What a lender sees when they open your file
Ever wonder what's actually going through a banker's head as they flip through your plan? Here's the walkthrough, from the other side of the desk.
A lender doesn't read front to back like a book. They skim for the answers to a fixed set of questions, and your job is to make those answers easy to find.
First 60 seconds
Who's the operator, what are they asking for, and does the ask make sense on its face? A clean summary up top earns you a real read; a wall of text earns a skim.
Next, the money
Straight to the numbers: revenue basis, costs, coverage, use of funds. This is where trust is won or lost — undefended figures set off alarms.
Then, the risk
What happens if it doesn't go to plan? Collateral, guarantees, the owner's staying power. A plan that pretends nothing can go wrong reads as naive.
The takeaway
Write for the skim. Lead every section with the answer, then support it. You're not writing to impress — you're writing to be quickly, confidently believed.
See where your plan stands
Paste the plan you have into the free Scanner. It scores you against the eight criteria Canadian lenders use — in about thirty seconds, no account, nothing leaves your device.
Score my plan — freeLenderReady is an educational service, not a lender, broker, or financial advisor. Lending criteria vary by institution and change over time; treat this as a starting point, not a guarantee.