Business Loan Referral Program for Accountants and CPAs

Why Accountants Make Strong Referral Partners

Most business owners talk to their accountant before they talk to a lender. You already know the three things a funding decision turns on: how long the business has operated, what it deposits each month and what it owes. That means your referrals tend to be better matched than a cold inquiry, and the client trusts the introduction because it comes from you.

You also see the need early. A funding company usually hears from an owner a few days before payroll. You see the same problem building in the receivables aging report two months sooner, when the client still has more options.

The need is common. In the Federal Reserve Banks’ 2025 Report on Employer Firms, more than half of small employer firms named uneven cash flows as a financial challenge. Meeting operating expenses was the most common reason firms gave for seeking financing. Only about four in ten applicants received all the financing they sought, and roughly one in four received none.

Signs in the Books That a Client Needs Funding

• Receivables are stretching. Customers who paid in 30 days now pay in 60 or 75, and payroll is still due every two weeks.
• A tax payment is coming with no cash set aside. Estimated payments and year-end balances are a common trigger.
• Growth is outrunning cash. A new contract or location needs inventory, equipment or hires before it produces revenue.
• Short-term balances are stacking up. The client carries several advances with overlapping payments and asks you whether it can be simplified.
• The bank said no, or not yet. The client has a decline letter, or the bank’s timeline is longer than the need.
• A year-end equipment purchase. The client wants equipment placed in service before December 31 and has not arranged financing.

Guides you can share with a client: payroll funding and business funding after a bank decline.

How the Referral Works, Step by Step

1. Sign up. Complete the short form on the partner page. It takes about two minutes. We call within one business day to walk through the partner agreement.
2. Get your materials. After the agreement you receive marketing materials and a co-branded landing page with your firm’s name on it.
3. Make the introduction. Send the owner’s name and number with a heads-up that we will call, or use your partner link.
4. We run the file. One dedicated specialist collects the application and recent business bank statements and takes the file through our lender network.
5. You stay informed. You get updates as the file moves, and you can join the calls if you prefer.
6. The deal funds and you are paid. Commission is paid on funded deals per the partner agreement.

You never have to quote terms or explain an offer. RAN Funding is a broker, not a lender. It is one application for our lender network and one dedicated specialist, and the specialist walks the client through every offer before anything is signed.

What a Good Referral Looks Like

This is business financing for established companies. You can screen for fit from records you already hold. Best-fit clients usually have:

• 1+ year in business.
• $20,000+ in average monthly revenue.
• A business bank account with active revenue and deposits.
• The 3 most recent business bank statements (4 in NY, CA or VA) ready to send.
• A need for $10,000 to $500,000+ in working capital. Some products go up to $2 million, and SBA loans up to $5 million.
• A clear use for the money. Payroll, a tax payment, inventory, equipment, hiring, a large contract or a seasonal slowdown.

Some clients are not a fit, and it saves everyone time to say so early. Startups are not a fit. A business that runs its revenue through a personal account is not ready. Personal loans are outside the program. This is business financing only.

Products placed through our lender network include working capital, business lines of credit, Business Term Loans, SBA loans, equipment financing and accounts receivable financing. Not every application is approved, and the lender makes the decision. Clients can read the full business loan requirements and check RAN Funding reviews before they call.

What Happens After the Introduction

Once you send a name, the work moves to us. Here is who does what at each stage.

Two points matter to an accounting firm. First, the client sends their own documents, so you do not hand over anything from your files. Second, we contact the client only about the funding they asked for. There is no cross-selling and no marketing list. Your client stays your client.

Timing depends on the product. Working capital moves fastest. SBA loans take longer.

How and When You Are Paid

Referral compensation comes out of the commission the lender pays RAN Funding when a deal funds.

Programs across the industry use a few structures: a share of the funding company’s commission, a flat fee per funded deal, or tiers that change with volume. In our program, your compensation is a share of what RAN earns on the funded deal. The split is set in writing in the partner agreement before you send your first referral.

Payment follows funding. When the lender funds the deal and RAN receives its commission, your share is paid on the schedule in the agreement, typically by ACH. Renewals on your referrals pay you too. If a deal does not fund, nothing is paid. Nothing here is a promise of income. For a fuller look at structures, see our guide to business loan referral fees.

Disclosure and Independence: Check Your Rules First

Accountants have professional rules that most other referral partners do not. No license is required for a basic referral introduction through our program. Your own professional rules still apply, and they come first.

The AICPA Code of Professional Conduct includes a Commissions and Referral Fees Rule (1.520.001). It covers members in public practice and sets two conditions that matter here.

The prohibition. A member may not refer a product or service to a client for a commission, or receive a commission, when the member or the firm also performs certain services for that client. Those services are an audit or review of a financial statement, an examination of prospective financial information, and a compilation that a third party is expected to use where the report does not disclose a lack of independence. The prohibition runs for the period of the engagement and the period covered by the historical financial statements involved.

The disclosure. Where a commission is permitted, a member who is paid or expects to be paid one must disclose that fact to the person or entity receiving the recommendation. A related interpretation (1.520.080) says the disclosure should be made in writing.

State boards of accountancy set their own rules, and some are stricter. Before you accept a referral commission, check your state board’s rule and your firm’s policy. If you cannot or would rather not accept a commission for a particular client, you can still make the introduction. Tell us on the form and we will follow your lead.

Client Confidentiality and Tax Return Information

A referral involves a client’s name and a fact about their finances. Two rules are worth reading before you send either.

The AICPA Code’s Confidential Client Information Rule (1.700.001) says a member in public practice shall not disclose confidential client information without the specific consent of the client. The practical answer is simple. Ask the client first, and get a yes before you pass along a name.

If you prepare tax returns, Internal Revenue Code section 7216 also applies. The IRS describes it as a criminal provision that prohibits tax return preparers from knowingly or recklessly disclosing or using tax return information. A separate civil penalty applies under section 6713. Disclosures and uses that the regulations do not specifically authorize require the taxpayer’s signed consent in advance, and the consent form must include specific language.

For a referral, the simplest route is to let the client act. Give them your partner link and let them submit their own details. For anything beyond that, follow the regulations and ask your counsel. The same points apply to firms covered in our guide for bookkeepers and tax preparers.

Three Ways to Handle a Client’s Funding Request

When a client asks where to find capital, you have three choices. Each has a place.

Many firms use the first two side by side: paid referrals for tax and advisory clients, unpaid introductions for attest clients. Our comparison of an affiliate program and a referral program explains the difference.

Three Illustrative Scenarios

These examples are illustrative. They are not actual clients, and results vary by business and lender.

A dental practice in Tampa. A two-dentist practice with eight years of history owes a large estimated tax payment and has cash tied up in a new operatory. The CPA prepares the returns and does no attest work for the practice. She discloses the commission in writing, gets the owner’s consent and sends the introduction.

A commercial HVAC contractor in Phoenix. The firm reviews this contractor’s financial statements for a bonding company. A commission is off the table under the AICPA rule. The partner makes an unpaid introduction, and the owner works directly with the specialist on a line of credit to cover payroll between progress payments.

A restaurant group in Atlanta. The bookkeeping team notices three short-term advances with overlapping payments. The owner asks for help, signs up through the firm’s co-branded page and sends his own bank statements. The specialist reviews whether the positions can be consolidated. Not every file like this is approved.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Referring before asking the client. Get consent first, every time.
• Skipping the written disclosure. A verbal mention is easy to forget and hard to prove later.
• Accepting a commission on an attest client. Check the engagement list before you accept anything.
• Sending documents from your files. Let the owner send their own bank statements.
• Promising an outcome. You cannot know what a lender will decide. Say that the file will be reviewed.
• Quoting terms. Leave offers to the specialist. Partners must not present themselves as lenders.
• Referring a business that is too new. Startups and businesses under a year old are not a fit.

How to Start

Read your state board’s rule on commissions. Decide which clients are eligible for a paid referral and which get an unpaid introduction. Draft a one-paragraph written disclosure and a short client consent, and have counsel review both.

Then complete the form on the RAN Funding partner page. We call within one business day to walk through the agreement. If a client needs funding right now, say so on the form and we start on it the same day. Advisors who are not CPAs can read our guide for consultants and fractional CFOs.

Common Questions