How business funding applications work and what banks look for in a plan

The lender is the bank or another authorized intermediary. Del Este Financial can assess the file, prepare the pack, and submit the application. If a lender later pays us any compensation, that is disclosed to the client in writing. The client contracts with the lender and receives funds from the lender. We do not lend, take deposits, or hold client money.

Confirm that the institution is authorized. The Superintendencia de Bancos publishes a list of supervised financial intermediaries. A name that sounds like a bank is not enough. You also have the right to complete product information before you sign, as ProUsuario explains.

A business plan for a bank is not a pitch deck for investors. It is a plain description of what the firm does, who pays it, what it costs to operate, and how a loan would be repaid. Include the owners, the tax identification, the product or service, the main clients, and a simple month-by-month cash view for the period the bank asks for.

Use numbers you can support with invoices, contracts, or bank statements. Do not invent a growth rate. If last year was uneven, say so and show why the next months look different. A credit officer would rather read a modest plan that matches the statements than a large plan that does not.

Expect identity papers for the owners, company documents, tax filings, bank statements, and a list of current debts. If the loan will buy equipment or property, add the quote or the purchase papers. If the firm is young, the bank may lean more on the owners' personal files. See documents banks often ask for.

A developer project is a different file. Construction budgets, permits, and pre-construction buyer lists belong with developer financing, not with a simple working-capital request.

A term loan is usually a fixed amount for a stated purpose: equipment, a remodel, or a purchase. A line of credit is usually a limit you can draw and repay. The bank may ask for different papers because the risk looks different. Say in the first page of the plan which one you are asking for.

SME or development-bank programs, when they exist, have their own checklists. Read the program page and attach only what that page asks for. Do not assume a private-bank pack is enough. We can help prepare those applications. The program still decides.

If the request is really a construction project, stop and use the developer file. Mixing a shop's working capital with a building loan in one story makes both parts harder to read.

Officers look for cash that can service the loan after the firm pays suppliers, staff, and taxes. They also look at how concentrated the clients are and whether one late payer would break the month. Public interest-rate series from the Banco Central describe the broader market. They are not the rate on your offer.

If you receive more than one offer, compare the written terms before you sign. You can ask a question if you want help assembling the pack. The bank still decides.

Owners sometimes hope a thick appendix will replace a clear first page. It will not. Put the ask, the amount, the purpose, and the repayment source on page one. Put the statements and tax filings behind that. An officer who understands the ask in two minutes can spend the rest of the time on the numbers.

A bank that reads a Dominican company will usually ask for tax filings and the RNC. Those papers come from the firm and from the DGII, not from Del Este Financial. If the name on the tax filing, the bank account, and the plan do not match, the officer has to stop and ask why. Fix the name first.

Keep the plan in the same currency as the statements unless the bank asked for a second currency. If you convert figures, write the source of the rate and the date. Public FX series from the Banco Central are information, not the rate a teller will give you on the day you sign.

If a public bank, a guarantee window, or an SME program has its own page, attach only what that page asks for. Do not invent a program name on page one. A private-bank pack is not automatically enough for a program file, and a program pack is not automatically enough for a private bank.