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A borrower should be able to identify a facility’s costs, eligibility and security before treating it as a suitable option. This checklist covers eight pieces of information worth obtaining from a lender’s public pages and written offer. Finding all eight still does not establish that the loan is cheap or appropriate.
Commercial context: SMBLoan publishes information and refers finance enquiries to Lend.com.au. We are not a lender or a loan marketplace and do not contract directly with the lenders discussed here. We may receive referral compensation. We cannot verify every lender’s current relationship with Lend, and no score is used to imply a preferred commercial partner.
The eight disclosure checks
| Check | What to record | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing method | Reducing-balance annual rate, flat rate, factor or fixed charge; whether risk-priced | Your actual offer or total cost |
| Fees | Establishment, ongoing, draw, transaction, late and exit charges | That an advertised no-interest product is free |
| Loan amount | Minimum and maximum for the exact product | That your business qualifies for the maximum |
| Term and repayments | Term range, frequency, amortisation and any balloon | That cash flow can meet each payment date |
| Security and guarantees | Asset security, general security, director guarantees and conditions | That unsecured means no personal liability |
| Minimum eligibility | Trading history, turnover, entity, sector and credit conditions | Approval once published minimums are met |
| Early repayment | Payout method and which future charges are waived | A full refund of every unearned charge |
| Worked cost example | Advance, complete payments, term, fees and final payment | A quote for the reader or the cheapest available loan |
Read the exact product page
A lender can offer a term loan, revolving facility and asset finance product with different conditions. Start with the named product, then follow its pricing, fees and agreement links. A broad company homepage may describe features that do not apply to the facility being considered.
If important information is available only after an enquiry, record it as “not available in the public evidence reviewed”, rather than assuming the charge or restriction does not exist. Ask for it in writing before accepting an offer.
Turn the price into a payment schedule
For a factor product, multiplying the advance by the factor gives the base repayment before separate fees. It does not produce an annual interest rate. For a reducing-balance loan, the same annual percentage can produce different dollar costs as the term changes. Fees deducted upfront also reduce the money available to use.
Give providers the same scenario: amount needed, purpose, expected repayment period, collection pattern and security available. Then compare the cash received with all scheduled payments. A refusal to quote for that scenario may indicate a product fit problem; it is not proof of poor service.
Security deserves its own comparison
“Unsecured” often means that a particular asset is not pledged, but a personal guarantee or broader security interest may still apply. Read the guarantee and security documents independently of the marketing label. Ask which assets are covered, when additional security is required and how a discharge works after payout.
A lower advertised rate can come with more extensive rights over assets or guarantors. That tradeoff is part of the cost of the offer even when it does not appear in a repayment calculator.
Public disclosure is different from customer outcomes
A well-organised website can make an unsuitable product easy to understand. A poor site can conceal information that a lender supplies clearly in a written quote. The checklist measures the availability of information, not approval speed, complaint satisfaction, servicing quality or value.
Reviews and complaint counts also require context. A complaint count without the customer base is not a complaint rate, and a consumer review average is not evidence that a business loan will be approved. Check the provider’s current dispute-resolution arrangements rather than assuming that every business finance product has identical protections.
Evidence required for a future scored edition
Each scored cell needs the exact product, source URL, accessdate, captured passage or document version, criterion and reason for the decision. A saved page or screenshot should allow another reader to distinguish information genuinely absent from information missed by the reviewer. Any exclusions and criteria changes belong in the method.
All lenders should be assessed against the same standard and source period. An offer unavailable to new borrowers should not earn credit as though it were current. Changes after the capture date need a new entry rather than overwriting the earlier evidence.
The published table should include ties, every assessed lender and the underlying yes/no cells. A total must equal the sum of those cells. Commercial relationships, requested corrections and any lender responses should be recorded accurately; none should be invented to make the study appear more authoritative.
Use the checklist with a lender review
Read the relevant provider profile for current product context, then verify terms directly with the provider. The interest-rate guide explains price bases, and the application guide helps identify which documents and credit checks may be requested.
For corrections or to supply the missing source evidence, contact hello@smbloan.com.au. This corrected edition does not provide a comparative numerical ranking.