Do not let the next work order hide an unpaid fortnight

Work can keep being ordered while cash is short

The business cannot pay subcontractors this fortnight, but site staff continue booking extra work. Bring those proposed commitments into the advice discussion immediately. Operational urgency does not remove the need to understand the company's financial position. Directors need prompt, qualified guidance about what the company can lawfully do when it cannot meet debts.

Identify what has already been committed

Imagine a builder owing several trades while a site manager arranges another stage of work by phone. Record the instruction, date, scope and any response from the subcontractor. Distinguish an existing contractual obligation from a new proposed order. Do not assume that cancelling tomorrow's attendance automatically resolves the legal and commercial consequences of commitments already made.

Take the insolvency concern seriously

ASIC says an insolvent company should not incur further debt and recommends competent accounting and legal advice when financial difficulty is suspected. Give advisers the proposed work list and current figures promptly. Do not treat a hoped-for customer receipt or possible rescue plan as general permission to keep adding obligations without an assessed basis.

Source: ASIC: What to do if your company is insolvent

Connect site and finance decisions

Tell the relevant managers that proposed commitments require review through an authorised process. Define who can issue instructions while advice is being obtained and preserve the record of decisions. In the builder's example, accounts cannot manage the shortfall if site staff keep creating new obligations that never reach the cash forecast or adviser.

Address practical consequences properly

Discuss safety, security, programme and contract issues with the people qualified to assess them. Avoid an improvised blanket instruction to abandon sites or remove goods. Any change to work arrangements needs appropriate advice and communication. The financial problem must be addressed alongside the obligations already arising from the project, rather than through assumptions about what non-payment permits.

Keep decisions current

Record the advice, information supplied and actions authorised. Update advisers when receipts fail to arrive or new commitments are discovered. The immediate objective is to stop the business making decisions on an incomplete picture while the existing payment problem is assessed. A difficult fortnight needs coordinated direction, not separate promises from every person trying to keep a site moving.