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Split systems, ducted and multi-head installs: the customer funds each stage into a regulated Australian trust account before the unit leaves the wholesaler — and it releases the moment the install is commissioned and signed off.
No credit card. No lock-in. Funds held by a licensed Australian trustee.
Air conditioning installs tie up serious money in the equipment itself — a ducted system or a bank of splits is bought before you fit it — and payment usually waits until commissioning is done.
Condensers, heads, ductwork and controllers are a big outlay you carry up front. Escrow funds the stage before you buy the equipment in.
On new builds and renos you rough-in early and return to commission weeks later. Staged escrow releases the rough-in when it’s done, not at final handover.
Install for a builder or developer and the money can sit on 30–60 day terms. Escrow ring-fences your stage before you start, independent of their payment cycle.
The fix
Your customer funds each stage into a regulated Australian trust account (Zai Pty Ltd, AFSL 461841) before you pick up a tool. You do the work, capture the evidence, and the money releases the moment the stage is signed off — typically 1–2 business days via NPP. That’s the difference between getting paid faster and getting paid, full stop.
Each stage is funded before it starts and releases on sign-off. Here’s how a typical job breaks down.
Deposit / equipment
Indoor and outdoor units, ductwork and controls ordered.
Rough-in
Ductwork, penetrations and cabling run before ceilings close.
Install & connect
Units mounted, refrigerant lines run, electrical connected.
Commission & sign-off
Charge, test, commission, demonstrate and customer sign-off.
Trustee-held escrow
Zai Pty Ltd · AFSL 461841
7-day payouts
After milestone sign-off
Dispute cover
Funds already set aside
No lock-in
Month-to-month, cancel anytime
No — Stagex is not a substitute for your electrical, refrigerant-handling or commissioning obligations, which you complete as normal. What it adds is the payment side: each stage is funded into escrow before you start, and your milestone evidence (photos, commissioning sign-off) sits alongside your compliance record.
Escrow works whether the customer is a homeowner, a builder or a developer — whoever funds the stage funds it into the regulated trust account before you start. On builder and developer work that’s exactly the exposure Stagex is built for: your funded milestone is ring-fenced rather than sitting on their 30–60 day terms.
A milestone releases within 7 days of the customer signing off — typically 1–2 business days via NPP. The stage was pre-funded, so there’s no invoice to chase.
Stagex Professional is $59/mo. The first $30,000 funded into escrow per job is fee-free; above that a flat 1.6% escrow fee applies only to the amount over $30,000. No lock-in.
Bring one staged job through Stagex this week and see what guaranteed, chase-free payment feels like.
Stage by stage. Always paid.