Funding for your situation
How a catering company can finance materials and payroll ahead of a large contract, with a worked example using illustrative numbers.
✓ Checking what you qualify for does not affect your credit score.
Winning the bid is the easy part. A corporate client wants weekly lunches, and the food cost and payroll hit weeks before the first invoice is paid. A catering company then has to float the work until the customer pays, and deposits arrive in lumps: event deposits, balance payments and corporate invoices on net terms.
Merchant Fund Express is a funding marketplace: you apply once, and the file is matched to the structure that fits it. The sections below show what this situation usually costs, how a funder reads it, and what to prepare.
Equipment is part of the picture. A failure such as a van refrigeration unit or a transport cart replacements can run $4,700 to $4,700 and interrupt revenue while it is down.
The documents that usually matter most for a catering company are the booking contract or signed proposal and a van or equipment quote, alongside the bank statements.
Wedding season, corporate holidays and graduation weekends decide the year. For a catering company, that rhythm decides when a funding request reads best and how it should be repaid.
What it looks like on the ground: a corporate client wants weekly lunches, and the food cost and payroll hit weeks before the first invoice is paid.
Bought ahead of the first sale and sitting as cash until it turns.
People are paid on a schedule that does not wait for new revenue to ramp.
Often front-loaded and easy to leave out of the first estimate.
A fixed purchase with a quote you can put in front of a funder.
| Cost item | Illustrative amount |
|---|---|
| Materials and supplies for the first phase | $14,500 |
| Labor and payroll until the first draw (4 weeks) | $11,500 |
| Catering license and insurance tied to the job | $3,500 |
| Chafing, warming and transport equipment or rental for the job | $6,500 |
| Cushion for overruns and slow early weeks (about 10%) | $3,500 |
| Cash needed before the first payment | $39,500 |
Sizing check. If the full repayment shown in an offer were $52,000 over about 26 weeks, the weekly debit would be about $2,000. Against illustrative monthly deposits of $45,000 (about $10,385 a week), that is roughly 19% of weekly deposits. Your own offer states the real repayment amount in dollars; run your numbers on the factor rate calculator before you accept anything.
Source: worksheet by Merchant Fund Express. Illustrative only: these figures are not an offer, and real amounts depend on your file and the funder.
These are the same factors described on revenue and deposit requirements and time in business. Merchant Fund Express walks you through how your own file reads before you apply.
A complete file is what makes a same-day decision possible. If something is missing, tell us and we will work around it.
Options include working capital sized to the up-front costs, a line of credit to draw as phases begin, and invoice factoring once invoices exist.
It supports the file by showing demand and timing, but funding is typically sized on your deposits and existing obligations. Bring the contract with the statements.
Then bridging the gap is the point of the funding. The contract schedule shows how long the bridge needs to last.
The minimum FICO is 500, and better credit means better products and terms. See credit score requirements for how the tiers work.
Merchant Fund Express gives a same-day decision on a complete file. Applying takes a few minutes and will not affect your credit score.
