Your client’s supply chain has changed in 2026. Has their funding structure changed with it?

Supply-chain disruption is not new. What is different in 2026 is the combination of pressures hitting the same cycle.

Fuel and freight remain volatile. Import costs have risen. Interest rates have increased again. Customer payments are slowing. Businesses protecting themselves by ordering earlier or holding more stock can end up committing cash for longer.

For some SMEs, accessing additional bank funding to cover that longer cycle may also be becoming more difficult. Residential property is still commonly used as security for small-business borrowing, but falling property values can reduce the equity and collateral headroom available to support additional lending.

That creates a potential squeeze. A business may need more working capital because cash is tied up for longer, while the property equity traditionally used to support additional bank finance may provide less borrowing capacity.

A client may never say, “My cash conversion cycle has lengthened.” They are more likely to say, “We’re ordering earlier”, “our supplier wants a bigger deposit”, “customers are taking longer to pay” or “the bank won’t extend the facility any further”.

Those comments warrant a closer look.

Much of the supply-chain discussion focuses on cost. For working capital, time can matter just as much.

In June, 16% of Australian businesses reported supply-chain disruption, rising to 28% of manufacturers and 27% of wholesalers. The same ABS survey found fuel prices or availability had negatively affected almost three-quarters of businesses.

Since then, the RBA has lifted the cash rate to 4.60%, making it a full 1% since the start of the year. Every additional week cash sits in stock, goods in transit or unpaid invoices now matters more.

Ordering earlier, carrying safety stock, diversifying suppliers, paying larger deposits or buying in bulk may improve resilience. But they can also bring forward the point at which cash leaves the business.

Consider a hypothetical importer. Previously, its supplier deposit was paid on day one, goods arrived on day 60, stock sold by day 90 and the customer paid on day 120.

Now, longer production and shipping push arrival to day 75. More stock is held, pushing the sale to day 120. Customers take 45 rather than 30 days to pay.

The funding period has moved from 120 to 165 days. The business may still be profitable. It simply has to fund the trade for another 45 days.

“Resilience is not just having another supplier or more stock in the warehouse. A resilient business also needs the liquidity to carry those decisions until the sale turns back into cash,” says Clive.

Import prices rose 5.7% in the June quarter and 6.2% over the year. The ABS also found 44% of businesses surveyed were absorbing fuel-related cost increases, compared with 15% increasing prices.

NAB’s September survey showed business confidence at -13, with higher interest rates, global uncertainty and elevated fuel and diesel costs identified as a three-way squeeze.

A business may therefore be financing stock for longer while generating less cash from each sale.

“When margins are healthy, businesses can absorb a surprising amount of friction. When margins tighten, the same 30 or 45-day timing gap becomes much more important,” explains Clive. “That is why funding structure matters."

“A good broker doesn't need to predict the next supply-chain shock,” suggests Clive. “The value is in understanding the client's cycle well enough to recognise when the funding structure no longer matches how the business trades.”

Trade finance can help fund inventory, raw materials or supplier payments before a sale generates cash. Debtor or invoice finance can help release cash tied up in receivables after the sale.

More finance is not always the answer. Poor demand forecasting, obsolete stock, uneconomic products or fundamentally weak margins cannot be fixed simply by adding debt. Working-capital finance should support a sound trading cycle, not disguise an unsustainable one.

Clive has spent decades in receivables and supply-chain finance and believes the fundamentals have not changed. Businesses still need to buy, sell and get paid.

“What has changed is the speed and unpredictability around each step,” he says. “In 2026, flexibility around that cycle is critical.”

The RBA’s October Financial Stability Review says the current energy shock is travelling indirectly through supply chains, increasing exposure for sectors including manufacturing, construction, retail and hospitality.

Businesses cannot control every disruption. They can control how early they identify the financial consequences.

A comment about stock, supplier terms, freight, margins or slow customers may be the first sign that the amount, timing or duration of a client’s working-capital requirement has changed.