As we head towards the end of the financial year, you’re likely thinking about what needs to happen between now and 30 June to finish the year strong and carry momentum into the next financial year.
By this point, most innovation-led businesses have already invested heavily in R&D. The work is underway, milestones are taking shape, and you’re starting to see the results of that effort.
But while the commercial return on that investment will play out over time, the cash flow tied to your R&D — in the form of your expected R&D Tax Incentive (R&DTI) refund — typically won’t arrive until months after the end of the financial year (EOFY). That means you may be weighing up spending now: do you move ahead with hiring, push forward on a key milestone, or hold back until more capital becomes available?
These decisions often come down to timing rather than strategy, not because the opportunity isn’t there, but because the funding isn’t yet in hand.
For many businesses, the default is to wait. But waiting for your R&DTI refund can quietly shape the outcome of your final quarter, and the position you carry into the next financial year.
The good news is that there is an alternative. An R&D Advance allows businesses to access funds before their expected R&DTI refund arrives. At Radium Capital, this is called a Radium Advance — a way to bring forward up to 80% of your refund so you can keep funding what matters now.
In this article, we outline 5 reasons why the final quarter is a popular time to access an R&D Advance, and how it can help you move forward with more confidence before EOFY.
Why waiting for your R&DTI refund could cost you more than you think
On paper, waiting for your refund seems straightforward.
In reality, it creates an avoidable delay between when you invest in R&D and when you can access the cash tied to your R&DTI refund.
By now you’ve likely accumulated months of R&D spend, but you will need to wait for weeks, sometimes months, after July 1 for your refund to arrive.
Waiting until then could force you to:
- delay hiring decisions
- pause or scale back R&D programs
- slow down product development or trials
- miss commercialisation targets
- hold off on equipment purchases
- spend precious time on capital raising, or turn to less flexible or more expensive funding options to fill a short-term cash-flow gap.
There’s a real opportunity cost in waiting: products may take longer to get to market, key hires can be lost to competitors, and rising cost pressures can push up the price of equipment and inputs.
Many R&D-driven companies reach this point and recognise that waiting means leaving money on the table. Accessing that capital sooner allows you to keep your innovation moving.
Can you access your R&D tax incentive before EOFY?
Yes. If your company is eligible for an R&DTI refund, a Radium Advance allows you to access a significant proportion of your expected refund before it arrives.
The Federal Government’s R&DTI is designed to support innovation by providing a tax offset for eligible R&D activities. It’s one of the most valuable sources of non-dilutive funding available to Australian businesses.
The challenge is timing. While R&D spend happens throughout the year, the benefits of the offset are typically received months after EOFY. If your company is receiving an R&DTI refund, a Radium Advance bridges that gap by bringing forward funding tied to your expected R&DTI refund and turning it into working capital you can use now.
For a more detailed look at how businesses are using advances in practice, explore our blog Funding done differently: Eight practical ways to use an R&D Advance.
Five reasons to access an R&D advance before EOFY
The tail end of the financial year is the perfect moment to consider how and when you’ll use your R&DTI refund. Will you wait for it to arrive, or will you access it in advance and use the capital to move forward, sooner?
Here are 5 reasons why many businesses are choosing to take an R&D Advance before EOFY.
1. You’ve already built the refund — but it’s locked up
By this stage of the year, most R&D-led businesses have already accumulated significant eligible expenditure, often representing 9 months of sustained investment.
For example, a company with $600,000 in eligible R&D spend could generate a R&DTI refund of around $261,000. A Radium Advance could allow you to access up to 80% of that early, or approximately $209,000 – enough to bring forward a hire or keep a key project moving.
That is capital you have already committed to your business and effectively earned as a future R&DTI refund, but cannot yet use. Accessing this capital earlier gives you the flexibility and control to make decisions and take action when it matters.
2. Increase your R&D budget by reinvesting your advance
Accessing your R&D funding earlier does more than provide a capital injection. It can also influence the scale of your investment within the same financial year.
Expanding on the above example, if the company continues its planned R&D spend of $200,000 in the final quarter, plus reinvests the $209,000 advance into its R&D on top of this, the total annual R&D investment would increase to around $1,009,000. Compared to the originally budgeted $800,000, this represents a budget improvement of 26%.
That, in turn, increases the R&DTI claim. Instead of a $348,000 refund, the claim would rise to approximately $438,000, simply by bringing funding forward and putting it to work before EOFY.
This is where the benefit extends beyond timing. Earlier access enables additional investment, increasing the size of your claim and giving you more flexibility heading into the next financial year.
As Tim Bennett, Founder and Director of LOVE TO Growth Group, explains: “Without our Radium Advances, it would have taken us twice as long to achieve our R&D goals.”
3. Trial a new funding approach
If you have been considering an R&D Advance, the final quarter is often one of the most popular times to use one.
Radium Advances are short-term R&D loans, usually lasting between 4 and 11 months. For Advances taken towards the end of EOFY, the timeframe between accessing funding from Radium and the maturity of the loan is minimised. That shorter timeframe reduces the cost of entry, making it a cost-effective time to bridge a short-term funding gap, avoid slowing down at a critical point and, potentially, test how R&D financing fits within your broader capital strategy.
Cofounder and Managing Director of Queensland-based biotech Southern RNA, Chris Peck, says his company did just that, trialling their first Radium Advance at EOFY.
“I wanted to trial it under my own conditions, as opposed to being in a situation where I really needed it,” he said.
“We wanted to make sure this was something that made business sense.”
That’s often how it starts. An EOFY advance becomes a way to trial R&D finance and, for many businesses, it quickly becomes part of how they fund R&D more broadly. Around 60% of our clients go on to take more than one Radium Advance.
4. Build a more flexible capital strategy
Many businesses are taking a more deliberate approach to how they fund growth.
Building a diverse capital stack has always been good practice. Rather than relying on a single source of capital, businesses are combining equity, grants and debt in ways that suit their stage and objectives.
That approach becomes even more important in uncertain times, where funding conditions can shift quickly and access to capital is less predictable. In this context, having access to more predictable sources of funding becomes increasingly valuable.
As a non-dilutive funding option, R&D Advances are designed to complement other funding sources. They can reduce pressure to raise equity at unfavourable times, bridge gaps between funding events and provide flexibility as business goals and priorities evolve.
For SeaStock CFO Tim Whyte, building a Radium Advance into the funding mix was critical: “By bringing forward our expected R&DTI refund, Radium Capital helped us to stretch capital and optimally time our capital raising.”
5. Maintain momentum when it matters most
The final quarter often sets the tone for the next financial year.
This is when businesses are working to meet milestones, preparing for reporting and positioning themselves for growth. At the same time, as budgets close, caution can start to influence decision-making.
Hiring gets delayed, projects are pushed out and key milestones become harder to meet. While these decisions can feel prudent, they can also slow momentum just when it matters most.
As tapestry® founder and CEO Christopher Bartlett explains: “Money has a time value: if you can pull your refund forward it’s a strategic tool that helps you do your research faster or better.”
If you have already invested in eligible R&D this year, accessing that funding earlier allows you to keep moving and carry that momentum into the next financial year.
Don’t let timing hold you back
By the final quarter of the financial year, you’ve likely done the hard work, investing in R&D, building capability and generating a future R&DTI refund.
The question is whether you wait to access those funds, or use them to your advantage now. Unlocking your refund through a Radium Advance gives you access to your own money to grow your R&D program, build a diverse capital stack and maintain momentum. And, if you’re new to R&D financing, the final quarter is a great time to test how it fits within your broader strategy.
With more than $1 billion in R&D funding advanced, Radium Capital has helped more than 1,000 businesses bring forward their R&D funding and move with confidence. Talk to our team about how a Radium Advance could work for your business.