The short answer: 3 months of business bank statements, a valid government ID, and a voided check. That's it for most approvals under $100,000. A lot of people come into this expecting a stack of paperwork. The MCA process is genuinely light on documents compared to any bank product.
But the details matter. Here's exactly what lenders want and why, what gets added for larger amounts, and the specific mistakes that slow approvals down.
The Core Three Documents
1. Three Months of Business Bank Statements
This is the most important document in the package. MCA lenders are underwriting your revenue, not your credit. Bank statements are how they see your revenue. Three months gives them a deposit average, a pattern, and a look at how you manage cash.
A few things lenders look at specifically when reviewing statements:
- Average monthly deposits. This determines your approval amount. Most lenders will advance between 100% and 150% of your average monthly deposits for a first advance.
- NSF fees and overdrafts. Lenders count them. One or two in 3 months is manageable. Multiple NSF charges per month is a red flag and can reduce the offer or cause a decline.
- Existing daily payment debits. If you already have an MCA being repaid via daily ACH, lenders see it. They'll factor that into the payment amount they're comfortable approving. Don't try to hide a prior advance. It will show up in the statements.
Send all accounts the business deposits into. If you have two business checking accounts and you deposit into both, send both. Lenders who see only part of your deposits make decisions based on incomplete information, and the offer will be lower than it should be.
PDFs directly from your bank, not screenshots. This sounds like a small detail, but it matters. Screenshots can be edited. Bank-generated PDFs have a consistent format and are trusted. A screenshot of a bank statement will often get the application flagged for manual review or kicked back entirely.
2. Valid Government-Issued Photo ID
Driver's license or passport. It must match the business owner of record on the application. If the business is in your name and the LLC was formed in your name, your ID is the right one to send. If there are multiple owners, lenders typically want ID for the majority owner or any owner with 20% or more of the business.
3. Voided Check
This is for ACH setup. MCA repayments are made via ACH debit from your business checking account. A voided check confirms the account and routing number. If you don't have paper checks, a bank-issued letter on letterhead with the account and routing number will work for most lenders. A screenshot of your online banking showing the account numbers will not. It needs to be official.
Ready to Apply? Gather These Three Documents First.
Have your statements, ID, and voided check ready. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes.
Start My Application. Free ↗What Gets Added for Larger Amounts
For advances over $100,000, most lenders want a bit more. The underwriting gets deeper because the exposure is higher.
| Document | Required Under $100K | Required Over $100K | Common Mistake |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 months business bank statements | Yes | Yes (may expand to 6 months) | Sending personal statements; sending screenshots instead of PDFs |
| Government-issued photo ID | Yes | Yes | Sending an expired ID; name doesn't match application |
| Voided check or bank letter | Yes | Yes | Sending a screenshot of online banking instead of a voided check |
| Most recent business tax return | Rarely required | Often required | Sending a personal return instead of a business return |
| YTD profit and loss statement | Rarely required | Sometimes required | An accountant-prepared P&L carries more weight than a spreadsheet |
| Business overview (one page) | Not required | Occasionally requested | Not needed for most standard applications |
Six months of bank statements instead of three is the most common expansion for larger deals. A full 6-month view smooths out any one-month anomalies and gives the lender a longer look at deposit patterns.
What You Do NOT Need
The MCA application is specifically not a bank loan application. A lot of business owners come in expecting to produce a full financial package. You don't. For a standard advance under $100,000, you do not need:
- A business plan
- Articles of incorporation or LLC operating agreement
- Personal tax returns (some lenders ask, most don't for smaller amounts)
- Accounts receivable aging reports
- Collateral documents
- A personal financial statement
If a lender is asking for all of those things for a $50,000 advance, you may be working with a lender who isn't specialized in MCA. Standard MCA underwriting is bank statements and ID. That's the model.
Common Issues That Slow Approvals
Personal Statements Instead of Business Statements
Happens more than you'd expect, especially for sole proprietors who blur the line between personal and business accounts. Lenders need to see the business account. If your business deposits go into a personal account because you haven't set up a dedicated business checking account yet, that's a problem to fix before applying. A dedicated business checking account with 3 months of activity is a prerequisite.
Missing Pages
Bank statements need to be complete. If January's statement is 8 pages and you send 6, lenders flag it. They need the full statement including the summary page, all transaction pages, and any end-of-statement disclosures. Download the full PDF from your bank portal, not page by page.
Statements Older Than 30 Days
Most lenders require that your bank statements be current within the last 30 to 45 days. If you're applying in May with February as your most recent statement, that's a problem. Lenders want to see what's happening now. Pull fresh statements at the time of application.
Pro tip: Download all 3 months of statements today, before you start the application. Having them ready and staged cuts the time from application submission to funding offer from 24 hours down to 4 to 6 hours. The delay in most MCA approvals isn't underwriting. It's waiting on the applicant to send documents.
The Timeline Once You Submit
Once your documents are in, here's what typically happens:
- Pre-qualification (2 to 4 hours): The lender reviews your statements, runs a soft credit pull, and either pre-qualifies or declines. If pre-qualified, you get a preliminary offer showing the advance amount, factor rate, and term.
- Contract review (1 to 2 hours): You review the agreement. Ask any questions. We walk through this with every client so there are no surprises on daily payment amounts or terms.
- Signing and funding (same day or next business day): Once you sign electronically, the lender initiates a wire or ACH. For most approvals signed before 2 p.m., funds arrive the same business day. Signed after 2 p.m., next business day is the standard timeline.
From a 9 a.m. document submission to funded is achievable in a single business day. No 30-day wait. No site visit. No in-person meeting. That's the practical advantage of MCA as a product.
Three Documents. 24 Hours. Done.
Gather your bank statements, ID, and voided check. Apply in 60 seconds.
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