Business Loans That Suit the Books

A chattel mortgage means the business owns the asset from day one and the lender takes security over it. It sits on your balance sheet, and for a GST-registered business the GST on the purchase is generally claimable up front. It is the most common structure for a reason.

A finance lease means the lender owns the asset and you pay to use it, with an option at the end. A rental or operating lease keeps it off the books entirely and hands it back at the end.

Which one suits depends on your tax position and what you plan to do with the asset at the end of the term. It is worth a short conversation with your accountant before the paperwork, not after.

Full doc means you hand over financials, tax returns and BAS. It usually gets you the sharpest rate and the highest limits, because the lender can see everything.

Low doc works off less, typically your ABN, GST registration and six to twelve months of bank statements. It is faster and far more forgiving of a set of financials that is not ready yet. You pay for that in the rate.

If your last return is more than a year old, low doc is often the honest starting point rather than a fallback.

Security gives the lender something to fall back on, and the price of your loan moves with it. An asset-backed loan against equipment or a vehicle is cheaper than the same amount unsecured.

Property security is cheaper again, but it is the biggest commitment you can make. Putting the house behind a business facility is a decision that deserves more than a phone call.

Unsecured cash flow lending is the most expensive and the fastest. For short-term working capital that is sometimes exactly the right trade.

Time trading, turnover, how consistent the bank account looks, and whether the ATO is paid up. Most will want twelve months of trading, though there are lenders who go earlier at a price.

Directors matter too. Personal credit files get pulled, and a personal guarantee is standard on most small business lending.

A dishonour or two on the statements does more damage than people expect, because it is the cleanest signal of stress a lender has.

The cheapest rate is not always the cheapest loan to live with. A short term at a low rate can strangle a month that a slightly dearer, longer loan would have handled comfortably.

If your income is seasonal, say it up front. Repayments can often be structured to match, with lighter periods through the quiet months and more when the money arrives.

We model the repayment against your worst month rather than your average one, because that is the month that decides whether the loan works.

Different structures are treated differently. Interest and depreciation on a chattel mortgage are usually deductible for the business-use portion. A rental is generally deductible as an operating expense instead.

Instant asset write-off thresholds change, sometimes at short notice, and they are worth checking for the current financial year rather than assuming last year still applies.

We are finance brokers, not accountants. We will lay out what each structure does so you can have a short, useful conversation with yours.