What counts as a repayment source for a bridge?

Something contractual and dated: an invoiced receivable, a milestone payment under a signed contract, a committed facility in closing, insurance or settlement proceeds, or a purchase agreement. The stronger and more verifiable the source, the better the bridge prices — because the lender is underwriting the event as much as the business.

How fast can bridge capital fund?

Commonly within one to five business days of complete documentation, depending on structure. Receivables-backed bridges move fastest; anything requiring lien work or third-party verification takes longer. The documentation is deliberately light: evidence of the repayment source, bank statements, and basic entity records.

What does bridge financing cost?

More per month than term debt, by design — you are paying for speed and short duration. The relevant test is total dollars against the value of making the date: a bridge that costs thousands to protect a contract worth hundreds of thousands is cheap. Annualized comparisons matter less here than the absolute cost against the outcome, but run both numbers before signing.

Is a merchant cash advance a bridge?

It can serve as one, but it is not automatically one. An advance taken against a defined exit, sized to the gap, and retired on schedule functions as a bridge. An advance taken against general shortfall with no exit is open-ended debt at bridge pricing — the pattern that leads to stacking. The structure test is the same either way: name the exit.

What if my need is recurring rather than one-time?

Then a bridge is the wrong instrument after the first use. Recurring gaps — payroll cycles, seasonal buys, receivables timing — belong on revolving structures built for recurrence: a line of credit, a factoring facility, or an asset-based facility. A common and sensible sequence is a bridge now, with the revolving structure arranged as the permanent answer behind it.

Use case

Bridge capital: financing the gap between a known cost and a known payment.

A bridge is short-term capital with a defined exit — the contract that funds next month, the receivable that clears in 45 days, the facility closing behind it. The exit is what separates a bridge from expensive open-ended debt, and it is the first thing we establish.

Reviewed by Ryan Hurley, Co-Founder & CEO

Bridge capital is short-term business financing structured around a specific, dated repayment source — an incoming receivable, a contract payment, a closing, or a permanent facility being arranged. Because the exit is defined, a bridge is underwritten and priced against that event, and the right structure depends on what the repayment source actually is.

Good fit

A real, dated exit

Money that is coming — contractually, verifiably, on a date — with a cost that cannot wait for it. That mismatch is precisely what bridges exist for.

Tradeoff

Speed costs

Bridge pricing reflects urgency and short duration. It is rational against a high-value deadline, and irrational as a way of life.

Review

If there is no exit, it is not a bridge

Short-term capital without a defined repayment source is just expensive debt that renews. Naming the exit is the honesty test.

The gaps we bridge most

Five situations, five structures.

Payroll against slow receivables. Wages clear weekly; customers pay in 30 to 60 days. When the gap is recurring rather than one-time, the durable answer is a receivables facility — the bridge version is a stopgap while that is put in place.
Contract mobilization. A new award requires labor, materials, and deposits before the first invoice can even be issued. Bridges here are structured to the billing milestones — a pattern we documented in a $1.3M construction mobilization and, at the industry level, in our Texas data center research.
Tax and one-time obligations. A dated liability against a healthy business. Fast, clean, and best structured with early-payoff flexibility so a strong quarter retires it ahead of schedule.
The gap to permanent financing. An SBA loan or bank facility is approved or in process, but the need is now. Bridge-to-refinance is a standard sequence; the bridge’s prepayment terms should be negotiated with the take-out in mind.
Acquisition and closing timelines. Deposits, closing costs, or seller deadlines that land before the permanent stack funds — covered in context on the acquisition financing page.

When the deadline is real

Tell us the date and the repayment source; we will tell you the structure.

Bridge situations are the fastest conversations we have — the event defines the facility. Most bridge placements are structured within a day or two of the first call and funded within the week, sized to the gap rather than to what a calculator will approve.

518.520.4552

Direct line, weekdays. If the deadline is tomorrow, call rather than write.

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Structure discipline

Three rules that keep a bridge from becoming a problem.

Size to the gap, not the approval. The right bridge amount is the shortfall between the dated cost and available cash — not the larger figure a lender may offer. Every extra dollar carries bridge pricing for no reason.

Match the term to the exit, with margin. A bridge against a 45-day receivable should run meaningfully longer than 45 days, because customers pay late and exits slip. A term that assumes perfection converts a slipped week into a default.

Negotiate the payoff before funding. Early-payoff treatment decides what the bridge costs if the exit arrives early, and what the refinance costs if the plan is bridge-to-permanent. It is the clause most borrowers read last and should read first — the capital cost calculator shows why the difference compounds.

If you cannot name the exit — the specific payment, on the specific date, that retires the balance — the honest conclusion is that the business needs working-capital structure, not a bridge. That is a different and better conversation: see growth working capital and lines of credit.

Questions we are asked

Bridge capital, answered directly.

What counts as a repayment source for a bridge?: Something contractual and dated: an invoiced receivable, a milestone payment under a signed contract, a committed facility in closing, insurance or settlement proceeds, or a purchase agreement. The stronger and more verifiable the source, the better the bridge prices — because the lender is underwriting the event as much as the business.
How fast can bridge capital fund?: Commonly within one to five business days of complete documentation, depending on structure. Receivables-backed bridges move fastest; anything requiring lien work or third-party verification takes longer. The documentation is deliberately light: evidence of the repayment source, bank statements, and basic entity records.
What does bridge financing cost?: More per month than term debt, by design — you are paying for speed and short duration. The relevant test is total dollars against the value of making the date: a bridge that costs thousands to protect a contract worth hundreds of thousands is cheap. Annualized comparisons matter less here than the absolute cost against the outcome, but run both numbers before signing.
Is a merchant cash advance a bridge?: It can serve as one, but it is not automatically one. An advance taken against a defined exit, sized to the gap, and retired on schedule functions as a bridge. An advance taken against general shortfall with no exit is open-ended debt at bridge pricing — the pattern that leads to stacking. The structure test is the same either way: name the exit.
What if my need is recurring rather than one-time?: Then a bridge is the wrong instrument after the first use. Recurring gaps — payroll cycles, seasonal buys, receivables timing — belong on revolving structures built for recurrence: a line of credit, a factoring facility, or an asset-based facility. A common and sensible sequence is a bridge now, with the revolving structure arranged as the permanent answer behind it.

A dated problem deserves a structured answer.

The event, the amount, the exit — one conversation to structure all three.

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