Guide

What documents do you need for a merchant cash advance?

Three to six months of business bank statements, basic business details, and proof of ownership. That is usually all. Tax returns and prepared financial statements are rarely required at this size, which is much of why the process takes days rather than weeks.

The full list

Business bank statements, three to six months, as PDFs downloaded from your bank. Screenshots and photographs get rejected.

Basic business details: legal name, EIN, address, industry, date established.

Proof of ownership — usually a driver's licence and sometimes a voided cheque.

For larger amounts, occasionally a profit and loss statement or a merchant processing statement if the advance is against card revenue.

What underwriters are reading in those statements

Average daily balance, and how often it goes negative. Frequent overdrafts matter more than a low balance.

Deposit consistency — whether money arrives on a pattern they can extrapolate.

Existing advances. Payments to other funders are visible, and undisclosed ones are the most common reason a file that looked fine gets declined.

Whether deposits match the revenue you claimed. A mismatch is not fatal but it slows everything down.

How to make this take an hour instead of three days

Download six months at once, as separate PDFs, before you start the application.

Use the business account the revenue actually flows through. Statements from a personal account or a secondary account will be sent back.

Disclose existing advances up front. They will be found in the statements regardless, and volunteering them is treated very differently from being caught.

Sources

Related questions.

Do I need tax returns?
Usually not for a merchant cash advance. They become more likely on larger amounts or longer-term products.
What if I have less than six months of statements?
Three is workable with most funders. Under three, options narrow considerably.
Can I use a personal bank account?
No. Funders need to see the business's own account. Revenue running through a personal account is one of the more common reasons an application stalls.

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