Credit for the business itself
Most business owners come to us for a property and leave with two things: the mortgage, and the credit the business needs to run from it. Business lending is the second part. An operating line for the gap between paying suppliers and getting paid, a term loan for a truck, a machine or a fit-out, a loan to buy out a partner or open a second location.
Lendrite is a brokerage, so these are the lenders' loans, not ours. We prepare the application the way a business banker will read it, place it with a bank, a credit union or BDC, and often arrange it alongside the property mortgage so one set of financials does both jobs. If you are also buying the premises, start with owner-occupied commercial.
This page is for an owner with two or three years of financial statements. Amounts that are small by one lender's standards still have lenders that want them; we know which.
Operating lines, term loans and BDC
What each one is for, in plain words.
Operating line of credit
A revolving limit the business draws on and repays as cash comes and goes. The limit is usually tied to what customers owe you and the stock you hold, interest is charged only on what is drawn, and the lender looks at it again each year with your new financials.
Term loans and equipment
A fixed amount, repaid over a set number of years, for a purchase that will last: equipment, vehicles, the fit-out of a leased unit, a buyout. The equipment itself is often the security, and the repayment is matched to how long the thing will earn.
BDC programs
BDC is a federal development bank that lends to Canadian businesses. Its programs cover working capital, growth, equipment and purchases, and they are often placed beside a bank's own loan rather than instead of it. We arrange the application; BDC decides.
How a lender reads your business
A business lender starts with cashflow: does the business, after paying its owners, throw off enough cash to cover the new payments with room to spare. It reads two years of year-end statements and the current year to date, because a strong year followed by a quiet one tells a different story from two steady ones.
Then it looks at what stands behind the loan: the receivables and stock behind an operating line, the equipment behind a term loan, the owners' personal net worth, and whether the owners will sign as guarantors, meaning they personally stand behind the company's debt. Time in business and a clean history with suppliers and the Canada Revenue Agency both count.
We put all of that in a written summary before the lender asks, which is the difference between an application that gets questions and one that gets an answer.
- 1
A short call
Tell us what the business does, what the credit is for and when you need it. We say which kind of loan or line fits and roughly what the lender will want to see.
- 2
Documents, then the application
Year-end financials, the current year's interim statements and the receivables aging. We send the lender a written summary of the business, not just a form.
- 3
The lender's offer
A written offer sets out the limit or amount, the rate, the security and the conditions, including any personal signatures from the owners. We go through it with you line by line.
- 4
Security and set-up
The lender registers its security, your lawyer signs off where needed, and the line or loan is opened. For an operating line, the limit is reset each year against your new financials.
Documents for business credit
The lender reads the business before it reads the owner.
- Two years of year-end financial statements
- Interim statements for the current year, with the matching bank statements
- Accounts receivable aging: who owes you, how much and how overdue
- Accounts payable aging, and the latest statement of account from the Canada Revenue Agency
- A personal net worth statement for each owner
- Corporate records: the certificate of incorporation and who the shareholders are
- Quotes or invoices for the equipment or purchase, where there is one
- Two pieces of ID for each owner, front and back
The full document checklist by client type, and how it works from the first call to funding.
Costs are gone through with you upfront, before you commit to anything; any fee the lender charges is in its written offer. Not sure which one fits? Book a 20-minute call →