What lenders want to see for a business loan in 2026

Lending decisions look mysterious from the outside and mechanical from the inside. An underwriter is answering two questions: can this company afford the repayments, and is anything in the file telling a different story to the accounts. Everything on the document list exists to answer one of those two questions.

We are an independent commercial finance broker and we compare 50+ lenders, so we see the same handful of issues sink otherwise good applications. Here is what to have ready for a limited company loan in 2026 and how to put yourself in the strongest position before anyone underwrites you.

What a lender is really underwriting

Affordability comes first. The starting point is profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, adjusted for anything that is not sustainable, measured against the total cost of servicing all debt including the new facility. Lenders want headroom, not a figure that works only if next year goes perfectly.

Stability comes second. Two companies can show the same annual profit and be treated very differently if one has steady monthly receipts and the other has three enormous invoices a year. Concentration of income, seasonality and reliance on one or two customers all feed into how much a lender will advance and over what term.

Conduct comes third, and it is the one owners underestimate. The bank statements are read more closely than the accounts, because accounts are historic and prepared, while statements are current and unedited.

The document pack

For a limited company, expect to be asked for most or all of the following. Having it in one folder before you start is the cheapest way to speed up a decision.

• Last two years of filed accounts. Full accounts where available, not only the abridged version at Companies House. Lenders want the profit and loss detail, not just the balance sheet.
• Up to date management accounts. Profit and loss plus balance sheet to the most recent month end. If your filed accounts are nine months old, the management figures are what the decision will actually rest on.
• The last 6 months of business bank statements. We always ask for 6 months, for every account the business trades through. Partial periods and single month snapshots get sent back and cost you days.
• Aged debtor and creditor lists. Who owes you, how old it is, who you owe and how overdue. This is where an underwriter tests whether the balance sheet is real.
• Recent VAT returns. Usually the last four quarters. They cross check declared turnover and reveal arrears quickly.
• Director information. Photo ID, proof of address and, for property backed cases, a personal asset and liability statement.
• Supporting documents for the purpose. An invoice or quotation for equipment, a schedule for a refinance, a tax demand for a tax facility, a signed contract for a project.

If your accounts are prepared on a cash basis, or your bookkeeping is behind, say so at the outset. A gap that is explained is a question. A gap that is discovered is a problem.

What underwriters read in your bank statements

This is the part nobody prepares for. An experienced underwriter can form a view of a business in ten minutes from 6 months of statements. These are the markers they look for:

• Credit turnover against declared turnover. Money actually banked, annualised, compared with the accounts. A wide gap needs an explanation before anything else gets discussed.
• Average and lowest cleared balance. Not the balance on the day you applied. The pattern across the period, and how often the account dips to nil.
• Days in overdraft and excesses. Sitting at the limit every month reads very differently to using an overdraft occasionally. Unauthorised excesses are a red flag.
• Returned direct debits and unpaid items. Each one is a missed obligation. A cluster in the most recent month is close to fatal for an unsecured application.
• Existing debt service. Every loan payment, lease, daily or weekly repayment to another funder and any merchant advance deduction gets added up. Several concurrent short term facilities suggest a business refinancing its own repayments.
• HMRC activity. Regular VAT and PAYE payments are reassuring. Nothing at all, or payments that stop, prompts questions about arrears.
• Director drawings. Drawings that absorb most of the profit reduce the headroom available to service a new loan.
• Seasonality. A genuine seasonal pattern is fine and can be built into the structure, provided it is flagged rather than averaged away.

One decline from your own bank is a single lender's credit policy, not a judgment on the business, and the statements are usually where you find out which policy you fell foul of.

How trading history and turnover set the ceiling

Time trading changes what is realistically available more than any other single factor.

• Under 12 months. Term lending is difficult without security. Realistic routes are asset finance secured on the item being bought, invoice finance against business to business sales, or a facility secured on property.
• 12 to 24 months. Turnover based funding opens up, with amounts tied to recent banking rather than filed accounts. Pricing reflects the shorter track record.
• Two or more years of filed accounts. The full range becomes available, including longer amortising loans and better pricing, provided the profit trend supports it.

On size, a useful rule of thumb for unsecured lending is roughly one month of turnover, sometimes stretching further for established, profitable companies. Secured lending is sized against the asset instead, which is why a modest turnover business with a building can often raise far more than a higher turnover business without one.

What to fix before you apply, and how long a decision takes

Most of these take days rather than weeks and they change the terms you get offered:

• File your accounts on time. Overdue filing at Companies House narrows the lender list immediately.
• Bring management accounts up to the last completed month, with the balance sheet reconciled.
• Clear any overdraft excess and make sure no direct debits bounce in the weeks before you apply.
• Reduce the number of concurrent short term facilities if you can, or be ready to explain the plan to consolidate them.
• If VAT or PAYE is behind, agree a time to pay arrangement with HMRC first. An arrangement in place is manageable. Silent arrears are not.
• Check directors' personal credit files for errors, old addresses or defaults that have been satisfied but not updated.
• Update your Companies House record: registered office, SIC code, officers and shareholdings should match reality.

On timing, expect indicative terms the same day for most unsecured requests once we have statements and accounts. A formal decision on an unsecured facility usually takes 24 to 72 hours, with funds often inside a week. Asset finance tends to run 3 days to 2 weeks depending on the supplier. Anything secured on property runs on a different clock, typically 6 to 12 weeks, because a valuation and legal work sit in the middle of it.

Getting a quote from us involves no credit check. A full credit search happens later, once a route is chosen and before any formal offer is issued. We are an independent commercial finance broker and we are not FCA authorised. Lending to limited companies for business purposes sits outside FCA regulation, so these facilities do not carry consumer credit protections.

Common questions

Why do you need 6 months of bank statements and not 3?

Three months hides seasonality, a recent dip and any pattern of unpaid items that has just stopped. Six months is the period most lenders underwrite on, so supplying it up front avoids a second request and keeps the decision moving.

Can a limited company borrow with no accounts filed yet?

Yes, though the options narrow to funding tied to recent banking, to a specific asset or to the sales ledger. Six months of trading through a business account is usually the practical minimum.

Does a county court judgment or a past default rule us out?

Not automatically. What matters is size, age, whether it has been satisfied and what caused it. A satisfied judgment from three years ago with clean conduct since is a very different file to an unsatisfied one from last quarter.