Inventory financing is business funding used to buy stock ahead of sales, usually secured by the inventory itself. Fieldcroft Business Capital, a small-business funding broker in Great Falls, Montana, arranges it through lending partners, who review sales history, stock records and existing liens, decide, and set the advance, rate and repayment.
| Pays for | Shelf goods bought before the till rings |
|---|---|
| Security | Usually the inventory itself |
| Repayment | Per item sold, or on calendar dates |
| Paperwork | Stock reports, sales history, supplier orders |
| Lien | Often a UCC filing on inventory |
| Decision | Made by the lending partner |
How inventory financing works
A partner advances part of the cost of stock, either against goods you already hold or against a supplier order. The inventory becomes collateral, typically through a UCC financing statement filed with the state. As goods sell, you repay; some arrangements tie repayment to each unit sold, others use a fixed schedule regardless of sales.
Partners rarely advance the full value of stock. Goods that sell slowly, spoil, or go out of style are worth less to a partner than goods that move steadily, so the advance depends on what you sell and how fast.
Shelves and stockrooms across Cascade County, MT
Cascade County, MT counted 321 retail trade employer establishments in 2023, with 4,957 on payroll and $171.3 million in annual wages (County Business Patterns 2023). Another 102 wholesale trade establishments employed 1,145. Separately, the county had 577 nonemployer retail businesses in 2024, run without paid staff (Nonemployer Statistics 2024); that count comes from a different program and year, so it is not added to the employer figure.
Retail is also the second-largest sector in the county by employer establishments, behind health care and social assistance with 347. Our retail page covers the store side in detail, and the industries overview lists the other sectors partners fund.
Floor plan financing
Floor plan financing is inventory financing built for big-ticket units sold singly, such as vehicles, boats or large machines. The partner pays the manufacturer for each unit; the dealer repays that unit's advance when it sells, and pays interest or curtailment payments while it sits. Partners usually audit floor plan stock regularly to confirm every financed unit is still on the lot or accounted for.
Stock loan, credit line or working capital for a Cascade County, MT shop
| Inventory financing | Line of credit | Working capital | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secured by | The stock | Varies; often general business assets | Varies; often unsecured with a UCC filing |
| Repaid | Per sale, or by calendar | Repay the drawn part | Fixed installments |
| Suits | Large stock buys | Frequent, smaller restocks | A one-time gap |
A retailer that restocks every week often does better with a line of credit. A single large order ahead of a new store opening is where inventory financing earns its place; our post on leasing retail space in Great Falls, MT follows that sequence.
New businesses and online sellers
Inventory loans for a brand-new business are harder to place, because the partner has no sales history to judge how fast goods turn. A detailed supplier order, a lease, and owner capital in the business help. Online sellers face the same questions plus one more: where the goods are stored and who can count them.
Whatever the channel, the partner will want to see stock records that tie to the books.
The stock numbers partners test
Partners judge inventory by how fast it turns into cash. Expect questions about turnover (how many times a year stock sells through), aging (how much has sat for months), and shrink (what goes missing or gets damaged). Stock that turns slowly or ages badly gets a smaller advance, or none.
Clean numbers help more than large ones. A point-of-sale report that ties to the general ledger, a count that matches the books, and supplier invoices that match the costs tell a partner the collateral is real. If your counts and your books disagree, fix that before applying.
Check the liens before you apply
Inventory financing nearly always involves a lien. If another creditor already has a blanket UCC filing that covers inventory, a new partner may decline or require the earlier creditor to subordinate. Our Montana UCC search guide explains how to see what is filed against your business before a partner does.
What a stock-secured partner asks to see on 7th St S files
- Stock reports or a recent inventory count, with costs
- Sales history by month, and supplier invoices or the pending order
- Business bank statements and the latest tax returns
- A list of existing liens and debts
The request process shows how we prepare the file. Our county page has more on the local business base, and the comparison of all six structures shows the alternatives.
By Fieldcroft Business Capital · Updated