Quick answer
Before applying for a business loan, ask your accountant how a lender will read your profit once tax-driven deductions are added back, whether every BAS and tax return is lodged, what the business owes the ATO, whether any director loans or Division 7A issues sit on the balance sheet, and whether they'll provide year-to-date accounts or sign an income declaration for a low doc lender.
Key points
- Accounts built to minimise tax can make a healthy business look weak to a lender; ask about add-backs
- Confirm what's lodged and what's owed to the ATO before any lender pulls the record
- Director loans from a company can raise questions; get your accountant to explain them upfront
- Ask whether they'll prepare year-to-date figures and talk directly to the lender if needed
- Low doc lenders often accept an accountant's income declaration, but not every accountant will sign one
Your accountant spends most of the year doing one job: keeping your tax bill as low as the law allows. A lender wants the opposite picture: profit that’s as strong and reliable as it truthfully is. Those two goals can pull your numbers in different directions, and the half-hour conversation that reconciles them is one of the best-value meetings you’ll have before borrowing.
Below are twelve questions worth carrying in, sorted by what each one protects. You won’t need every one. A sole trader borrowing $40k against bank statements might use three; a company buying a competitor with a trust in the structure will want them all.
Questions about how your profit will look
1. “What does my profit look like once we add back the tax-driven items?”
Lenders often rebuild your profit before assessing whether you can repay. They’ll typically add back non-cash and one-off costs: depreciation, the instant asset write-off on equipment you bought outright, interest on loans being refinanced, and sometimes a director’s above-market salary or one-time legal bills. Our glossary entry on add-backs explains the idea.
Ask your accountant to list these in a short schedule. A café that reported $18k net profit may show $95k of genuine earning capacity once $60k of equipment write-offs and a $17k one-off repair are put back. Without the schedule, the lender may only see the $18k.
2. “Which year will a lender see as ‘the latest’, and is it a fair picture?”
If the last completed year included a flood, a lost contract or a messy restructure, lenders will want context. Ask whether year-to-date management accounts would tell a better and more current story, and whether your accountant can prepare them quickly.
3. “Can you build a 12-month cash flow forecast with the new repayment in it?”
For a bank loan, a start-up, an acquisition or anything over a few hundred thousand dollars, a forecast showing the new repayment comfortably covered month by month carries weight. Your accountant can build it from real numbers rather than guesses. You can stress-test the result with our debt service coverage ratio calculator.
Questions about the ATO
4. “Is every BAS and tax return lodged? If not, when will each one be?”
Unlodged returns are one of the most common reasons a file stalls. Ask for a list of every outstanding lodgement with a target date.
There’s a timing trap worth raising. Registered tax agents can generally lodge clients’ returns later than the standard deadline under the ATO’s lodgment program, but clients who had prior-year returns outstanding at 30 June can lose that later date. If you’re behind, catching up quickly protects both your borrowing and your future lodgement dates. Business loans when your accountant is behind covers what’s possible in the meantime.
5. “Exactly what do we owe the ATO, and is it on a plan?”
Get the current balance from the integrated client account, not a figure from memory. Then confirm whether an instalment arrangement exists and whether every instalment has been met.
Two current facts make this question sharper than it used to be. Once $100k or more has sat unpaid beyond 90 days, and the business hasn’t been dealing with the tax office about it, the ATO can pass that debt to the credit bureaus, so an unmanaged debt can appear on your company’s file. And general interest charge on late tax is no longer deductible for income years from 1 July 2025, which changes the arithmetic on whether to clear the debt with cheaper finance. Ask your accountant to run that comparison; our ATO debt calculator gives a starting point.
6. “Are we up to date with super under the new payday rules?”
From 1 July 2026, employers generally have to pay super with each pay cycle rather than quarterly. Lenders scanning recent bank statements will look for regular contributions alongside wages. If the transition has been bumpy, find out now and fix it before statements are pulled.
Questions about the balance sheet
7. “Are there loans between the company and me, and do they cause any issue?”
Director loans are common in small companies and usually sit quietly on the balance sheet. But money a private company lends to a shareholder or associate can fall under Division 7A of the tax law, which requires a written loan agreement and minimum yearly repayments; if those aren’t met, the ATO can treat the amount as an unfranked dividend. A lender reading your balance sheet will see the loan and may ask whether it’s compliant and how it’s being repaid. Have your accountant explain it in a sentence the lender will understand.
8. “Does anything in our structure complicate security or guarantees?”
Trusts, corporate trustees, assets held in a spouse’s name, or property owned by a self-managed super fund all affect who can borrow and who must guarantee. Ask your accountant to sketch the structure on one page: which entity trades, which owns the assets, who the directors and beneficiaries are. Lenders love that page. Business loans for trusts explains why.
9. “Are there contingent liabilities I’ve forgotten?”
Guarantees you’ve signed for another business, a disputed supplier bill, a pending legal claim. Many owners forget these until a lender asks. Your accountant often knows them from the notes to the accounts.
Planning a loan in the next month or two? You can send us the outline now; the form is short, and asking leaves your credit file untouched.
Questions about working together on the application
10. “Will you sign an income declaration if a low doc lender asks for one?”
Low doc business loans often accept a letter from your accountant confirming income in place of full returns. Wording varies by lender, and some accounting firms have a policy against signing them, especially if the firm hasn’t done your most recent tax work. Find out before you choose a lender that depends on one.
11. “Can the lender call you, and what will it cost?”
For anything complex, a five-minute call between assessor and accountant can resolve questions that might otherwise bounce around by email for a week. Agree on who answers and roughly what the firm will charge for loan support outside your normal fees.
12. “Is your registration current?”
Lenders relying on an accountant’s figures or letter may check their standing. Only registered tax agents can generally charge for tax agent services, and the Tax Practitioners Board publishes a free public register you can search. It takes a minute and avoids an awkward surprise mid-application.
How should you prepare for the meeting?
Bring the basics so the time goes on answers, not fact-finding:
- the sum you’re after, its purpose and your deadline
- possible security, for example a property, with an estimate of the debt against it
- a rundown of your current loans, leases and credit cards with limits
- any lender quote or term sheet you’ve already received
Then ask your accountant for three deliverables with dates: year-to-date accounts, an add-back schedule, and a current ATO account statement. Our guide to what your accountant should send a lender lists the full pack, and the business loan documents checklist covers everything else.
A worked example: when the accountant’s answer changed the loan
Here’s an illustration. A Toowoomba earthmoving business, run through a company, wanted $350k to buy a second excavator and a tipper. Its last tax return showed net profit of $41k on $1.2m turnover, and the owner assumed a bank would laugh.
The accountant’s add-back schedule told a different story. The year’s profit had absorbed $128k of depreciation and instant asset write-offs on earlier machinery, $22k of interest on equipment loans that the new finance would replace, and a $15k one-off legal bill. Adjusted earnings were closer to $206k. The accountant also flagged a $60k director loan already on a compliant Division 7A agreement, and supplied the signed agreement.
With those two pages, the lender assessed serviceability on the adjusted figure, accepted the director loan explanation and moved to approval. Without them, the same business would have looked like it could barely carry its existing debt.
Your accountant has done their bit. Now let’s find the lender
Once your accountant has helped you see your numbers the way a lender does, the next step is finding the lender most likely to agree. That’s where we come in, whether your file is spotless or carries an ATO plan, a director loan or a patchy year.
The enquiry is about a minute’s typing and it won’t show up on your credit history. We don’t hand your details around a network of funders, so there’s no barrage of calls. One person on our team takes your enquiry, works through it and phones you. If you share the adjusted figures your accountant gave you, accurately, we can line up a suitable lender on the first go.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need my accountant's help to get a business loan?
Not always. Smaller unsecured loans are often assessed on bank statements alone. For bank loans, larger amounts, acquisitions and anything needing full financials, an accountant who prepares current figures and answers lender questions can make the difference between a quick approval and weeks of delay.
What is an accountant's letter for a business loan?
A signed letter, sometimes called an accountant's declaration, confirming your business income or that your tax affairs are in order. Low doc lenders use it in place of full tax returns. Each lender has its own wording, and some accountants decline to sign them, so ask early.
Should my accountant talk to the lender directly?
It often helps for larger or more complex loans, especially where the business uses trusts, has director loans or had a one-off bad year. Give the lender permission and agree with your accountant on what they'll say and roughly what it will cost.
Will my accountant charge for loan-related work?
Most will, as it sits outside the annual compliance job. Ask for a quote for year-to-date accounts, a cash flow forecast or a lender letter before the work starts, so there are no surprises.
What if my accountant is behind on my returns?
Ask for a firm date for each outstanding lodgement and get it in writing. Some non-bank lenders will assess on BAS and bank statements while returns are pending; our page on business loans when your accountant is behind sets out the options.
Can my accountant recommend a lender?
Some can and will, and many have lenders they've seen work well for clients. It's still worth comparing at least one other option, because the best fit depends on your security, your timing and what your statements show.