What your bank statements show
Your bank statements are the application. Here is what gets read in them, so nothing in yours comes as a surprise.
What comes in
The first thing anyone looks at is deposits. Add up a month of them and you have your monthly revenue.
Card settlements, checks, transfers from customers and cash you deposit all count.
Four months shows whether that number is steady, growing or seasonal. A roofer's February looks nothing like his June, and four months is enough to see that.
What stays in
Next is the balance. A business can bring in $80,000 a month and still run close to zero by the 25th.
The average daily balance shows how much room is left after the bills go out. More room means a payment is easier to carry.
The days below zero
Overdrafts and returned payments show up on a statement. A couple in a tight month are common and nobody is shocked by them.
A lot of them, month after month, change the picture.
Payments already going out
If your business already makes daily or weekly payments on other capital, they are on the statement too.
They count, because a new payment has to fit next to the ones you already have.
Deposits that are not sales
A transfer from your savings or a one-time insurance check is money in, but it is not revenue.
Expect it to be set aside when your monthly number is worked out.
What nobody is looking for
Nobody cares where you buy lunch. What matters is how much comes in and how much goes out, month to month.
Why four months
One month can be a fluke in either direction. Four gives a fair read without asking you to dig through a year of paperwork.
How to send them
- The last four full months.
- Every page, including the blank ones.
- PDFs downloaded from your bank. Photos and screenshots slow things down.
- Your business account, not a personal one.
What happens next
Your statements don't have to look good. They have to be complete. Complete ones get read faster, and approvals usually show up in your portal within a few hours of sending them.