Your Client Already Has an Advance and Needs More Capital: What Advisors Can Do

What You Are Looking At

An advance shows up on the statements as a fixed daily or weekly ACH to a funder. Two or three of them stack into a steady drain that is easy to miss on a monthly P&L and impossible to miss on the bank feed.

The question is not whether the advances exist. It is how much room they leave. Add up the debits for the month and set them against deposits. That one ratio tells you most of what a funder will see.

In the Federal Reserve Banks’ 2024 Small Business Credit Survey, firms that were turned down for financing were more likely than in 2021 to say the reason was too much existing debt. Your client’s file is read the same way, which is why how the request is framed matters.

The Three Routes, and Which One Fits

A full consolidation of every advance at once is the route owners ask for most and qualify for least. When a client has several positions, paying off one or adding capital with room is usually the version that can be placed.

Signs That Say Yes, and Signs That Say Wait

A referral is worth making when the file shows:

• 1+ year in business and $20,000+ in average monthly revenue.
• Deposits that are level or growing since the last advance was written.
• A specific use for the money that produces revenue or removes a cost: inventory for an order, equipment, a hire, a tax payment, a contract start.
• Few or no returned items and a positive balance on most days.
• Every position known. You, the owner and the specialist are all working from the same list.

Wait, or say so plainly, when:

• The money would cover the existing debits. New capital to service old capital is the pattern that ends badly.
• Deposits are falling. The funder sees that before anything else.
• A new advance funded in the last month. One clean month of statements changes the read.
• The business is not profitable at current volume. A smaller payment buys time, and time only helps if something changes inside it.

What the Specialist and the Funders Look At

• The 3 most recent business bank statements (4 in NY, CA or VA), every page. What lenders look for in bank statements walks through the six signals.
• Every open position: funder, balance, payment amount and start date.
• Deposits against total debits.
• Use of funds and when it is needed.
• For term products: financials, returns and the owner’s credit profile.

As the client’s accountant or bookkeeper, you usually have most of this already. Sending it complete is the difference between an answer in a day and a week of back and forth.

How the Referral Works, Step by Step

RAN Funding is a broker, not a lender. One application for our lender network and one dedicated specialist. You make the introduction; we handle the funding process.

1. Sign up on the partner page. Two minutes. Select your profession. We call within one business day to walk through the partner agreement.
2. Make the introduction. The owner’s name and number, and a heads-up that we will be calling. No licensing is needed for a basic referral introduction.
3. The specialist reviews the file and calls the owner within one business day. If you want to be on the call, say so.
4. The owner sees the options the file supports: new capital, a payoff or a term product. Every term is explained before anything is signed.
5. The deal funds and you are paid the referral commission in the partner agreement. Renewals on your referrals pay you too.

Your client stays your client. RAN Funding contacts them only about the funding they asked for. No cross-selling, no marketing lists.

How to Raise It With the Client

Most owners are embarrassed about advances and do not bring them up. A plain question works better than a warning:

• “I can see the daily debits. Is that working for you, or is it tight?”
• “If one of those were gone, what would you do with the cash?”
• “Before you take another one from the same company, let me have someone look at the whole picture.”

Then set the expectation. More capital is often possible. Removing every debit at once usually is not. A client who hears that from you first does not feel declined when the offer is a payoff or a smaller new position.

What to Keep in Mind

Get the client’s agreement before sharing anything. Do not describe yourself as a lender, and do not promise an approval. Nothing is guaranteed until underwriting reviews the file.

Disclosure rules vary by state. California, for example, requires a provider extending a specific commercial financing offer to give the recipient disclosures at the time of the offer. MCA disclosure laws by state is a starting point, not legal advice.

How to Start

Go to the RAN Funding partner program page and fill in the short form. Say so if you have a client who needs funding now.

For the program as it applies to your profession, see the guides for accountants and CPAs, bookkeepers and tax preparers and consultants and fractional CFOs. You can also call 1-877-522-6045, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm ET.

Common Questions