|
 Print Friendly
 Email to Friend
|
|
How To Get A Small-Business Loan
|
|
Article 6: Package Your Paperwork
Loan applications can be lengthy documents, and about as much fun to fill out as tax returns. But if you need the loan, you need to complete the application.
An application typically consists of information about company management and experience, a business profile and other data about your company and you personally.
Many business owners also lug to the bank a foot-thick business plan detailing every aspect of the company far into the future.
But lenders are more interested in concise, reliable financial documents. Their No. 1 concern is your ability to repay what you borrow, not your secondary market in Outer Mongolia.
Generally, you must provide:
The last three years’ of company tax returns and financial statements A current financial statement up to date within the past 60 days A list of accounts receivable and payable for the current period A debt schedule for the same timeframe
These documents are fairly standard for any type of funding, from a line of credit to a real estate loan.
The SBA, as a federal government agency insuring private bank loans, wants IRS tax returns included.
To obtain a line of credit, a bank may place more importance on a reviewed or audited financial statement to get a picture of money generated by the business, in addition to tax returns.
If you own 20 percent or more of the business, you’ll also be asked to provide a current personal financial statement and your prior three years’ tax returns.
These documents generally complete the initial financial portion of the loan package that gets the process under way. But lenders will probably ask for more later, depending on the nature of the loan and whether you pass preliminary muster.
Additional documentation that isn’t needed initially, but that you might prepare in anticipation of the next steps, can include:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
