Bank Statement — Business (12 or 24 Month)
Qualify on what your business actually deposits.
Business bank statement loans use 12 or 24 months of business deposits, reduced by an expense factor, in place of tax returns. Built for owners whose write-offs make their returns look nothing like their cash flow.
What makes this loan different
- 12 or 24 months of business statements accepted
- Expense factor from 10% to 50% depending on business type
- No tax returns, no 4506-C, no K-1 gymnastics
- Primary, second home, and investment properties
Who this is built for
- Contractors, restaurateurs, and owners with heavy deductions
- Businesses with strong deposits and low taxable income
- Owners with two years in the same business
How the income is calculated
An underwriter totals qualifying deposits across 12 or 24 months, strips out transfers and non-business money, and then applies an expense factor that stands in for your cost of doing business. What is left, divided by the number of months, becomes your monthly qualifying income.
The expense factor is where a good broker earns their keep. A service business with almost no cost of goods can often document a far lower expense ratio than the lender default, and a CPA letter or a profit and loss statement is frequently enough to move it.
What you will need
Twelve or twenty-four consecutive months of statements for the business account, a business license or CPA letter proving ownership percentage, and a clean explanation for any unusually large deposits. Credit and reserves matter here, but taxable income does not.
What lenders typically ask for
- 12 or 24 months of business bank statements, all pages, from the account where revenue lands
- Business license, entity formation documents, or a third-party verification that the business exists
- A signed statement of ownership percentage, since income is generally counted in proportion to ownership
- A CPA- or preparer-prepared profit and loss statement in some cases, which can improve the expense factor applied
- Credit report, photo ID, and statements covering down payment and reserves
Requirements vary by lender and by file. This is a general picture of what is commonly requested, not a checklist for a specific loan.
Worth knowing
The expense factor decides the income.
Lenders apply an assumed expense percentage to deposits rather than counting them in full. A 50 percent default is common, and a lower factor is sometimes available with a prepared P&L or documented margins. That single number often moves qualifying income more than anything else in the file.
Not every deposit counts.
Transfers between accounts, loan proceeds, owner contributions, and non-business deposits are typically excluded. Accounts where personal and business money mix are harder to document and sometimes disqualify the statement entirely.
Lender selection does more here than anywhere else.
Bank statement programs vary widely between lenders in expense factor, reserve requirements, and pricing. As a broker we shop hundreds of wholesale lenders on every file rather than selling one institution's rate sheet, and on these programs that difference is larger than on agency loans.
Reserves are usually part of the picture.
Post-closing reserves measured in months of payment are common, and the requirement often rises with loan size or lower credit.
See what this program would take in your case.
We are brokers — this program is shopped across hundreds of wholesale lenders, not quoted off one rate sheet. A short application gives us enough to compare real options.
Program availability, terms, guidelines, and documentation requirements vary by lender and are subject to underwriting and change without notice. This is not a commitment to lend.