MCA merchant qualification checklist

Section 1 — Ask in this order

Order matters. Time in business first, because it disqualifies fastest and costs you nothing to ask.

• 1. How long have you been operating? Hard floor is 6 months. Under that, most funders decline regardless of revenue. Stop here if under 6 — take a dated callback instead.
• 2. Roughly what does the business deposit in a typical month? Floor is $10–15K depending on funder. Ask for "deposits", not "revenue" — merchants quote gross sales and underwriting reads the bank account.
• 3. Is that fairly steady month to month, or does it swing? Consistency matters more than the average. Ten deposits a month beats three lumpy ones totalling the same.
• 4. Any advances or funding running right now? Zero or one is clean. Two is workable. Three or more and the conversation is about consolidation, not new money.
• 5. Has the account gone negative in the last three months? Repeated NSF or negative days is the most common reason a decent file gets declined. Ask directly; merchants answer honestly if you're matter-of-fact about it.
• 6. What would the money actually be for? Equipment, payroll gap, inventory, floating a job. A merchant who can't name the job usually isn't ready to sign.
• 7. When do you need it by? The single best qualifier in MCA. A date means a decision. "Sometime soon" means a callback.

Section 2 — Documents to request before you hang up

Send the email while they're still on the phone. Requested later means collected never.

• Three months of business bank statements — all pages, PDF from online banking rather than photos of paper.
• Completed one-page application — legal entity name, EIN, ownership, industry, address.
• Photo ID of the signer — front and back.
• Voided cheque or bank letter — for the funding account.

Section 3 — Red flags that should stop a submission

• Under 6 months in business — declines almost universally, wastes the funder's time and yours.
• Three or more open positions — likely a debt spiral. Funding it produces a default.
• Weekly negative days — the account can't service a daily holdback.
• Money is to pay another advance — the clearest debt-spiral signal there is.
• Won't send statements — either not serious, or the statements say something they don't want read.
• Restricted industry for your funder — check the list before you promise anything.
• Shopping four brokers simultaneously — ask early. Multiple submissions of the same file damages your standing with funders.

Section 4 — Green flags worth prioritising

• Statements sent within the hour, unprompted.
• A specific dollar amount and a specific date.
• Funded before and paid off cleanly — they understand the product.
• High deposit count with steady balances.
• The person on the phone is the owner and signer.