A 90-day deposit gap, bridged without burning cash reserves
Sebastian's event firm took deposits on a 30-percent-up-front, 70-percent-on-delivery cadence. The bookings were strong. The cash gap between deposit and final payment, on a six-month booking, was the entire problem.
Sebastian had $410K in confirmed event bookings on the calendar over the next eight months. The 30-percent deposits had landed. The remaining 70 percent would land 30 to 60 days after each event, which meant payroll, vendor deposits, and venue holds had to come out of operating cash for the next quarter.
His personal profile was 718. The business profile had two trade lines. The cash reserves were healthy — but using them to cover the gap meant he couldn't book anything else without running thin.
The platform structured a contracted-revenue line that drew against confirmed event bookings instead of an open-ended working capital product. Cash reserves stayed in reserve. The line covered the gap, then unwound as final payments landed.
- 01Compiled the next 8 months of confirmed bookings (signed contracts, deposit history, final-payment dates) into one packet
- 02Pulled commercial bureau files on the three highest-value clients to support the receivables as collateral
- 03Built a 12-month cash flow model showing draw and unwind cycles
- 04Submitted to a small-business lender that underwrites against contracted future revenue
- 05Set up a strict draw-and-pay cadence tied to the booking calendar
“I had the cash. I just shouldn't have had to spend the cash to keep the calendar moving.”