What do lenders look for in a business loan application?
Capacity first: can the business service the repayments from real cash flow, shown through financials, bank statements or BAS. Then character and conduct, meaning credit history, how existing accounts have run, and whether tax obligations are current. Then, for larger loans, security.
Time in business matters too. Two or more years of trading opens most doors, while under twelve months narrows the field to specialist lenders. None of these factors is pass or fail on its own. A strong file in one area routinely covers a weaker one, which is exactly why lender choice matters: every lender weights these things differently.
What documents do you need for a business loan?
For a full doc application: the last two years of business financials and tax returns, recent BAS, business bank statements, an up-to-date debt schedule and, where property security is involved, details of the asset and what is owing on it.
If your latest financials are not lodged or understate the current year, low doc options exist where BAS, bank statements or an accountant’s declaration stand in. The trade-off is usually price. Either way, we tell you the exact list upfront so the application goes in once and goes in strong, and nothing touches your credit file until the file is ready and you have agreed to proceed.
Should you get a secured or unsecured business loan?
Secured lending, backed by property, equipment or invoices, generally means larger amounts, longer terms and lower pricing. Unsecured lending is faster and leaves assets untouched, at a higher rate over a shorter term.
The honest answer depends on the amount, the urgency and what you own. A $40,000 working capital gap is often an unsecured decision; a $500,000 consolidation almost never is. Most lenders will ask directors for a personal guarantee either way, so read the comparison as cost, term and flexibility rather than risk versus no risk. The detail sits in our guide to secured business loans.
How long does business loan approval take?
Unsecured loans can approve in one to three business days once documents are in. Secured loans take longer, usually two to four weeks, because a valuation is required, and complex structures or tax debt add time. We tell you the current timeframes for each lender upfront rather than leaving you guessing.
The bigger time saver is preparation. A complete, well-presented file moves through assessment quickly; a file the lender has to query line by line does not.
Can you get a business loan with ATO debt or after a decline?
Often, yes. A bank decline usually means your scenario did not fit that lender’s policy, not that it fails every lender’s policy. Tax debt, fresh financials and trust structures rule out some lenders and simply reprice others, and several lenders on our panel will consider ATO debt the banks will not, including refinancing a payment plan into one manageable repayment.
What we will not do is recommend borrowing that papers over a structural problem. If the honest read is that the business needs restructuring advice rather than more debt, we say so, and we tell you what would change the answer. We work across 15 to 20 lenders and have settled more than $1.5 billion, much of it for business owners the banks found too complicated.
Talk it through
If you are ready to look at business lending options, start with one conversation: what the business needs, what it can show, and what the money must achieve. You will get a straight answer, usually within days: possible now, possible with changes, or not yet, and what changes it. Call 1300 112 355. A real person answers, 24 hours a day.