In the building industry, growth comes from scale—larger projects, more frequent orders, and stronger relationships with high-value customers. But with bigger jobs come bigger risks and more complex admin.
If you’re a supplier to the trades—selling building materials, joinery, plumbing products, or construction goods—you’ve probably felt the pressure that comes with taking on larger commercial jobs. You want to say “yes” to the next big builder or contractor, but you’re worried about:
- Credit risk
- Late payments
- Staff workload
- Margin erosion from bad debt
So how do you grow your trade accounts without hiring more people or taking on more risk?
The answer: trade credit automation.
Â
Why Bigger Jobs = Bigger Headaches (Without the Right Systems)
Supplying a small builder doing a $10k reno? Easy.
Supplying a commercial contractor rolling out $250k+ in orders across multiple sites? That’s a whole different ball game.
Without the right systems in place, you run into:
- Manual credit applications and approvals slowing down onboarding
- Loose credit terms and unclear payment expectations
- Overdue accounts that no one flagged in time
- High staff time spent chasing payments and reconciling invoices
- Risk exposure if a builder goes under mid-project
It’s not just frustrating—it’s dangerous for your cash flow.
Â
The Role of Trade Credit in Construction Supply
Let’s face it—offering credit is part of doing business in the building industry.
Builders need materials before they get paid. You want to make ordering easy. But if you’re still managing this manually, you’re taking on unnecessary risk.
Many suppliers are still using:
- Paper or PDF credit apps
- Email chains for approvals
- Excel sheets to track limits
- Phone calls to chase payments
- Staff judgement instead of rules
This doesn’t scale. It breaks when your sales volume grows, and it leads to inconsistent decisions that can cost you big time.
How Trade Credit Automation Solves the Problem
By automating your trade credit processes, you unlock the ability to take on bigger commercial customers without increasing admin or risk.
Here’s how it works with PencilPay:
1. Instant Digital Credit Applications: No more paperwork. Customers apply online in minutes, and you capture all the data you need to assess their risk profile.
2. Built-in Credit Checks: PencilPay can trigger automatic credit checks via Equifax or Illion—giving you instant insights into your customer’s financial health.
3. Set Credit Limits with Rules: Based on credit scores, you can assign limits automatically—or escalate for review. No more “gut feeling” decisions.
4. Automated Terms Agreements & Authorisations: Once approved, the customer signs your terms and enters a secure payment method—credit card or bank account—before they place an order.
5. Ongoing Monitoring & Enforcement: You can pause orders, auto-suspend accounts, or offer payment plans when things go overdue—without needing your admin team to manually intervene.
Reduce Risk While Staying Competitive
By automating trade credit:
- You reduce bad debt exposure without saying “no” to good customers
- You offer faster onboarding than your competitors
- Your team spends less time on admin, more time growing accounts
- You keep control of your cash flow—even on large jobs
Most importantly, it gives you confidence to grow.
Because you’ve built the systems to support it.
The Bottom Line for Trade Suppliers
Bigger jobs mean bigger rewards—but also bigger responsibilities.
If your current trade credit process involves a filing cabinet, a spreadsheet, and your gut, you’re not ready to scale. And in a competitive market like construction, that means losing out on deals you should be winning.
With PencilPay, trade suppliers in the building industry can confidently say yes to the next big job—knowing credit is approved, payment is secured, and risk is managed automatically.
Want to see how it works? Book a PencilPay demo today and discover how credit automation can help your building supply business scale without stress.