Guide · Whether you'll qualify
What do underwriters actually look for in your bank statements?
By Alex Makowski Published
Seven things, roughly in order: whether deposits are operating revenue or transfers; how many deposits arrive and how evenly; the average daily balance and how many days it ran low or negative; returned items; existing daily or weekly debits from other funders; the trend across the months; and whether the most recent month looks like the rest. The statements are the whole application at most revenue-based funders. Read yours the way they will before you send them.
In this guide
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01
The seven checks
Real revenue versus everything else. Transfers from savings, loan proceeds, owner injections and refunds are stripped out. What is left is what the offer is sized on.
Deposit count and rhythm. Twenty card settlements a month reads as a business; two large wires reads as a business dependent on two customers, and it is priced that way.
Average daily balance and low days. A common rule wants the average balance at ten to fifteen times the daily payment about to be set. Days near or below zero are counted individually.
Returned items. More than about three in ninety days drops the file a grade.
Existing positions. Daily and weekly ACH debits to other funders are identified by name. They reduce capacity and, past a point, end the application.
Trend. Rising, flat or falling across the months. A falling trend is the hardest thing to explain away.
The last month. Weighted most, and compared to the rest. A strong year ending in a weak month is questioned; a weak year ending in a strong month is discounted.
What each underwriter weighs
02
What to send, and how
Complete PDF statements from the bank, every page, three to six months minimum and twelve if the business is seasonal or the recent months are weak. Screenshots, spreadsheets and partial months slow the file or stop it. Many funders now read statements through a direct bank connection, which pulls the same data faster; if you are asked to connect, it is the same review, not a deeper one.
A cover note of three or four lines helps more than people expect: what the business does, what the money is for, and one sentence on anything in the statements that needs a reason — a large transfer, a dip with a cause, a customer's bounced check.
03
What you can fix in ninety days
Almost everything except the trend. Deposit all cash. Keep a cushion so no day runs low. Stop the debit that keeps bouncing. Move personal spending off the business account. Route card sales into the account the statements come from. Three clean months, with the most recent the cleanest, is a different application from the same business.
Written by
Alex Makowski, Owner
Alex Makowski owns and runs Business Loans for America and has been placing funding for U.S. small businesses since 2021. Businesses he has worked with have secured $50M+ in financing across 1,200+ placements. He writes and reviews every guide on this site.
FAQ
Related questions.
- Do underwriters look at my personal bank account?
- Rarely, unless the business runs through it — a sole proprietor with no business account is underwritten on the personal statements, and the personal spending in them is read too.
- Does a high balance help if deposits are low?
- It helps the payment look safe and it does not change the size of the offer, which follows deposits. A large balance with thin deposits reads as savings, not revenue.
- Will they call my bank?
- Some verify balances through a bank connection or a short verification call before funding. It is confirmation, not a new review, and it is why the statements you send need to match the account exactly.
Guides
More on whether you'll qualify
Under six months
Honestly, mostly no on deposits. Equipment financing and the owner's own file are the two doors that open.
Counting time in business
Funders read the bank account, not the state filing. An LLC formed two years ago with six months of deposits is six months old.
Just bought the business
If you bought the entity and kept the account, the history is yours. If you bought the assets into a new LLC, it mostly is not.
Restricted industries
Cannabis, adult, gambling, firearms, money services, crypto and nonprofits are declined by most funders before the file is read.
Judgments and collections
Collections on the personal file barely register. An unsatisfied judgment against the business is a different matter.
Partners and ownership
Most funders pull every owner over 20 to 25 percent. The one who signs the guarantee is the one who matters most.
Sources
- Consumer Financial Protection BureauFederal consumer-finance regulator. Publishes guidance on credit terms and disclosure.
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