Every funder publishes a requirements list, and most of those lists are marketing. The real underwriting question behind a merchant cash advance is narrower than the checklists suggest and stricter than the ads admit: does this business collect enough revenue, reliably enough, that buying a slice of it is a good bet? Everything a funder asks for is in service of answering that one question.
This article separates the requirements that actually decide approvals from the ones that merely appear on websites, walks through what an underwriter reads in your bank statements line by line, and ends with how to prepare a file so it gets approved fast and priced fairly rather than squeaking through expensively.
The requirements that actually decide it
Strip the marketing and four things qualify a business for an advance. Meet them and you will find offers; miss one badly and no checklist item compensates.
- Monthly revenue. Funders want to see consistent gross deposits, and most set floors somewhere around $10,000 to $20,000 a month depending on the shop and the advance size. The advance itself is sized against this number, commonly near one month of deposits.
- Time in business. Six months of operating history is a common practical floor, because the funder needs enough statement history to see a pattern. A year or more widens your options and improves pricing; what exists under six months is covered in funding for very young businesses.
- A business bank account. The advance is underwritten from, funded into, and repaid out of a dedicated business account. Revenue flowing through a personal account is the most common self-inflicted disqualifier we see, and the fix is explained in separating business and personal finances.
- Bank statements. Three to six months of complete statements, every page. This is the file. Everything else orbits it.
What the underwriter reads in your statements
Hand an underwriter your statements and they are not skimming the totals. They are reading a handful of specific signals, each of which moves your approval, your amount, or your factor rate.
Deposit volume and frequency. Total monthly deposits set the size of the conversation, but frequency shapes its quality. Fifteen deposits a month reads as a living business with real customers; one large deposit on the 30th reads as concentration risk, because losing one customer means losing the revenue the funder is buying.
Average daily balance. The account's resting balance between deposits tells the funder whether a daily debit will survive contact with your real cash flow. A business depositing $50,000 a month that also holds a healthy balance prices very differently from one depositing the same amount but scraping zero between deposits. This single number does so much work that it has its own article.
Negative days. Days the account spent below zero are the loudest signal on the file. A few scattered negative days raise the price; a monthly pattern of them threatens the approval itself, because every negative day is a day the funder's debit would have bounced. What counts, how much it matters, and how to fix it before applying is covered in negative days explained.
Existing positions. Daily or weekly debits already visible in the statements tell the funder it would be collecting behind someone else, in second or third position, which shrinks offers and raises factors. Undisclosed positions discovered in underwriting kill deals outright, so disclose them on the application.
Where credit actually fits
Credit matters less than most applicants fear and more than the ads pretend. Most funders run a soft pull at application, which does not touch your score, and they read the report as context rather than verdict: recent bankruptcies, open tax liens, and defaults on other advances matter; an old charge-off or a mediocre score mostly just nudges pricing.
The reason is structural. A funder collecting small amounts from your revenue every business day is exposed to your deposits, not your decade of credit history, so the statements outvote the score on almost every file. Scores in the 500s get funded regularly when the bank activity is strong; pristine credit does not save a file with empty statements. The honest, detailed version of this trade lives in getting an MCA with bad credit.
What is usually not required
As much of the product's reputation for accessibility comes from this list as from the speed. For typical advance sizes, funders generally do not require collateral or a specific asset pledge, do not ask for a business plan or projections, and do not need tax returns or full financial statements, though larger advances can bring those back into scope. There is no application fee at any legitimate shop, and no upfront payment of any kind: money that flows toward a funder before funding is a scam signature, covered with the other warning signs in spotting a predatory offer.
Not required does not mean not involved. Nearly every advance includes a personal guarantee, and many funders file a UCC-1 lien on business assets after funding. Neither is collateral in the traditional sense, and both have real consequences, spelled out in what a personal guarantee actually commits you to and how UCC liens affect future funding.
Stips: the last mile of requirements
After an offer is accepted, the funder verifies the file through stipulations: a driver's license, a voided business check, proof of ownership, sometimes a month-to-date bank printout or a short verification call. Stips are not extra underwriting, they are proof that the underwritten story is true, and they are where fast approvals go to stall. Having them ready before you apply is the single cheapest way to speed up funding, as the funding timeline article lays out stage by stage.
How requirements scale with the ask
A $15,000 advance and a $150,000 advance are different underwriting events. Small advances run on the core file: statements, license, voided check. As the number grows, funders add months of statements, tax returns or financials, landlord or mortgage references, and sometimes a site inspection, and they read every signal more conservatively. If your need is large, expect the file to look more like a loan package, and budget the extra day or two of process it brings.
The practical takeaway runs the other direction too: asking for an amount your deposits clearly support gets approved faster and priced better than stretching for the ceiling. A funder who sees an ask near one month of revenue reads a merchant who understands the product; an ask at three times monthly deposits reads as either desperation or misunderstanding, and both are priced accordingly. The qualification estimator gives you a realistic range from your own deposit numbers before any funder does.
How to prepare a file that gets approved and priced well
Pull your own statements first
Download the last four months of business bank statements and read them the way an underwriter will: deposits per month, average balance, negative days, visible debit obligations. You cannot fix what you have not seen.
Repair the fixable signals
If negative days or a scraped-thin balance show up, spend four to eight weeks moving deposits consistently through the business account and keeping a cushion in it. Recent months weigh most; even one clean month at the top of the stack improves the read.
Size the ask to the deposits
Request an amount your revenue plainly supports, near one month of gross deposits, and check it against the estimator first. Right-sized asks approve faster and price lower.
Assemble the stips in advance
License, voided business check, proof of ownership, complete statement PDFs: one folder, ready before you apply. The document readiness checker confirms the set is complete.
Disclose everything, then apply once
List existing advances, liens and past defaults up front, and apply deliberately rather than broadcasting the file to a dozen shops, which invites the backdooring and stacking calls described in how applications leak.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum revenue for a merchant cash advance?
Most funders want to see consistent monthly gross deposits, with practical floors commonly in the $10,000 to $20,000 range depending on the shop. More important than clearing the floor is consistency: steady deposits every month qualify a file that a single spike month cannot, because the funder is buying a share of revenue it needs to actually show up.
Can I get an MCA with only six months in business?
Often yes, six months is a common practical minimum, though offers will be smaller and factors higher than a two-year-old business would see, because the funder is pricing a short track record. Under six months the options narrow sharply; what exists for the youngest files is covered in our time-in-business guide.
Do MCA funders check personal credit?
Almost all check it, usually with a soft pull that does not affect your score, but few decide on it. Bank statement strength outweighs the score on most files: strong deposits with mediocre credit gets funded all day, while great credit cannot rescue weak revenue. Recent bankruptcies, open tax liens and prior MCA defaults are the credit items that genuinely move decisions.
Do I need collateral for a merchant cash advance?
No specific collateral is pledged for typical advances, which is much of the product's appeal for service businesses and companies that lease their equipment. Expect a personal guarantee in nearly every agreement, and many funders file a UCC-1 lien on general business assets after funding, so the deal is not consequence-free even though no asset is individually pledged.