Business Loans for Fit-Outs and Renovations
A fit-out is three costs wearing one price tag: the build, the variations nobody quoted for, and the trading you lose while the doors are shut. Funding that accounts for all three is what keeps a refit from hurting the business it was meant to help.
- Up to $200,000 unsecured
- Covers build, fixtures and fees
- Contingency can be funded too
- Assessed on recent revenue
Can I finance a shop or office fit-out with a business loan?
Yes. Fit-outs and renovations are standard business purposes for unsecured finance of up to $200,000 through Smoko Finance, subject to eligibility, assessment and lender approval. Because nothing is secured against the works, the money can cover the whole job rather than one builder’s invoice — drawings, trade packages, joinery, equipment, permits, signage and a contingency for variations. Assessment runs on your existing trading, particularly the latest six months of revenue, so a business already turning money over can generally fund a refit of premises it leases rather than owns. The number to borrow includes the trading you lose while the site is closed, not just the build.
Scope it properly, then price it
Most fit-out budgets blow out for a boring reason: the quotes were never comparing the same job. One builder priced a shell with a rough allowance for joinery, the next included the joinery and left out the electrical upgrade, and the third assumed you were supplying the equipment. Three numbers, three different scopes, and no way to tell which is actually cheapest.
Write the scope down before you ask anyone for a price. Room by room, list what is being demolished, built, wired, plumbed, lined, painted and installed — and name who supplies what. Then hand the same document to every builder and ask for an itemised response, trade by trade, with provisional sums flagged as provisional. Comparable quotes are worth more than cheap ones. They tell you what the job really costs, which is the number your finance has to match. Fit-outs sit among the larger jobs on our funding by business need hub, and amounts up to $200,000 unsecured are available, subject to eligibility, assessment and lender approval.
The contingency is not optional
Renovation work uncovers things. Open a wall in an older building and you might find wiring that no longer complies, a leak that has been quietly wetting a stud for years, or a floor that isn't level enough to lay what you chose. None of that is anyone's fault and all of it costs money. On top of hidden defects sit two more sources of overrun: variations, where you change your mind or the drawings turn out to be wrong, and approval delays, where a permit, a plumbing sign-off or a certificate takes weeks longer than the build program assumed and everything behind it slides.
So carry a contingency, decide the figure before work starts, and fund it as part of the borrowing rather than hoping the business absorbs it mid-build. Two habits keep it from being eaten: authorise variations in writing with a price attached before the work happens, and review what is left of the contingency at each stage rather than at the end. A fit-out that finishes on budget almost always used its contingency — it just used it deliberately.
Price the closed doors
The build has a quote. The downtime doesn't, and it is often the larger number. Work out what a week of not trading costs you before you set a start date, because that figure decides how the job should be staged. Hospitality is the sharpest version of this problem, and our café fit-out costs guide works through the staging in detail.
| Business | Where the loss lands | Common way to limit it |
|---|---|---|
| Café or restaurant | Every closed day is takings gone, plus casuals who take other shifts | Close over a quiet stretch, keep a limited takeaway offer running |
| Retail store | Foot traffic goes to the shop next door and may not come back | Stage the refit by section, or trade from a reduced floor area |
| Office or clinic | Billable hours lost to noise, dust and a disrupted team | After-hours works, or a short-term space for the noisy fortnight |
Staging costs more in build terms and less in lost trade, and which way that maths falls is specific to you. Cafés and restaurants usually take the shutdown, because a half-built kitchen serves nobody. Retailers more often stage it, because being open imperfectly still beats being shut. Whichever you choose, add the lost trading to the borrowing so wages and rent are covered through the quiet weeks.
Match repayments to the trading that comes after
Here is the trap: a fit-out is paid for by the business you will have, but sized against the business you have now. Repayments begin on schedule, typically not long after funding — well before the new fit-out has had a chance to earn anything. Two things follow from that. First, keep the early repayments serviceable from current trading, not from the lift you are hoping for. Second, be realistic about the lift itself: a refresh that makes a tired room pleasant again is not the same as a reconfiguration that adds twenty covers or a second treatment room. Only the second one changes your capacity, and only capacity changes what you can earn in a week.
What to have ready
- Itemised, like-for-like quotes from the builder or trades, with provisional sums identified and inclusions spelled out.
- A contingency figure you have set deliberately, plus a written variation process.
- A downtime estimate in dollars — days closed or reduced, multiplied by what those days normally take.
- Landlord and lease approvals — written consent to the works, plus your make-good position and any incentive contribution.
- Permits and certificates — council or building approvals, and the food, health or accessibility sign-offs your trade needs.
- Recent business bank statements or secure read-only bank data, an active ABN and director ID.
The general picture of what lenders ask for is on our documents required page. Fit-out quotes and landlord consent aren't always required to enquire, but having them makes the specialist call-back concrete instead of hypothetical.
Timing the money against the trades
Builders want a deposit to lock a start date, and trades book out. That is why fit-out funding is often about arriving on time rather than arriving quickly — but when a start date has moved forward or a quote is only held for a fortnight, speed matters, and fast unsecured business loans assessed on recent revenue are the usual route. The enquiry is free, takes about two minutes and is not an application for credit; a specialist calls back usually within one business day. Enquire once the scope is settled and the quotes are in, so the amount you ask for is the amount the job actually needs.
Frequently asked questions
How big should the contingency on a fit-out loan be?
There is no standard figure, and anyone quoting one without seeing your building is guessing. What drives it is the age and condition of the premises, how much is being changed behind the walls, and how firm the drawings are. Older buildings and heavy services work deserve more. Set the amount before work starts, borrow it with the rest, and track what remains at every stage.
Do I need the landlord’s approval before funding a fit-out?
Almost always for structural or services work — commercial leases usually require written consent, and doing works without it can create a dispute and a make-good bill later. Get consent in writing before committing to a build program. It also strengthens the conversation with a lender, because it shows the job can actually proceed.
Can a fit-out loan cover permits, design fees and equipment?
Yes. Unsecured funds aren’t tied to a single invoice, so one loan can cover drawings, certifier and council fees, trade packages, joinery, furniture, signage, the equipment going in and the contingency. Quote the whole job when you enquire — under-borrowing and topping up halfway through a build is slower and more disruptive than sizing it correctly once.
How do I estimate what closing for a refit will cost me?
Take your normal takings for the equivalent weeks, subtract the variable costs you won’t incur while closed — stock, casual shifts — and the remainder is roughly what the shutdown costs in gross terms. Then add the costs that keep running regardless: rent, permanent wages, insurance and utilities. That figure belongs in the loan amount, not in your optimism.
Should I stage the works or close completely?
It depends which costs more: the extra build cost of working around trading, or the trading you lose by shutting. Kitchens and heavy services work usually favour a clean shutdown because a part-built kitchen can’t serve. Retail and offices more often stage, section by section or after hours. Ask your builder to price both ways before deciding.
What if the builder finds problems once the walls are open?
That is exactly what the contingency is for. Ask for the problem to be documented and priced as a variation before the work proceeds, check whether it is genuinely unforeseen or something that should have been allowed for, and decide with the cost in front of you. Approving fixes verbally as they arise is how a controlled budget quietly becomes an uncontrolled one.
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