The overdraft limit changes but the dashboard still shows yesterday figures
Reconcile reduced overdraft limit effective date with drawn balance and actual availability without defining bank rights.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
The letter and the dashboard appear inconsistent
A hypothetical business receives notice of a reduced overdraft limit, but its finance dashboard still displays the old facility amount. The owner assumes the extra capacity remains available until the dashboard changes. Verify the effective position with the bank using the facility documents and current account information. A reporting display may not explain the terms or timing of a facility change.
Read the complete notice and gather the relevant facility agreement. Ask the bank to clarify the limit, effective date, amount drawn and any required action. Keep the explanation in writing where possible. Do not assume a reduced limit means only less future borrowing; equally, do not infer an immediate repayment demand without checking the actual communication and obtaining advice where needed.
Business.gov.au's cash-flow guidance recommends tracking money in and out and marking estimates. Use confirmed available funds and appropriately assessed facility access in the forecast. Keep unapproved borrowing separate. Ask the accountant to check that the borrowed amount has not been counted both as bank cash and as unused funding capacity, which would overstate the resources available.
In the hypothetical example, a facility limit is different from unused capacity because part may already be drawn. Other restrictions may also need confirmation from the bank. Do not calculate availability from the headline limit alone. Record the bank's verified explanation and use it to identify which planned payments are no longer supported under the revised position.
Identify who maintains the dashboard and what data it uses. Update it through the normal controlled process, retaining the reason and date of the change. Tell staff making purchasing or payment decisions about the confirmed position. Avoid allowing an outdated figure to remain in management reports merely because the next reporting cycle has not yet arrived.
If the revised facility leaves commitments unsupported, seek prompt financial and, where appropriate, insolvency advice. CRP can help organise the commercial information for that review. The first useful step is a reliable picture of the facility actually available, rather than a plan built around a familiar limit that the bank has changed.
