Business loans for engineering firms

Ardent Capital Group brings the same method to every client: execution and strategy, clear advice for smart lending, and long-term growth. That means the right lender, structure and timing, straight advice so you borrow with confidence, and today's deal built toward where you want to be tomorrow. We are specialists in helping business owners secure finance to purchase their own property, and we understand the complex structures that often sit around it, including multiple trusts, holding companies and self-managed super funds. Through that work we also understand what the business needs from its cash flow, and where an overdraft or line of credit fits for working capital. An engineering practice carries its value in work in progress, a fee pipeline and a debtor ledger, with little hard plant to point at, so a generalist credit team can read a services firm cautiously and lend against the balance sheet rather than the contracted work. Our part is to present the trading and the signed pipeline to the bank and non-bank lenders that fund professional practices properly, drawn from a panel of more than sixty, so you are not approaching each desk yourself. We stay on well beyond settlement, growing the facility as you win larger contracts, add engineers or acquire another practice. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

It depends on how quickly you need it and what you are willing to offer as security. Unsecured facilities are assessed mainly on trading strength and can be arranged in days, which suits a limit of $100K to $500K for a contract ramp or a working capital line. Secured facilities, backed by property or plant, support larger amounts and make sense once you are funding an acquisition or a bigger drawdown. Most established firms end up with a mix, and we shape which sits where.

Yes. Many lenders assess established firms on 6 to 12 months of bank statements and recent BAS rather than full year-end financials, which suits practices whose accounts lag a fast-growing book. It works best where the trading account shows regular receipts and the ATO position is current. If you have a payment plan in place, say so early, because several lenders will still proceed when it is disclosed and being met.

Yes, and the equipment is normally the security rather than your office or home. Technology and testing equipment finance covers survey gear, testing rigs, servers and CAD workstations, new or used, and can extend to a full office refresh. Terms are typically matched to the life of the asset, and established firms can often be assessed on bank statements and BAS rather than full financials. Keeping the purchase on its own facility leaves your working capital line free for delivery.

By funding the mobilisation and the first months of delivery, which is the part firms most often underestimate. Winning a large contract means hiring engineers, engaging subcontractors and mobilising on site before the earliest milestone is certified and paid, so the facility needs to carry the payroll and the ramp until billing starts. We size it to the contract value and the delivery programme, and set repayments to begin as milestones are billed. Bring us the contract and the programme early, subject to serviceability and lender approval.

Yes. Whether you are buying a competitor, merging in a discipline or funding a retiring principal's exit, we fund practice acquisitions and buy-ins. These deals turn on the value of the fee book and the client relationships rather than hard assets, so presenting the trading and the target's book properly is most of the work. We weigh an unsecured position against bringing property into the structure, and place it with a lender that funds professional practices. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

Yes. A tax bill or a BAS obligation can be bridged with a short-term facility where the underlying trading supports the repayments. Many lenders will fund an ATO position, and several will proceed alongside a payment plan when it is disclosed and being met. The practical advice is to raise it early, while it is a timing matter rather than an overdue notice, so we can present it cleanly to the desks that take it in their stride.

Yes, and it is a commercial property deal rather than a working capital one. When you buy the office your practice operates from, the lender reads your trading and the property together, and owner-occupiers can generally borrow a higher proportion than a passive investor would. Owning the office takes a rising rent out of your cost base and builds an asset alongside the firm. Our commercial property team handles these end to end through our engineering office property finance service.

An unsecured facility can often be approved within 48 hours and funded inside a week where the firm is established and the BAS and bank statements are current. Secured facilities take longer, typically two to four weeks, because a valuation is involved. The practical advice is to open the limit before the delivery period ramps, ideally when you are planning the resourcing rather than when the payroll is already due. Timeframes are indicative and subject to lender appetite and approval.

Most of the time, no. We are paid a commission by the lender once your facility settles. Where a deal requires significant preparation or involves unusual complexity, a small mandate fee may apply. We will always be upfront about this before any work begins.

Although we are based in Sydney, we service clients across all major Australian cities, including Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart, along with their surrounding regional areas. Wherever your business is located, we can arrange your finance.

Although our main speciality is property loans for business owners, such as an office property loan for your engineering firm, we also assist with technology and equipment finance for engineers and working capital. On asset finance, that covers office fit-out finance along with testing, survey and IT equipment. On working capital, we arrange business overdrafts, lines of credit and cash flow funding against your debtor ledger. We also arrange commercial mortgages if you are buying or refinancing the office your practice operates from.