The MCA submission checklist

Lenders see hundreds of submissions a day. An incomplete package goes to the bottom of the pile or comes back as a stips request, and a deal that does not fit the lender's box comes back as a decline that burns a day. A repeatable checklist fixes both.

The typical submission package most MCA lenders expect:

Many lenders ask for a specific subject line and file naming, and some reject emails above about 25 MB. Agree one convention for your shop and keep each lender's exceptions on the lender record.

• Subject: `Merchant DBA - Ask $50k - Your ISO name`
• Files: `DBA_BankStmt_2026-07.pdf`, `DBA_BankStmt_2026-08.pdf`, `DBA_Application.pdf`, `DBA_ID_OwnerLast.pdf`
• One PDF per month for statements; never a phone photo of a screen.
• Compress or split if the package goes over the lender's size limit.

Run the same numbers an underwriter will run. Work them out per month and average them over the statements you have.

combined holdback % = (existing monthly MCA payments + new monthly payment) / monthly true revenue x 100

• Match the deal against each lender's criteria, not your memory of them.
• Skip any lender with a hard fail unless you have a reason to ask for an exception.
• Check for an open position with the same lender and any prior default with them.
• Prefer lenders with a signed ISO agreement and a known turnaround.
• Decide how many lenders to send to. Shotgunning every lender rarely helps your reputation.

If you keep lender criteria in your CRM, this step takes seconds. See lender matching.

• Use each lender's submission address and any required format.
• Record which documents went to which lender, when and by whom. It settles disputes later.
• Set the status to sent on each lender's row the moment it goes.
• Note any lender that asks for a portal upload instead of email.

Decline reasons are data. Over a few months they tell you which lenders you are sending the wrong paper to and which criteria you have recorded wrong.

• Use a fixed list of decline reasons: revenue too low, time in business, too many positions, NSFs or negative days, credit, industry, state, incomplete docs, merchant unresponsive.
• Allow more than one reason per decline.
• Review declines by lender each month and update that lender's criteria.

1. Signed application on file
2. 3 to 6 full bank statements plus MTD
3. Owner ID and voided check
4. Processing statements if needed
5. Revenue, ADB, NSFs, negative days and positions worked out
6. Combined holdback checked against the requested amount
7. Lenders matched against their stored criteria
8. Files named and sized for each lender
9. Submission recorded per lender with documents and time
10. Follow-up tasks set
11. Offers compared side by side
12. Decline reasons recorded

Our submissions feature builds the package once from the deal's documents and email templates, and tracks every lender's status, stip requests and decline reasons on the deal.