works on a public sector job.
How to plan your invoicing before the break
The aim is to get as much as you can approved and paid before offices close.
- Ask your customer for their last payment run date now. Then work backwards to find when your claim needs to be approved to make it.
- Find out who is approving while staff are on leave. Get a name, not just an inbox.
- Invoice completed stages as soon as they're signed off. Don't hold invoices to batch them at month end.
- Check every invoice is correctly rendered before it goes. Contract or purchase order number, correct entity, correct amounts, and sent to the address accounts payable uses.
- If you're eligible, check you're registered. In NSW that's the buy.nsw supplier hub, and in Queensland the On-time Payment Small Business Register.
Plan for January, not just December
Most contractors think about the December wage bill and leave payments. The harder month is often January.
Sit down with three numbers:
- What you need to pay out from now to the end of January: wages, leave, super, supplier accounts, and any materials you'll need ordered for jobs starting in the new year.
- What you're sure will be paid before Christmas.
- What's been invoiced but probably won't arrive until mid to late January.
The third number is the one to watch. That's good money from a customer who will pay, which you can't use until after you need it.
What this looks like on a real job
A civil contractor finishes a stage on a council-funded road upgrade in the second week of December and invoices $120,000. The council's approver is on leave from the following week, and the claim isn't certified until the new year. Payment lands in late January.
Meanwhile the business pays its crew before Christmas, covers leave entitlements, settles its main supplier account, and orders materials for a February start. On paper the business is doing well. In the bank, it's carrying the council's payment timing for six weeks over the most expensive period of the year.
Where invoice finance fits
Invoice finance won't change your customer's approval process or payment run. What it changes is when you get your money.
Once an invoice is raised, Brunswick can advance up to 80% of its value upfront. When your customer pays as normal, we collect the payment and the balance goes to you. For government and council work, where the payment is certain and only the timing isn't, that can turn a late-January payment into cash you have before the break.
It works best for well-run businesses with a clear, short-term reason for the cash, such as getting through the Christmas shutdown. It isn't a fix for a business that's already in trouble, and we'll tell you quickly if it isn't the right fit.
The takeaway
Government customers pay. Over Christmas, they pay on their calendar, not yours.
Get your invoices in early, find out the last payment run, and work out now what January looks like. If the gap still doesn't close, it's worth knowing you don't have to wait for it.
Waiting on government or council invoices over Christmas?
Reach out to the team today about turning those invoices into cash before the break. Let's talk!