Requesting documents and stips from the merchant

A deal sits in App In - Collecting Docs until the paperwork is in, and it cannot move to Ready for Submission until every checklist item is received, verified, waived or approved. One clear request with every missing item listed gets documents back faster than five separate texts, and the checklist shows you and your processor exactly what is still out.

• StipsStips (stipulations) are the documents or conditions a funder requires before or after approval: bank statements, ID, a voided check, payoff letters and so on.
• MTD statementAn MTD (month-to-date) statement shows a merchant's bank activity from the start of the current month to today, so funders see what happened after the last full statement.

1. 1Open the deal and the Documents & stips tab. The tab shows a count of missing items.
2. 2If the checklist is empty, click Use the standard checklist. It adds the signed application, the last 4 months of business bank statements (all pages), month-to-date transactions, the owner's driver's license (front and back) and a voided check or bank letter.
3. 3Click Add item for anything extra a lender asked for, such as a payoff letter or a tax return. Give it a Document type so an upload of that type ticks it off, and a Due date if there is one.
4. 4Under Stips request, the email text lists every outstanding item. Click Open in email to start it in your mail program, or Copy text to paste it anywhere.
5. 5After you send it, click Mark sent. The request is logged on the timeline and each open item counts a reminder (Asked 2×).
6. 6When files arrive, click Upload on the item (or Upload in Documents), pick the Document type, and for statements the Statement month. PDFs and photos up to 25 MB each.

• An item with a document type turns Received when a document of that type is uploaded and not rejected, and Approved when one is verified.
• If a document is rejected, its item goes back to Requested.
• Items without a type (say "Landlord letter") need Mark received from the item's menu.
• Waive an item a lender does not need for this deal. Waived items never block the stage. Require again undoes it.

• Uploading three months of statements as one file with the wrong type. Use Bank statement for statements and MTD statement for the current partial month.
• Asking for documents the lenders on this deal will not need. Waive them instead of chasing them.
• Forgetting Mark sent. Without it nobody can tell how many times the merchant has been asked.