Author: Darren Tredgold, General Manager, Independent Steel Company
Trade supplier invoicing is broken in Australia, and it is costing regional distributors their future. If you run a hyperlocal supply business like I do, you already know that trade supplier invoicing sits at the centre of a cash flow crisis worth $115 billion in unpaid invoices nationally.
I am Darren Tredgold, General Manager of Independent Steel Company. We have been serving South-East NSW since 2000 from branches in Queanbeyan, Nowra, and Moss Vale. Every week, I watch capable regional suppliers struggle against national brands that can absorb 60-day payment cycles without blinking. Meanwhile, 92% of construction businesses reported overdue invoices last year, and 3,217 construction firms collapsed in 2024 alone.
So how do we fight back? With fintech.
Trade Supplier Invoicing Pain Points That National Brands Exploit
Here is the uncomfortable truth. National distributors like BlueScope, Bunnings Trade, and Boral have weaponised their payment infrastructure. Bunnings offers 30-day interest-free trade accounts through its PowerPass program. BlueScope runs digital ordering portals across 50+ distribution sites. Boral signed a five-year deal with early payment platform Earlytrade, giving 5,000+ suppliers access to faster payments.
These companies can self-fund extended credit terms because they have deep cash reserves. By contrast, a regional steel distributor like ours depends on a handful of local builders. One default can threaten the whole operation. Research shows a business with just one payment default has a 28% chance of closing within 12 months.
On top of that, 85% of Australian SMEs still rely on manual data entry for invoicing. Processing a paper invoice costs $30.87 compared to $9.18 for an eInvoice. That is a 70% cost penalty for staying analogue, and it compounds every single month.
5 Fintech Fixes That Transform Regional Trade Supplier Invoicing
Rather than trying to outspend the big players, smart regional suppliers are using targeted fintech tools to modernise trade supplier invoicing. Here are five that deliver measurable results.
1. eInvoicing through your existing accounting platform. Most regional suppliers already use Xero or MYOB. Both now support automated invoice reminders, online payment acceptance, and eInvoicing. According to MYOB’s modelling, eInvoicing saves SMEs roughly $11,000 per year. For context, the ATO estimates eInvoicing adoption could save the broader economy up to $28 billion over a decade. If you have not switched yet, this is the lowest-hanging fruit in trade supplier invoicing.
2. B2B buy-now-pay-later for your customers. Platforms like Butn (ASX: BTN) and Spenda (ASX: SPX) let you offer flexible payment terms without carrying the credit risk yourself. Butn has funded over $2.5 billion to Australian businesses, and its MYOB integration means invoicing and financing happen in the same workflow. Meanwhile, Spenda processed $363 million in payment volumes through Q3 FY25, a 101% year-on-year increase. Merchants offering B2B BNPL report 20-30% higher conversion rates and up to 60% lift in average order value.
3. Automated collections and cash application. Chasing payments eats time that should go toward serving customers. One in five Australian companies spends 6-12 working days per year just following up on overdue invoices. US building materials distributor 84 Lumber adopted automated invoicing and cut credit card fees in half, saving over $15 million annually. They also reduced delinquency by 31% within six months. Similarly, Ram Tool eliminated three full-time employees’ worth of manual data entry after automating cash application.
4. Digital trade credit at the point of sale. Instead of running manual credit checks that take days, platforms like Hokodo offer instant trade credit decisions at checkout. Their research found 70% of construction buyers abandon a purchase when suitable payment terms are not available. By embedding digital credit into your trade supplier invoicing process, you remove friction that pushes customers toward national competitors with slicker systems.
5. Early payment platforms for stronger supplier relationships. Earlytrade has facilitated over $3 billion in early payments across 150,000+ business users. Its model lets head contractors pay suppliers early in exchange for small discounts. For a regional supplier, faster access to cash means less time borrowing and more time growing.
Why Payment Experience Is Your Real Competitive Edge
Here is where trade supplier invoicing becomes a genuine strategic advantage for hyperlocal businesses. McKinsey research shows B2B companies that transform customer experiences achieve 10-15% revenue growth. Bain & Company data indicates that a 5% increase in customer retention can boost profits by 25-85%.
In our world, the payment experience now drives loyalty as much as product quality or delivery speed. TreviPay research found 85% of B2B buyers want net terms as an option, and 80% say their consumer buying experiences shape what they expect from business purchases. Furthermore, 82% of UK B2B buyers say they prefer suppliers who offer flexible payment options.
National brands cannot easily replicate the personal service a regional supplier provides. However, they absolutely can outclass you on trade supplier invoicing if you let them. The Carpet Court franchise network partnered with Spenda and saw a 40% improvement in team productivity alongside a 90% reduction in month-end allocation time across 13,000 monthly invoices.
Those results are not reserved for large franchises. Regional trade suppliers can access the same platforms today.
The Window Is Closing
Australia’s Payment Times Reporting Act now names the slowest 20% of payers in each industry as “Slow Small Business Payers” with public disclosure requirements. Government eInvoices must be paid within 5 days. Regulatory pressure is building, and trade supplier invoicing standards will only tighten from here.
At Independent Steel Company, we compete against national brands every day. We cannot match their balance sheets. But we can match, and often beat, their payment experience by investing in the right fintech tools. The regional suppliers who modernise trade supplier invoicing now will build the kind of customer loyalty that no national brand portal can replicate.
The ones who wait will keep bleeding cash at $30.87 per paper invoice while the competition pulls further ahead.
Darren Tredgold is the General Manager of Independent Steel Company, an Australian-owned steel distributor serving South-East NSW since 2000.