How to prepare your company for a finance application

Get your accounts clean and current

The first thing an underwriter reaches for is your accounts, so make sure they tell a clear, current story. File any overdue accounts and confirmation statements at Companies House — late filings are visible and read as risk. Where you can, prepare up-to-date management accounts covering the period since your last filed figures, so the lender sees the business as it is now, not as it was at a year-end months ago.

It's worth a quick self-review: are your balance sheet and P&L showing the genuine strength of the business? Clearing small creditors and tidying obvious anomalies before you apply presents a stronger, more credible position.

Have your bank statements ready

Your business bank statements are the single most important evidence, because they show real cash moving rather than figures on a page. Lenders typically want the last 6 to 24 months for your main trading account. Before you apply:

• Make sure the account is in the company's name and carries the trading activity.
• Check the recent months show steady, healthy turnover consistent with what you'll state.
• Be ready to explain anything unusual — a one-off large outflow, a quiet month, a returned payment.

Many modern lenders use Open Banking to pull statements securely with your consent, which removes the upload step and gives a live, tamper-proof view of your cash flow. If that's offered, it usually speeds the decision considerably.

Define the purpose and the amount

Lenders ask two questions above all: how much, and what for. Pin both down before you apply. A precise purpose — "£30,000 to buy stock for the Q4 season, repaid from sales over the following three months" — builds confidence; "general cash flow" invites doubt.

Size the facility to the job. Over-borrowing inflates your repayments and raises affordability flags; under-borrowing leaves you applying again in a month. Tie the amount to a clear outcome the money funds, ideally one that generates the cash to repay it. If the need is one-off, a term loan fits; if it's recurring, a revolving facility may suit better. Knowing this before you apply keeps the application tight and the figures coherent.

Tidy your credit file

Your company's credit profile sits alongside your accounts in the decision. Pull your report from one of the main agencies (Experian, Equifax or Creditsafe) and check it before a lender does. Look for:

• Errors — payments wrongly marked late, settled markers still showing, details that aren't yours.
• Outstanding CCJs — a satisfied judgment reads far better than an open one.
• Thin data — missing filings that leave the agency assuming the worst.

Dispute genuine errors with evidence, settle what you can, and avoid making a cluster of applications in a short window, since multiple searches can themselves dent the file. Our guide on improving your business credit score covers the longer game.

Final checks before you submit

With the four pillars in place, run a last pass for consistency — it's the single biggest cause of avoidable delay. The figures you type must reconcile with the statements and accounts you attach; a stated turnover that doesn't match the bank data sends the application to a human reviewer or, worse, a decline.

Have your Companies House number, director ID and proof of address ready for KYC and anti-money-laundering checks. Confirm you clear the lender's headline criteria — UK limited company, minimum trading history, business bank account — so you don't pick up an avoidable decline. Because Credicorp lends to the company, not the director, with no personal guarantee, the strength you've assembled in the company's accounts and trading is exactly what carries the decision. When you're ready, you can begin at clients.credicorp.co.uk/register.