The scenario below is fictional. Demand, margins, timing and facility terms have to be tested against your own numbers.

Start with the stock-to-cash calendar

Put a date against each of these:

1. order date;
2. supplier-deposit date;
3. balance-payment date;
4. shipping, import GST, insurance and any duty that applies to your goods;
5. arrival and warehouse date;
6. expected sales period;
7. customer-payment date;
8. markdown or clearance date for whatever remains;
9. financing drawdown and repayment dates.

Most imported goods attract GST but no customs duty. Duty applies to a narrow set of categories, so check whether your goods are actually dutiable rather than budgeting for it by default.

Use weekly columns for opening cash, deposits, supplier balances, landed costs, stock received, units sold, selling price, customer receipts, markdowns, facility balance and repayments. A forecast built on monthly revenue will hide a two-week cash crisis completely.

The outputs you want are: peak cash need, lowest reserve, break-even sell-through, expected clearance date, and any mismatch between when the facility matures and when the cash actually arrives.

A fictional example

A retailer plans S$150,000 of year-end inventory. It pays a 30% supplier deposit in August and the balance in October. Shipping, GST, storage and temporary staffing add further outflows. Most customer cash is expected between November and January.

The funding requirement is not S$150,000. To find it, the retailer has to calculate:

• cash already available without breaching its reserve;
• every cost required to make the stock saleable;
• existing operating expenses during the purchase period;
• the timing of actual customer receipts;
• cash released from normal, non-seasonal trading.

The peak shortfall may be considerably higher or lower than the stock invoice. That number, not the invoice, is what you are financing.

Test demand with evidence

Useful evidence includes sales history for comparable periods, confirmed customer orders, pre-orders or deposits, stock-turn data by item, current market conditions, sell-through and markdown history, and supplier lead times and cancellation terms.

Do not turn an optimistic sales target into a repayment assumption. Separate demand you have committed orders for from demand you are forecasting.

Test four things going wrong

Fewer units sold

What happens if sell-through is 20% below plan?

Lower selling price

What discount is needed to clear the remainder, and what does that do to gross margin?

Later arrival

Can the stock still sell during the intended window if shipping or clearance is delayed?

Slower customer payment

For wholesale orders, the sale date is not the collection date.

Then combine them. Real stress usually comes from two of these happening together, not one in isolation.

Include the full landed and operating cost

The supplier invoice will typically exclude shipping and insurance, import GST and any applicable duty, storage and handling, marketplace or payment fees, temporary labour, damage and shrinkage and returns, marketing, markdowns, and the financing cost itself.

Calculate margin after those costs. A season with high revenue can still destroy cash if stock is heavily discounted or does not sell at all.

Define the exit for unsold inventory

"Sell it later" is not a plan. Write down the last date for full-price sale, the first markdown date, the likely clearance price, the storage cost, alternative channels, any right to return stock to the supplier, and the risk of the stock expiring or going out of season.

Unsold stock is not a repayment source until it becomes collected cash.

Reduce the need before borrowing

Consider smaller staged orders, supplier credit, customer deposits or pre-orders, cancelling marginal product lines, favouring faster-moving items, negotiating shipment timing, shortening collection periods, and cutting non-essential seasonal spending.

Financing should support the portion of stock that has an evidence-based path to cash.

Match the facility to the cycle

A repeated short trade cycle may point toward a revolving or trade-related structure. A defined one-off requirement may be compared with a term structure. The facility should not mature before customer cash is expected, and it should not still be outstanding long after the stock should have converted.

Enterprise Singapore states that the EFS Trade Loan can cover trade needs including inventory and stock financing. It publishes a maximum repayment period of one year, and the borrower remains responsible for repaying 100% of the loan. Participating financial institutions carry out their own credit assessment and set the terms.

That one-year maximum is worth sitting with. If your stock genuinely takes longer than a year to convert into collected cash, this is the wrong facility for it, whatever the scheme allows.

Questions to ask about an offer

• What costs and stock are eligible?
• How and when can the facility be drawn?
• What security or guarantees apply?
• What is the full rate and fee basis?
• Does repayment align with the actual sales and collection period?
• What happens after a delayed shipment?
• Can the facility be reduced or ended after the season?
• What are the consequences of late payment?

Decide with the downside case

Proceed only after comparing the peak cash need, the expected gross margin after all costs, the downside sell-through, the clearance value, the repayment timing, and the operating reserve you would have left.

Sources

• Enterprise Singapore — EFS Trade Loan

Figures verified on 3 August 2026. Scheme parameters, rates and lender requirements change — check the primary source before relying on any figure.

Fundwise is an intermediary, not a lender. This is general information, not individual financial, legal, tax, accounting or credit advice. Financial institutions run their own eligibility and credit assessments and set all terms — we cannot guarantee approval, rate, amount or timing.

Read more about trade facilities, or get in touch to talk through your situation.