Finance Ready: An SME Guide for Australian Business Owners
By Sonja Pfitz
Being finance ready means you can hand a lender a clear, current and credible picture of your business the day you need funding. Not three weeks later. Not after a scramble through old emails while your accountant is on leave.
It doesn't mean perfect numbers. It means honest, organised ones, and knowing what a lender will make of them before you apply. Most SMEs don't get there alone. They shouldn't have to.
Why does being finance ready matter?
Most business owners treat finance as something you sort out when you need it. However, by the time you need it, you're short on time and short on options.
Lenders price uncertainty. A disorganised file means a slower credit decision, tougher conditions, or a decline for a business that should have been approved. I spent years on credit committees, approving and declining deals. Every credit manager asks three questions: can this business repay, do I trust these numbers, and what happens if it goes wrong? Your job is to answer all three before they're asked.
Here's what that looks like in practice. A transport operator I worked with won a contract that needed three new prime movers within six weeks. The business was profitable. But the last lodged tax return was 14 months old, two BAS quarters were outstanding and the ATO portal showed a debt nobody had mentioned. We got the deal done, but the approval took longer than it should have and with conditions that cost them.
Compare that with a manufacturer who called me three months before they needed funds. We worked through their financial and ATO position together, then took a clean file to market. Their finance facility was approved in under three weeks. Same lender market. Different preparation, and a different time to pick up the phone.
What lenders want to see, and why you shouldn't build it alone
Every lender has its own checklist, credit policy and appetite, but the core is consistent:
Finalised Financial statements for the last two years, plus year-to-date management accounts no more than three months old
Lodged tax returns and up-to-date BAS, PAYG and Superannuation
Your ATO portal statement. ATO debt isn't a deal-breaker if it's disclosed with a payment arrangement. Hidden, it usually is.
Reconcile Aged receivables and payables reports
A commitment schedule: every facility, lender, limit, balance, repayment and security
A 12-month sales and cash flow forecast are beneficial especially for larger loans
Your structure: entities, directors, shareholders, trusts and guarantors
A one-page business overview: what you do, who you sell to, and what the money is for
Finding the documents is the easy part. Knowing how a credit manager will read them is the hard part. That's where we come in. We build the file, write the business lender briefing in the language credit teams use, we source the right lender with the right financial solution, then negotiate with them to get you the best outcome; saving your time and stress.
The problems that slow approvals
Most delays I see aren't about weak businesses. They're about surprises, and owners rarely spot them in their own numbers.
Personal and business spending running through the same accounts
Related-party loans with no explanation or agreement behind them
One customer making up 60% of revenue, with no plan for it, especially if they fail or cancel their contract with you
ATO debt or payment plans not disclosed upfront
A structure that doesn't match the story, such as a trust holding the assets while a company trades
None of these is fatal on its own. A problem disclosed is a conversation. A problem discovered is a decline. We find them first, and we control how this is accurately received by the lender.
How we get you finance ready
Finance ready isn't a one-off clean-up the week before an application. At Pfitz Financial we take you through it step by step:
Financial diagnostic. We review your accounts, tax position, ATO portal and structure the way a credit committee would.
Fix the gaps before market. We work with you and your accountant on outstanding BAS, related-party loans, structure and lumpy financial performance, so there are no surprises.
Build the lender file. Application, Financials, debt schedule, forecasts and a credit paper that tells your story properly.
Match the right lender. Business loans, Working capital, receivables, trade or asset finance, across banks and non-bank lenders, not just the one you already deal with.
Negotiate and manage it to settlement. Pricing, conditions and security, handled by someone who knows what's negotiable.
Why not just go to your bank?
You can. But your bank will only offer its own products, on its own terms. And every application leaves an enquiry on your credit file that the next lender will see.
I've spent 30 years in commercial finance, including years on credit committees deciding which deals got approved. I know what makes a credit manager comfortable, and what makes them reach for the decline button. That's the advantage you get when we're in your corner.
The best time to call us is before you need the money. Book a confidential discussions with with Pfitz Financial Solutions and walk into your next application with a lender-ready file. Talk to us, we are the experts in your corner.