Lost your biggest customer? A 30-day cash plan

The phone call that changes the forecast

Sometimes it’s a tender lost at renewal. Sometimes a new procurement manager consolidates suppliers, or a customer takes the work in-house. Occasionally it’s a polite email ending a relationship that has run for a decade. However it happens, when your largest customer goes, the business you were running last week has a different shape this week.

The good news: most businesses survive losing a big customer. The ones that struggle usually do so because the first month was spent reacting — cutting the wrong things, borrowing the wrong amount, or waiting too long to act. This plan is designed to avoid all three.

Days 1–3: what do the numbers actually say?

Before you change anything, get a clear picture. Two numbers matter most.

The timing gap. Money the customer still owes you — invoices issued, work in progress, retentions. That money should still come in. Make a list, confirm the amounts with their accounts team, and agree payment dates in writing. If there’s any sign they’re in financial trouble, read what to do when a customer goes into liquidation.

The permanent gap. Future revenue that’s now gone. Look at the last 12 months: what did this customer contribute each month, and what did it cost you to service them (materials, labour, freight, commissions)? The difference is the gross profit you’ve lost each month.

Then rebuild your cash forecast for the next 13 weeks without the future revenue. business.gov.au recommends a cash flow statement for exactly this kind of planning. The lowest point on the new forecast is the number that sets the urgency.

Days 4–7: what has to be protected?

List every bill due in the next four weeks with its amount, date and consequence. Then sort:

Category	Examples	Approach
Protect	Wages and super, statutory deadlines, critical suppliers	Pay on time — fund if needed
Negotiate	Suppliers with good relationships, landlord, some tax timing	Call before the due date with a plan
Pause	Discretionary spending, new hires, non-essential purchases	Stop until the forecast is stable

Super is worth a specific mention: under Payday Super, contributions must reach funds within 7 business days of each payday, so there’s no longer a quarterly buffer to lean on. See our page on late super guarantee.

Days 8–14: how do you resize costs to the new revenue?

Look at costs in the order of how quickly they respond:

1. Variable costs tied to the customer — materials, freight, subcontractors. These should fall automatically; make sure they do.
2. Discretionary overheads — subscriptions, marketing that served that customer, travel. Quick to cut.
3. Fixed overheads — premises, equipment finance, insurance. Slower, but worth reviewing: can you sublet space, sell idle equipment, or restructure a lease?
4. People — the hardest and most consequential. Before making staffing decisions, look at hours, redeployment into new work, and natural attrition. If roles do need to go, get advice on your obligations. The Fair Work Ombudsman notes that most awards require final pay within 7 days after the last day of employment, including unused annual leave and leave loading — itself a cash item to plan for. Our guide on final pay when staff leave covers the numbers.

business.gov.au’s list of cash flow improvements — reviewing costs, matching rosters to peak periods, selling assets you no longer need, negotiating with suppliers — is a useful checklist for this stage.

Days 15–30: how do you decide on bridging finance?

By now you should know three things: how deep the cash gap is, how long it lasts, and whether the business covers its costs at the new revenue level after the changes you’ve made.

That third answer decides whether finance is a bridge or a trap.

• If the resized business covers its costs and the gap is about timing — outstanding invoices still to be paid, redundancy costs, a few months to win replacement work — bridging finance can be exactly the right tool. It lets you make careful decisions rather than fire-sale ones.
• If the business can’t cover its costs even after resizing, borrowing only delays the problem. Talk to your accountant about the options before taking on new debt.

When a bridge makes sense, size it to the deepest point in the forecast plus a modest buffer; how much to borrow has a simple method. If you’re ready to test it, start a 60-second enquiry.

Unsecured and cash-flow options typically run from $5,000 to $500,000 for trading businesses, sized on turnover and bank statements — though a sudden drop in turnover can reduce what’s available, which is a reason to act early. Property-secured loans run from $20,000 to $5,000,000, with $20k to $250k possible same day and up to $5m within 24–48 hours, and they give more room when turnover is in transition. A line of credit suits a gap that’s uncertain in size.

What should you tell staff, suppliers and your bank?

• Staff: honesty early builds trust. Tell people what’s happened and what you’re doing about it, without promises you can’t keep.
• Key suppliers: they’ll notice smaller orders. A short conversation now preserves terms you’ll want later.
• Existing lenders: if you have covenants or reporting requirements, check them. A heads-up is usually better received than a surprise.
• Your accountant: bring them in during the first week, not the fourth.

An illustrative example

Illustrative only. A food manufacturer loses a supermarket private-label contract worth 35% of revenue, with eight weeks’ notice. The customer still owes $260,000 on 60-day terms. Rebuilding the 13-week forecast shows that, once the contract ends and the last invoices are paid, the business is short by up to $190,000 in weeks 10–12, then stabilises after cost changes take effect.

In the first fortnight, the owners cut a night shift through attrition and redeployment, sell a packing line that only served the contract, and negotiate a sublease of part of the warehouse. With the resized business covering its costs, they arrange a property-secured loan to absorb the weeks 10–12 gap and the final pay for two staff who took voluntary redundancy. By month five, two new regional customers have replaced a third of the lost volume.

How do you avoid this next time?

• Set a concentration limit — for example, no customer above a quarter of revenue — and track it monthly.
• Build the pipeline while things are good. It’s much easier to win new customers when you’re not desperate.
• Negotiate notice periods in larger contracts, so a loss comes with time to adjust.
• Keep a standby facility arranged before you need it.
• Map your bills weekly. Our business bill calendar makes the next crunch visible early.

How do you win replacement work without discounting?

The temptation after losing a big customer is to chase volume at any price. Resist it: work at thin margins fills the calendar but rarely fixes the cash. Instead:

• Go back to former customers and warm leads first — they already know your work.
• Ask your remaining customers for more, especially those who use only part of what you offer.
• Price new work properly, including the true cost of servicing it.
• Target smaller, faster-paying customers to rebuild resilience, even if each is worth less.

A bridge while you rebuild

Losing a big customer is a blow, not a verdict. If your numbers show a viable business that needs a few months to adjust, tell us the size of the gap, when it bites and what you’ve already changed. Enquiring comes with no credit check, your details go to one team rather than a crowd of lenders, and a real person reads the whole story and calls you. Please be accurate on the form — including the recent drop in turnover — so the option we suggest is one that genuinely fits the business you’re rebuilding. The triage checker is a quick way to see your likely pathway first.

See if you qualify →