Who this covers: air conditioning installers and service technicians, refrigeration mechanics, and HVAC businesses with service contracts.
What lenders do differently
The home loan: how the income is read
Two years of returns with add-backs; summer-weighted income is averaged. Technicians who moved from wages to an ABN in the last two years are read on both.
Vans and vehicles
Chattel mortgage over the van, GST in the next BAS, with a balloon to keep the repayment lower; a second van for the first employee on the business's figures.
Tools, recovery units and stock
Equipment finance for recovery and test equipment; a trade account or inventory facility for units held for installs. Low-doc to about $150,000 per item.
Service contracts and commercial work
Commercial maintenance contracts are paid monthly or quarterly; invoice finance advances against them, and the contracts themselves support the business's facilities.
Worth knowing before applying
Stock bought ahead of summer sits on the balance sheet; a lender reading it as a loss adds it back once it is identified; and vehicles on the business stay off the home loan assessment.
The tools that fit
- Chattel mortgage calculator
- Business and asset finance
- Income annualisation calculator
- Working capital and overdraft calculator
- Equipment finance calculator
- What lenders ask for: checklists
Not sure whether the business needs an overdraft, or how big: the working capital calculator works it out from sales, payment terms and stock, with presets for a typical business like yours.
Policies on all of the above differ lender to lender and change without notice; the value of the conversation is knowing which lender's policy reads your payslip best on the day. Understanding how your income is read before you apply is what makes the application calm.