Before applying, a Florida City, FL owner gathers six months of bank statements for every business account, the latest business and personal tax returns, a photo ID for each owner, the business's state filing and EIN letter, and papers tied to the use: a lease, an equipment quote or open invoices. Millview Funding passes the file to funding partners, which review it on their own terms.
A document checklist for a Florida City, FL business loan request, with an invented deposit table showing own-account transfers.
Bank statements: how many months and which accounts
Bank statements lead the file because they show money actually received rather than money billed. How many months a partner reviews is its own decision. Pulling six full months for every account the business uses leaves room for a partner that asks for fewer. Download the statements as PDFs from the bank, with every page, rather than screenshots or exported spreadsheets.
Every account means every one: the main operating account, a second account used for payroll or taxes, a savings account, and the merchant processor's statements if card sales settle there first. Transfers between the business's own accounts show up as deposits and can make sales look larger than they are, so mark them. Invented figures, not an offer:
| Month | All deposits | Transfers from own savings | Deposits from sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | $48,200 | $5,000 | $43,200 |
| Month 2 | $44,900 | None | $44,900 |
| Month 3 | $51,300 | $8,000 | $43,300 |
| Month 4 | $46,700 | None | $46,700 |
| Month 5 | $49,800 | $3,500 | $46,300 |
| Month 6 | $45,600 | None | $45,600 |
Averaged over the six months, all deposits come to $47,750 a month, but deposits from sales come to $45,000. A partner sizing the request works from the second figure, so the owner might as well do the subtraction first and explain the transfers in a note. Large one-time deposits, such as an insurance payment or the owner putting in personal money, deserve the same note.
Tax returns, IDs and the business entity record
Tax returns show what the business earned after expenses. The business return depends on the entity: a sole proprietor reports on Schedule C inside the personal return, a partnership or multi-member LLC files its own partnership return, and an S corporation files its own return and issues each owner a K-1. Include the most recent year, plus the year before if the business has one, and a year-to-date profit and loss statement if the last return is many months old.
Each owner adds a government-issued photo ID and a personal return can belong in the file as well. Small businesses are the norm here: 90.6% of employer establishments in Miami-Dade County, FL had fewer than 20 employees in 2023, per County Business Patterns, and at that size the owner's own finances sit close to the business's.
- The articles of organization or incorporation filed with the state, and the latest annual report
- The IRS letter that assigned the business's EIN
- An ownership breakdown showing each owner's percentage
- Any local business license or tax receipt the business holds
- For a sole proprietor, the name the business trades under, if it differs from the owner's
Leases, equipment quotes and invoices for specific uses
The rest of the file depends on what the money is for. A use-specific document lets a partner match the request to a product: a quote points to an equipment loan, a lease and supplier list point to movable furnishings, and a stack of unpaid invoices points to working capital. Fixed room work is excluded.
- Equipment: a vendor quote with make, model, year, price, tax, delivery and installation, plus the serial number for used equipment (equipment financing)
- Movable furnishings: the lease, its remaining term and the supplier quote (term loan)
- Payroll or a supplier order: open invoices and the dates customers are due to pay (working capital)
- Refinancing: a payoff letter and the current statement for each balance being replaced
- A new location: the signed lease or letter of intent and an opening budget
A partner can compare the remaining lease with the useful life of movable equipment and the proposed schedule. A supplier quote that is more than a few weeks old may need refreshing before funding, since vendor prices move.
Keeping the file current while offers come in
A loan file ages. If a review runs into a new month, a partner may ask for the new statement, so add it as soon as the bank posts it. Keep one folder with every document named by type and month, so a request for "the March statement" takes a minute rather than an afternoon.
Tell Millview Funding about any change while offers are out: a new loan or advance, a large customer lost, a lease signed or ended. Taking on new financing during a review can change an offer or end it. Offers can also carry expiry dates, so note each one and compare them before the first lapses.
The request form starts no credit application by itself; a credit check, if one comes, belongs to the partner reading the file, later on. The how it works page sets out each step from request to funded offer, and other articles on preparing for funding are on the blog.
By Millview Funding · Updated
