The customer offers to buy materials so you can finish the job

The funding help changes the purchasing arrangement

You cannot fund the materials needed to finish a job, and the customer offers to buy them directly. That may reduce an immediate outlay, but it changes more than who makes a bank transfer. Before relying on the proposal, identify what the customer would order and how the parties would deal with delivery, suitability and the remaining contract price.

Use a precise materials schedule

Have a suitably knowledgeable person list the required specification, quantity and delivery sequence. Confirm who selects the supplier and checks the order. Do not assume a customer purchase will automatically match what your team priced or can install. If approvals or technical checks are needed, arrange them before treating the purchase as a solution to the completion problem.

Document the responsibilities that move

Business.gov.au recommends describing the work and payment arrangements clearly. Ask your adviser how the proposed change should be documented in the existing agreement. Clarify ordering, delivery acceptance, storage and the response to missing or unsuitable items. Avoid making unsupported assumptions about ownership, warranties or responsibility for delay merely because a different party is paying the supplier.

Source: business.gov.au: Prepare a contract

Consider a hypothetical double charge

Imagine the customer buying fixtures that were included in your original fixed price. Your next claim still uses the unadjusted contract schedule. Unless the parties have addressed the purchase properly, the customer may believe it is being charged twice. The answer is not an improvised deduction on either side; agree and record the appropriate treatment with professional advice where needed.

Check the funding problem that remains

The purchase may cover materials while leaving installation labour, transport or testing unfunded. Update the completion cash requirements using only the agreed arrangement. Do not count a verbal offer as stock delivered or remove unrelated costs from the forecast. If the business still cannot meet debts when due, seek insolvency advice promptly rather than relying on one procurement change.

Start from a confirmed handover point

Before the team relies on the order, confirm what has actually been purchased, the expected delivery and the agreed commercial adjustment. Keep delivery evidence and revised claim instructions together. Direct purchasing can be assessed as a specific proposal with defined interfaces. It should not leave the customer, supplier and contractor each assuming someone else is responsible for the remaining gap.