Reconcile the books to the tax return
Underwriters read for consistency, and the fastest way to stall a file is a P&L that does not match the return, or deposits that do not match reported revenue. If your bookkeeping has drifted, fixing it is the highest-value hour you can spend before applying.
Clean up the debt schedule
Every facility, its balance, its payment, and its maturity, in one document that matches what appears on your credit report. Missing facilities look like concealment even when they are oversight. Paying off or consolidating small high-payment balances improves debt service coverage directly.
Document your add-backs
Discretionary owner expenses only count if they are visible and explicable. A one-off legal settlement, a vehicle, personal travel run through the business - each needs to be identifiable in the records. Undocumented add-backs are the most common reason a deal reprices at underwriting.
Separate business and personal
A dedicated business bank account and card, with clean separation, does two things: it makes the financials legible, and it starts a business banking relationship that matters when you apply. Commingled accounts make an underwriter's job harder and the answer slower.
Know your own credit before they do
Pull your personal report and both business files. Dispute errors, which take weeks to resolve. Bring down revolving utilisation. If there is something ugly and true in the file, prepare a one-paragraph explanation rather than hoping it goes unnoticed.
Assemble the package before you apply
Three years of business and personal returns, year-to-date financials, the debt schedule, personal financial statement, entity documents, and a short use-of-funds statement. Having this ready compresses the slowest phase of the process from weeks into days.
Be realistic about time in business
Under two years is the hardest constraint to work around, and no amount of preparation removes it. That is the situation CDFIs, SBA microloan intermediaries, and state SSBCI credit support exist for - and all three are dramatically cheaper than the alternative lenders that will happily say yes.