Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Update…
It was reported yesterday that 16,000 Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans (CBILS) have now been granted, out of the 300,000 initial enquiries. The process is lengthy, with the time requirement predominantly being around verifying the affordability of the loan.
One Lloyds Bank Manager has said that IF he has a full pack of information and IF he has no interruptions, he can manage to process 2 each day.
Getting through the backlog is obviously going to take time!
If you’re considering a CBILS loan for your business, there are key pieces of information you MUST include. It’s essential to make sure that when your application comes to the top of the pile, it’s complete and a decision can be made. You don’t want to have to go back in the pile because a key piece of information is missing!
The ideal information package for an application to the banks is as follows:
- Three years of year end accounts
- 12 months’ business bank statements
- Up to date management accounts for the whole year or the last full quarter
- Aged debtor/creditor listings
- Confirmation of existing outstanding debt
- Client personal statement showing net worth and incomes/outgoings.
- A summary of how Coronavirus has affected your business, and what you have done so far to mitigate that effect. Have you deferred your VAT, taken mortgage holidays, arranged payment holidays or new supplier terms and furloughed staff? Banks are expecting you to have taken advantage of all the other government support.
- A 12 month cashflow forecast – including all the assumptions you’ve made in creating it. Obviously any income figures / dates are going to be estimates, as we have no idea how long lockdown will last, but if the bank can see your thought process, it will help.
If you don’t have all of this, it isn’t the end of the world, but it may mean that an approval may take longer to come through.
Some banks will accept less information. For example, Funding Circle have recently joined the CBILS lender panel, and have announced that they will require Business bank statements for the last six months and the latest full company accounts. You can see more about their application process here.
If you are considering a CBILS application, please get in touch as we can give you the latest details about information required and support you through the collation of that information.
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