Business plan for a bank loan checklist: what the credit reviewer checks
BusinessPlanHub Editorial Team · Published
A business plan for a bank loan is read by a credit reviewer who is asking one question: where does the repayment come from? Everything else in the plan, from the market section to the management biographies, is checked against the answer.
This page is a checklist, section by section, of what that reviewer looks for and what to put in front of them. It covers US and UK lenders. Where a bank regulator or a government lending body has published the point, we name it and say when we read it (all checked 11 November 2026). Where nobody publishes a figure, we say so rather than invent one. If you are writing for an SBA lender specifically, our guide to what SBA lenders look for covers that programme’s rules in detail and we do not repeat them here.
Who reads a bank loan plan, and what are they trying to decide?
A credit reviewer reads your plan to decide whether the business can repay the loan, and how much is left to fall back on if it cannot. The most useful public view of that thinking comes from the regulators who examine the banks. The OCC’s Rating Credit Risk booklet in the Comptroller’s Handbook says the primary consideration is the strength of the primary repayment source, defined as a sustainable source of cash that is under the borrower’s control and reserved to cover the debt.
The same booklet says examiners first assess the borrower’s paying capacity and only then the worth of pledged collateral, and that almost all credit is expected to have secondary or even tertiary sources of repayment, such as collateral, guarantor support or refinancing. That is a regulator speaking to its own examiners, not to you. It still tells you the order of questions your plan will meet. Our business plan for a business loan service is built around that order: repayment first, back-ups second.
What should be on a bank loan business plan checklist?
The checklist below has nine items. Each row names what the reviewer checks, where it sits in the plan and what to show. The sources are the OCC booklets above and in the next sections, the SBA’s business plan guidance and the British Business Bank (BBB) pages linked below.
| What the reviewer checks | Where it sits in your plan | What to show |
|---|---|---|
| The loan request | Executive summary and funding request | The amount, what it buys, and the terms you want. The SBA says to state how much you need and what for. |
| Primary repayment source | Financial section | Operating cash that the business generates, not a sale of assets or a hoped-for refinancing. |
| Cash flow forecast | Financial section, monthly in year one | Loan payments in the model, the lowest cash month visible, and every assumption stated. |
| Debt service coverage | A line under the forecast | Cash available for debt service divided by scheduled principal and interest, by year. |
| Collateral or security | Loan request, with a schedule of assets | What you can pledge, how you value it, and the plain fact that it is the secondary source. |
| Personal guarantee | Owner profiles | Who would sign, and their other commitments. Expect the lender to set the terms. |
| Owner contribution | Sources and uses table | What the owners are putting in, in what form, and how it compares with the loan. |
| Management | Organisation and management section | Who runs the business day to day, and what they have done before. |
| Financial history and credit | Attachments | Recent accounts, bank statements and tax returns, where you are an existing business. |
Sources: SBA, “Write your business plan”, sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/write-your-business-plan; OCC, “Rating Credit Risk” and “Commercial Loans”, Comptroller’s Handbook; British Business Bank, “How to apply for a business loan” and “A guide to personal guarantees”. All read 11 November 2026. The third column is our reading of each source, not a lender’s own requirement.
How does a bank read your cash flow forecast?
A bank reads your cash flow forecast as the evidence for the primary repayment source. The OCC booklet defines business cash flow as operating revenue from ordinary business activities, less operating costs paid rather than simply incurred, plus non-cash expenses such as depreciation. The words “paid, not incurred” matter: a forecast built on invoices raised, with no allowance for when customers pay, overstates the cash available.
An existing business should lead with its recent accounts, and a start-up should say plainly that the forecast is all it has.
Build it monthly for the first year, put the loan repayments in as a line, and make the lowest-cash month easy to find. Our guide to financial projections for a business plan covers the build, and we do not repeat it here.
What does debt service coverage test?
Debt service coverage tests whether operating cash flow is enough to meet the scheduled loan payments. The OCC’s Commercial Loans booklet tells examiners, for term loans, to assess whether operating cash flow is sufficient to meet the scheduled amortising payments, and for permanent working capital loans whether cash flow is sufficient after debt service, capital expenditure and other operating needs.
Take an illustrative business with $150,000 of cash available in a year and $120,000 of scheduled loan payments. Coverage is 1.25 times: $150,000 divided by $120,000. The numbers are invented, and 1.25 is not a threshold. The OCC passages cited here set none, and each bank sets its own. The SBA’s minimums, which we cover in the SBA lender guide, apply to SBA loans only. Put the ratio in your plan for each year anyway. It is the first calculation the reviewer will run.
Is collateral the most important thing a bank checks?
No. Collateral is the fallback, and the OCC says so in its ordering of questions: paying capacity first, collateral second. Its Rating Credit Risk booklet adds that as the primary repayment source weakens, collateral and other protective features carry more weight in the rating. A strong asset schedule does not repair a forecast that fails; it only shows the lender what it could recover.
The BBB’s guide to applying for a business loan is the UK reference point. If you are considering a secured loan, the BBB says you will need to give details of the assets that could serve as collateral. List them, value them and say how you valued them.
Will the bank ask for a personal guarantee?
A bank may ask for one, and the terms are the lender’s to set. The BBB’s guide to personal guarantees describes a personal guarantee as a legally binding agreement that makes the owner or director personally liable for repaying the loan if the business defaults or becomes insolvent. It says some lenders ask for the full loan amount and others as little as 20%, and that some guarantees run for the full term.
For government-backed UK lending, the Growth Guarantee Scheme page says personal guarantees may be taken at the lender’s discretion, that a principal private residence cannot be taken as security within the scheme, and that the 70% government guarantee goes to the lender. The borrower stays 100% liable for the debt. That last point is easy to miss: the guarantee protects the bank, not you.
We are not lawyers, and nothing here is advice on whether to sign. The BBB notes that many lenders require owners to take legal advice before agreeing to a personal guarantee. Take it, from a regulated adviser.
Do banks expect the owner to put money in?
Many do, but we cannot give you a general figure, because no bank regulator we read publishes one. What is published is programme-specific: the SBA’s equity injection rule for start-ups, which we cover in the SBA lender guide. For a conventional bank, show the owner contribution in a sources and uses table, say whether it is cash or an asset, and ask the lender what it expects before you finalise the request.
A use-of-funds line for every pound or dollar of the loan is the simplest way to answer the question a reviewer will ask. The SBA says the funding request should also state whether you want debt or equity and the terms you want.
What do lenders want to see about management?
Lenders want to see who runs the business and what they have done before. The SBA’s plan guidance lists organisation and management as a core section, next to the company description, market analysis, product line and marketing.
Name the person who does the daily work and give their relevant experience in the trade. If the owner is also the guarantor, say so, and keep that person’s other commitments in view. A list of qualifications with no connection to the business does not answer the question.
What differs between a US and a UK bank loan application?
The reviewer’s question is the same; the paperwork and the government schemes differ. In the US, the SBA says its loans are made through lenders and that the contents of an application vary by loan size and the lender’s processing method. See our SBA loan sample plans for how a plan is laid out. They are fictional and illustrative, not client results.
In the UK, the BBB lists what a lender may ask for: business bank statements, accounts, tax returns, personal tax returns, which it says may be needed for small businesses, evidence of other finance, a business plan and financial forecasts. A start-up with no accounts should read the UK Start Up Loan guide, and GOV.UK’s business plan page confirms you will need a business plan to secure a loan from a bank.
What is the next step?
The next step is to write the sources and uses table and the monthly cash flow before any prose, and to check that the coverage line holds in the weakest month. The decision to lend sits with the bank. Our job is to help you present the numbers so the credit reviewer can test them.
If you would like a second pair of eyes, our free 30-minute call is a place to look at your situation, see how we build the plan and financial model, and hear how we can help. Plans start at $997; see pricing.