Does completing this checklist mean my business qualifies for funding?

No. This is an organizational tool. Eligibility for a loan, an SBA-backed program or an investment is determined by the lender, program or investor under their own current requirements.

Why two years of tax returns?

Two years is a common starting point for preparation, not a rule. Some reviewers request more history, interim statements or records specific to an industry or program. Confirm the actual list with your lender.

My business is only a few months old. Is this checklist useful?

Yes. Identify which historical records do not exist yet, then prepare a startup budget, a use-of-funds breakdown and projections with written assumptions, along with your formation, ownership and intellectual property records.

Do I need a patent or trademark before raising money?

Not necessarily. What reviewers generally look for is a clear inventory of what the company owns and licenses, written assignments from founders and contractors, and control of the accounts and domains the business depends on.

Is founder vesting required by lenders?

No. Vesting is a startup and investor convention. For an established company without outside investors, the comparable work is buy-sell and exit planning among the current owners.

Are my selections on this page saved anywhere?

No. The status choices exist only in your current browser tab, are not stored and are not transmitted to the firm or to any analytics service.

Does using this guide create an attorney-client relationship?

No. It provides general educational information only. An attorney-client relationship is created only by a signed engagement agreement with the firm.

Business Funding & Expansion Readiness Checklist

Preparing for a business loan, outside investment or your next location? Organize the financial records, ownership documents and agreements that deserve attention before your next funding conversation.

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Seven printable pages with status boxes. No form and no personal information required.

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Growth usually arrives before the paperwork is ready

Another location. A product launch. An order larger than anything you have filled before. A partner or investor who wants to put money into what you have built. Growth tends to arrive as an opportunity with a deadline attached, and the paperwork behind the business is rarely as current as the business itself.

This checklist is an organizational starting point. It brings together the financial records, formation and ownership documents, contracts and intellectual property that lenders, investors and landlords commonly look at, so you can see what exists, what is outdated and what needs a conversation before you sign anything.

Loan applications and investor reviews are not the same exercise. A lender is largely evaluating repayment: cash flow, collateral, existing obligations and personal guarantees. An investor is evaluating ownership and upside: the capitalization table, who controls decisions, what the company owns and how future rounds would work. Many of the same documents appear in both reviews, but the questions asked of them differ.

Nothing here is a universal list of requirements, and completing it does not assess whether you qualify for financing. Every lender, program, investor and transaction sets its own requirements. Use the labels beside each item to focus on what applies to your situation.

All businesses: worth organizing in nearly every funding or expansion conversation.
Loans: commonly reviewed by lenders, including SBA-backed financing.
Investor funding: commonly reviewed in angel or venture due diligence.
Expansion: relevant to a new location, larger facility or new market.
If applicable: only where the item exists in your business.

Section 1: Define the funding request

Before documents, clarity. You should be able to say in a few plain sentences what the money will accomplish, how much you need, what form you want it in and why the business can support it. Owners who can do that spend their meetings discussing terms rather than reconstructing basics.

Established businesses lead with operating history and current performance. Startups lead with product stage, milestones, runway and whatever evidence of demand exists: pilots, letters of intent, waitlists, early revenue, retention.

Section 2: Financial and tax records

This is the part of the file most often incomplete, and the part that most often stalls a review. Two years of business tax returns is a common preparation starting point rather than a fixed rule. Some reviewers ask for more history, interim statements, or records specific to their program or industry.

If your business is new, do not manufacture history. Identify what does not exist yet and prepare a startup budget, a use-of-funds breakdown and projections whose assumptions are written down and defensible.

Where your financial statements and your tax filings tell different stories, prepare the explanation before someone else finds the gap. Reconcile the records with your accountant first. You do not need to upload any of these documents to this website.

Section 3: Company formation, ownership and authority

Funding transactions run on authority: who owns the business today, and who is entitled to approve borrowing, issuing equity or signing the deal. Businesses that have added partners, bought someone out, issued options or changed managers informally often discover the written record no longer matches reality.

Do your documents reflect who owns the business today and who can approve the proposed deal?

Not every entity needs every document listed here. A single-member Florida LLC has a much shorter list than a multi-founder corporation with investors and an option pool.

Section 4: Contracts and expansion obligations

Contracts are where expansion plans quietly collide with commitments already made. A lease may require landlord consent for an assignment or a change of control. A distribution agreement may grant exclusivity in the territory you are about to enter. A supplier agreement may carry minimums that a new location cannot absorb.

The goal in this section is identification, not interpretation: gather the agreements, then flag the provisions that could affect financing, an ownership change or the expansion itself.

Section 5: Intellectual property and technology

For technology, AI, SaaS, product and brand-driven businesses, intellectual property is often the asset being funded. Diligence questions tend to be concrete: does the company own the code, the brand and the content, or does an individual founder or a former contractor still own it on paper?

Can you show what the company owns, what it licenses and what still needs clarification?

Trademarks and patents belong here where they exist or are planned. Not every idea is patentable, and a patent is not a prerequisite for raising money. What matters in a review is a clear inventory, written assignments and control of the accounts, domains and repositories the business depends on.

Section 6: Partners, founder equity and exit planning

Ownership arrangements agreed by conversation tend to surface at the worst possible moment: during a funding round, a buyout or a departure. Written terms covering contributions, decision-making, deadlock and what happens when someone leaves protect the business and make diligence far shorter.

Founder vesting is a startup and investor convention, not a general lender requirement. For an established company with no outside investors, the equivalent work is exit and buy-sell planning: how ownership transfers on a sale, a retirement, a dispute or a death.

Section 7: Prepare for your funding path

The final preparation depends on the path. Debt and equity are reviewed against different criteria and carry different consequences: a loan is repaid and often personally guaranteed; investment is not repaid but permanently changes ownership and, frequently, control.

SBA-backed financing carries program-specific requirements and lender-specific documentation, and those requirements change. Confirm eligibility and the current document list directly with your lender and against the SBA's own published program pages rather than relying on any checklist.

On the investment side, offering and selling equity is regulated activity. Review your fundraising approach and the applicable securities-law requirements with qualified counsel before soliciting or accepting money.

Section 8: Questions to bring to your advisers

The point of this exercise is not a completed file. It is a shorter, sharper set of questions for the people advising you, and a clear view of what you are agreeing to before you sign it.

Working checklist

Readiness checklist

Mark each item Ready, Needs attention or Not applicable. Selections stay in this browser tab only, are never saved and are never transmitted. There is no score and no eligibility result.

1. Define the funding request

Amount sought and the intended use of funds
All businesses
Whether you are considering debt, equity or both
All businesses
Expansion budget and anticipated timing
Expansion
Owner contributions already made and other funding sources
All businesses
Business plan or a concise written growth summary
All businesses
Financial projections with the assumptions clearly stated
All businesses
Operating history and current performance
All businesses
Product stage, milestones, runway and evidence of demand
If applicable

2. Financial and tax records

Most recent two years of business tax returns, with schedules and amendments where available
Loans
Personal tax returns, if requested by the lender
Loans
Current year-to-date profit and loss statement and balance sheet
All businesses
Cash-flow records or forecasts
All businesses
Recent business bank statements
Loans
Existing loan balances, repayment schedules, liens and guarantees
All businesses
Accounts receivable, accounts payable and inventory reports
If applicable
Payroll summaries and relevant W-2 and 1099 records
If applicable
Written explanations for significant inconsistencies between financial statements and tax filings
All businesses
Startup budget and projections where historical records do not exist
If applicable

3. Company formation, ownership and authority

Articles of organization or incorporation and all amendments
All businesses
Operating agreement, bylaws or shareholder agreement
If applicable
Employer Identification Number confirmation
All businesses
Current registration and good-standing records
If applicable
Current ownership ledger or capitalization table
All businesses
Issued equity, options, warrants, convertible instruments and outstanding equity commitments
Investor funding
Member, shareholder or board approvals for borrowing, issuing equity or signing the transaction
All businesses
Authorized signatories and current management roles
All businesses
Records of ownership transfers, added partners and related amendments
If applicable

4. Contracts and expansion obligations

Commercial leases and all amendments
Expansion
Renewal, assignment, change-of-control and landlord-consent provisions
Expansion
Personal guarantees and security deposits
All businesses
Vendor and supplier agreements
All businesses
Distribution, reseller and franchise agreements
If applicable
Significant customer contracts and purchase orders
All businesses
Employment and independent-contractor agreements
All businesses
Required operating licenses, permits and insurance
All businesses
Existing exclusivity, termination or other material contractual restrictions
All businesses
Pending disputes or other material legal obligations
If applicable

5. Intellectual property and technology

Inventory of important software, branding, inventions, content, domains and other intellectual property
All businesses
Founder, employee and contractor intellectual property assignments to the company
All businesses
Trademark registrations and applications
If applicable
Patents and pending patent applications
If applicable
Third-party software, content and technology licenses
If applicable
Open-source license obligations
If applicable
Ownership or permitted use of datasets, models and other AI-related assets
If applicable
Confidentiality agreements and measures protecting trade secrets
All businesses
Control of essential domains, code repositories and business accounts
All businesses

6. Partners, founder equity and exit planning

Written ownership and contribution arrangements
All businesses
Founder vesting terms
If applicable
What happens to ownership when a founder or partner leaves
All businesses
Buyout, transfer and exit provisions
All businesses
Decision-making authority and deadlock procedures
All businesses
Rights held by existing investors
If applicable
Proposed investment terms affecting dilution, control or future fundraising
Investor funding

7A. Business loans and SBA financing

SBA-backed financing has program-specific requirements. Preparing this checklist does not establish eligibility.

Obtain the lender's current document checklist
Loans
Confirm current program eligibility directly with the lender
Loans
Review repayment assumptions against existing obligations
Loans
Identify requested collateral, guarantees and owner contributions
Loans
Review the restrictions and ongoing obligations in the proposed loan documents
Loans

7B. Angel investment and venture capital

Loans and venture capital are reviewed against different criteria and different approval standards.

Prepare the pitch deck and supporting business information
Investor funding
Reconcile the capitalization table with all issued and promised equity
Investor funding
Organize formation, financial, intellectual property and material contract records for due diligence
Investor funding
Identify proposed investment terms, dilution and control rights
Investor funding
Review the fundraising approach and securities-law requirements with qualified counsel before soliciting or accepting investment
Investor funding

8. Questions to bring to your advisers

What is missing or outdated?
Who needs to approve this transaction?
What ownership or control am I giving up?
What am I personally guaranteeing?
Could an existing contract interfere with the deal?
What needs review before I sign?
Which questions belong with my attorney, accountant or lender?

My next three actions

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