What Do I Need to Apply for a Business Loan? The Complete Checklist

Lenders need to verify who you are. A driver’s license or passport works. If anyone else owns 20 percent or more of the business, expect the lender to ask for their ID too.

Have these ready:

• Business formation documents, such as articles of organization or incorporation.
• Your EIN confirmation letter from the IRS.
• Any required business licenses or permits for your industry and location.
• If you operate under a DBA name, the DBA registration.

Newer businesses get asked for this more often because there is less history to go on.

This is the document lenders read most closely. Most ask for the last three to twelve months. Banks and SBA lenders tend to want more months, online lenders often want fewer.

Before you send them, look at them the way a lender would. Frequent overdrafts, negative balances, or large transfers you cannot explain will raise questions. If something looks odd, be ready to explain it.

Banks and SBA lenders commonly ask for one to three years of business tax returns, plus your personal returns. Online lenders sometimes skip this for smaller amounts, but having them ready costs nothing.

If you filed an extension or your most recent return is not done yet, say so up front rather than letting the lender discover it.

At a minimum, a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet. They do not need to be fancy. A simple, accurate set you made yourself beats a polished set with numbers that do not match your bank statements.

Some lenders also ask for:

• Accounts receivable and accounts payable aging reports, common for larger credit lines.
• A cash flow projection, more common for startups and larger requests.

Write down every business debt: lender name, original amount, current balance, monthly payment, and remaining term. Include business credit cards and any personal debts you would be personally guaranteeing.

Lenders use this to calculate how much room you have for another payment. Leaving something off and having them find it later hurts more than the debt itself would have.

Be specific. "Working capital" is vague. "Covering a $40,000 inventory order that turns in 90 days" is a reason a lender can evaluate. If the money buys equipment, bring the quote. If it covers a gap, show the gap and how long it lasts.

Also know the amount you are asking for and why that amount. Asking for far more than your revenue supports is one of the most common reasons applications get declined.

If your business is under two years old, many lenders want a plan with projections and a summary of your experience in the industry. Keep it short and honest. A few pages of realistic numbers beat fifty pages of optimism.

• Banks and SBA lenders usually ask for the most documentation: multiple years of returns, full financials, and sometimes collateral details. The tradeoff is lower cost.
• Online lenders often decide mostly from bank statements and basic business info, and they move faster. Expect higher cost in exchange.
• CDFIs and microlenders may ask for more background on you and the business story, and can be more flexible on credit history.

Check each lender’s stated requirements before you apply. Applying to the wrong type with the wrong packet wastes weeks.

Put everything in one folder, saved as PDFs with clear names. When a lender asks for "three months of bank statements," you want to attach them in two minutes, not spend a day hunting. Mismatched numbers across documents are a common reason applications slow down, so check that your tax return, P and L, and bank deposits tell the same story.