This article explains why lending partners ask Terre Haute and Vigo County owners for business bank statements and what they look for: deposit patterns, balances, overdrafts, existing loan or advance debits, transfers and the name on the account. Brookmont Funding, a small-business funding broker in Terre Haute, Indiana, provides it as general information; partners set their own requirements and decide.
What statements show that other documents do not
A tax return is a once-a-year summary prepared after the fact. A profit and loss statement is prepared by the business. Bank statements come from the bank and show every deposit and withdrawal as it happened. For a partner deciding whether a business can carry new payments, that is the most direct evidence available.
Deposits: how money comes in
Partners look at how much is deposited, how often and from where. The pattern differs by sector, and a partner reads it in that context. In Vigo County, the common sectors look very different on a statement:
- Restaurants (248 food service employers in 2023) show frequent card-processor batches, often daily.
- Medical and dental practices (263 ambulatory health care employers) show insurer payments that arrive in irregular lumps, plus patient payments.
- Retailers (392 employers) show daily card and cash deposits that rise and fall with sales.
- Contractors (183 employers) show large, uneven deposits when draws or invoices are paid.
Figures from U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023. Partners also separate true revenue from money that only looks like it: transfers from the owner's personal account, loan proceeds and refunds are not sales.
Balances, overdrafts and returned items
Average daily balances and the lowest points in each month show how much cushion the business really has. Overdrafts and returned (NSF) items show moments when it ran out. Partners differ on how many they will accept and why; one returned payment with a clear explanation reads very differently from a pattern. If something unusual happened, such as a customer's check bouncing or a one-time equipment repair, be ready to explain it.
Existing debits: loans, leases and advances
Regular withdrawals to other lenders, lessors or funders tell a partner what the business already owes. Daily or weekly debits from a merchant cash advance stand out in particular, because they reduce the cash available for any new payment. An advance is not a loan, but its collections still come out of the same account; the advance page explains how they work. List every existing obligation up front so nothing surfaces as a surprise.
The name on the account
The account should belong to the business that is applying, under its legal name. If the business trades under another name, or if receipts land in a personal account, the partner has to work out whether the deposits really belong to the applicant. Our Indiana assumed name guide explains how to line the names up.
How many months of statements?
It depends on the partner and the request. Many ask for the most recent few months; some ask for a longer history for larger requests or newer businesses, and most want the latest month included. The partner's own checklist is the one that counts, and we will tell you what a partner has asked for before you gather anything. How a request works explains when documents come in.
Reading your own statements first
- Download the full statements as PDFs from the bank, not screenshots.
- Mark any transfers from personal accounts and any loan proceeds.
- Note every overdraft or returned item and the reason for it.
- List every regular debit to a lender, lessor or funder.
- Check that the account name matches the business's legal name.
If a short-term gap is what shows up most, compare working capital financing with the other options on the comparison page. Other Brookmont articles are collected on the blog.
By Brookmont Funding ยท Updated