How much can my business borrow?

“How much can my business borrow?” is usually the first question an owner asks, and the honest answer is: it depends on what your bank statements say. Lenders aren’t picking a number out of the air. They work through a fairly logical sequence — how much comes in, how much is already committed, what you’re funding and what backs the loan — and the amount falls out of that.

Understanding the sequence helps in two ways. You can ask for a realistic figure, which speeds things up, and you can see which levers you can pull to borrow more.

How do lenders work out how much a business can borrow?

Lenders size a business loan by looking at four things in order: your revenue, your free cash flow after existing debts, the product you’ve chosen, and any security. Here’s what each step involves.

Lens 1: Revenue

Revenue sets the starting range. Lenders average the genuine customer deposits in your business account over 3–6 months. They strip out transfers between your own accounts, loan drawdowns and owner top-ups so they see true trading income. Consistency matters as much as size — steady takings support a higher figure than one bumper month surrounded by quiet ones.

Lens 2: Free cash flow after existing commitments

This is where the range gets narrowed. The lender looks at what’s left after your regular outgoings — suppliers, wages, rent, tax and, importantly, repayments to other lenders already coming out of your account. A business with strong revenue but three existing loans may have less room than a smaller business with none.

Lens 3: The product

Different products are sized in different ways, as the table below shows.

Lens 4: Security and credit history

Security, such as the equipment being bought, can support a larger amount because the lender has an asset to fall back on. A clean credit history supports the upper end of the range; past defaults don’t automatically rule you out but may lead to a more conservative figure. Our guide to secured vs unsecured business loans explains the trade-offs.

Worked examples: how a loan gets sized

The examples below use made-up businesses and simplified numbers to show how the four lenses interact. The “guidelines” in them are illustrative only — they aren’t a FastBiz Loans formula or a promise of any amount, and real assessments weigh more detail.

Example scenario — illustrative only. A Newcastle landscaper wants $60,000 for a second crew’s start-up costs.

• Average monthly customer deposits over 6 months: $45,000, fairly steady
• Existing lender repayments showing in statements: none
• Suppose a lender’s internal guideline for unsecured working capital sat somewhere around one to one-and-a-half months of revenue. That puts the range at roughly $45,000–$67,500.
• The $60,000 request sits inside that range, the purpose is clear, and no other debts are competing for cash.
• Likely outcome: the request looks proportionate. Under $150,000, so no financials needed.

Example scenario — illustrative only. A Perth cafe owner, Mia, wants $80,000 to refit the kitchen.

• Average monthly deposits: $90,000, mostly card takings
• Average monthly surplus before other lenders: about $14,000
• Repayments to two existing short-term lenders: about $8,000 a month
• Surplus left after existing commitments: about $6,000 a month
• Likely outcome: the revenue alone might suggest room for $80,000, but the existing repayments shrink the free cash available. A lender may offer a smaller amount, suggest equipment finance for the fixed kitchen items, or look at whether replacing the existing debts with one facility makes the repayments easier to manage.

Example scenario — illustrative only. A Toowoomba earthmoving contractor wants $220,000 for an excavator.

• Average monthly revenue: $130,000, with the usual wet-weather dips
• Product: equipment finance, with the excavator itself forming the security
• Loan over $150,000, so the latest financial statements are required
• Likely outcome: because the loan is sized around a specific, valuable asset with a resale market, the amount is driven largely by the supplier invoice. Cash flow still needs to support the repayments, and the contractor’s financials confirm that.

Example scenario — illustrative only. A Melbourne packaging wholesaler has $120,000 owing from business customers on 60-day terms.

• Product: invoice finance
• Up to 85% of invoice value could be advanced: up to $102,000
• As new invoices are raised, the available funding grows with sales
• Likely outcome: the amount depends on the invoices and the quality of the customers paying them, not on a set loan figure. Our guide on how invoice finance works walks through the mechanics.

What stops a business borrowing more?

The most common limits are easy to spot once you know where to look:

• Other lenders’ repayments eating into free cash flow
• Irregular deposits, which make average revenue hard to rely on
• Dishonoured payments or long stretches overdrawn in recent statements
• Income split across accounts, so part of your revenue is invisible to the lender
• An unclear purpose, which makes it hard to judge whether the amount fits

Our guide to what lenders look for in bank statements goes into each of these in detail.

How can I increase how much my business can borrow?

1. Run all business income through one account. It’s the quickest way to show your full revenue.
2. Clear or consolidate small debts first. Fewer existing repayments means more free cash flow.
3. Share 6 months of statements rather than 3 if your recent months were quiet but earlier ones were strong.
4. Match the product to the purpose. Equipment finance or invoice finance can unlock more than an unsecured loan because they’re backed by an asset or receivables.
5. Have financials ready if you’re near or over $150,000.
6. Explain the one-offs. A large tax payment or a slow month with a clear reason is easy for a lender to look past.

Find out your number

The fastest way to get a realistic figure is to ask. Start the 60-second enquiry at apply now — it doesn’t affect your credit score — and a lending specialist will talk through what your business could access across all six products. If you’re funding day-to-day operations, our working capital loans page is a good next read.