How to Pay Electrical Wholesalers in Instalments (NZ)

How It Works, Step by Step

• 1. Buy as you normally would. Order from Ideal, Corys, JA Russell, Radius or whoever you use, on your existing account or as a cash sale. Nothing about the purchase changes.
• 2. Get the invoice. You need the actual invoice from the wholesaler, in your business's name, showing the amount and GST.
• 3. Apply with it. Submit the invoice and your business details. We review the application. If it's approved, you choose 3, 6 or 9 monthly instalments and see the fee for that term before you confirm anything.
• 4. The wholesaler is paid in full. PaidTerms settles the invoice directly, within 12 hours of approval. From their side it is simply a paid invoice.
• 5. You repay PaidTerms monthly. Fixed amounts on fixed dates, with the first instalment paid at the start. The schedule is agreed before you confirm, so you know every date and amount up front.

The practical effect: a $24,000 switchboard order that would have been due in one payment on the 20th becomes a known monthly figure you can line up against your progress claims.

What Your Wholesaler Sees

This is the question most electricians ask first, so to be blunt about it: nothing changes for them, and they don't have to agree to anything.

• They are paid in full, not in instalments. The wholesaler receives the whole invoice amount. They are not waiting on your schedule and they carry no risk.
• They don't need to be signed up with PaidTerms. Any NZ business supplier works. You are not asking your merchant to join a scheme or change their terms. Overseas suppliers are not supported.
• Your account and limit are unaffected. The invoice is settled, so it clears off your account the same as any other payment. Your limit is freed up rather than used up.
• Your payment history with them stays clean. Because the invoice is paid on time, there is nothing to put the account on stop over. See what an account on stop means.

If what you actually want is for the wholesaler itself to give you longer, that is a different conversation and often a free one. Try it first: how to negotiate longer payment terms with suppliers.

What It Costs

A flat fee for the term you choose, charged on the invoice amount, shown before you confirm. There is no interest accruing and no separate setup or monthly facility fee.

The current rate card is on the pricing page, and the instalment fee is generally tax deductible as a business expense. See whether the PaidTerms fee is tax deductible, and confirm your own position with your accountant.

Compare that against your alternatives in real dollars rather than in percentages, because a flat fee and an interest rate are not the same unit. Business loan vs supplier instalments does the conversion on this same $24,000, and how to finance a large supplier invoice puts six routes side by side. If you already have overdraft room, it is usually cheaper.

Which Invoices Are Eligible

The requirements are about the invoice and the supplier, not about the kind of job.

• A real invoice from an NZ business supplier. It must be a genuine invoice issued to your business. Any New Zealand business supplier qualifies, including electrical wholesalers, lighting suppliers and switchboard builders.
• Not an overseas supplier. Invoices from suppliers outside New Zealand are not supported.
• Materials and goods, not wages. This funds a supplier invoice. It is not a loan, an overdraft, or finance against your progress claims, and it is not asset finance for a van or tools you will keep.
• Your business, reviewed. Applications are reviewed, so apply with the invoice and we'll come back to you.

More for trades: how electricians can buy materials before getting paid, electrical trade account vs business finance, building materials finance for NZ builders, what business instalment payments are and the Stock Finance guide. This article is general information, not financial advice.

Frequently Asked Questions