Some of it, usually. Identifiable equipment within a fit-out — machinery, catering kit, refrigeration, IT and audio-visual, freestanding furniture and shelving — is generally fundable. Structural and cosmetic work is not, because once flooring, partitioning, wiring and decoration are installed, there is nothing a lender could recover if the agreement failed.
So the honest answer is that a fit-out is rarely a single financeable package. The usual approach is to split it: put the equipment on asset finance and cover the building work from cash, a business loan or another facility. Getting your contractor to itemise the quote — equipment listed separately from labour and materials — is the single most useful thing you can do before applying.
The proportion of soft costs a lender will accept varies with the strength of the business and the size of the equipment order. An established company placing a substantial equipment order has more scope than a start-up. Nobody is obliged to include any of it.
Timing needs attention too. Fit-outs run on stage payments and frequently overrun, while rent, rates and finance payments start on schedule. Leave headroom for the parts that will not be funded and for the delay between opening the doors and the business generating income.
CW Asset Finance is an independent credit broker, not a lender. Send us the itemised quote and we will tell you plainly which parts our panel of 60+ lenders is likely to fund and which parts you will need to cover another way, before you commit to a contractor.