The truck, the crew, the contract. Get the file ready before the bank asks.
HVAC, plumbing, electrical, landscaping and snow, construction subcontractors, automotive service. Businesses that run on equipment, people, and timing, and whose financing requests get read against all three. LenderReady prepares the file for that reading.
| Uses: van (dealer quote, incl. HST) | $78,540 |
| Uses: upfit and shelving (quote) | $11,300 |
| Uses: tooling (itemized) | $6,160 |
| Uses: contingency (5%) | $4,800 |
| Total project | $100,800 |
| Sources: owner cash | $12,800 |
| Sources: trade-in | $8,000 |
| Sources: requested term loan | $80,000 |
What you are probably financing, and what the file needs for each.
A vehicle or equipment
The quote is the request. The file needs the quote, the statements, and one paragraph on how the equipment earns or saves money. Lenders finance this often; the file is usually short and the mistakes are usually in the ratios.
Working capital for a bigger contract
The hardest request to explain and the easiest to get wrong. The file needs the signed contract with its payment terms, a project budget, and a cash-flow forecast that shows the gap between paying the crew and getting paid.
Hiring a crew
Payroll is funded by revenue that is already visible. The file needs the roles and their loaded cost, the quoted or contracted work they will do, and a forecast that shows the months between hiring and billing.
A shop or second location
A location is judged on its own numbers. The file needs the lease or purchase agreement, contractor quotes for the build-out, and projections for that location with the assumptions written down.
Buying a competitor
You are borrowing against their cash flow. The file needs the letter of intent, three years of the target's statements, how the price was arrived at, and a combined projection. This is the request that most needs the full package.
Replacing expensive debt
A refinance is a before-and-after table. The file needs the statements and terms of every facility being replaced, payout balances, and the monthly payment comparison that is the whole reason for the request.
Where trades files usually fall down
Remittances. Payroll source deductions and HST are the first thing a lender checks, because they rank ahead of the bank. A file with a late remittance stops there. Get them current and bring the confirmation.
Year-to-date figures. Trades businesses often have last year's statements and nothing for this year. A lender wants to see the current season. Interims to the last month end, from your bookkeeping, are enough.
Lumpy revenue with no explanation. Seasonal and project-based revenue is normal. Unexplained, it reads as risk. Explained with a twelve-month view and how the slow months cover the payment, it reads as a business that knows itself.
The round number. "About two hundred thousand" is not a request. A quote plus tax plus a named contingency is. The amount should come from documents, not the other way round.
Personal and business mixed. Owner draws, personal vehicles on the business books, inter-company transfers with no paper. Every one of these is a question in the meeting. Answer them in the file.
Guide: lumpy revenue and the contractor's file and equipment: lease, loan, or cash.
Readiness check for your request
Choose the purpose, answer fifteen questions about the business and the documents you have, and get the stage, the gaps, and the document list for that exact request.
File Diagnostic
A person reads your statements, your quote, and your numbers, and writes down what a lender will push on and what to fix first. The sample diagnostic is for a plumbing company; read it to see the format.
LenderReady is not a lender or broker and does not contact lenders. It prepares the file; you choose where it goes.