From a San Luis, AZ Funding Request to a Partner's Decision: Order Papers, Deposits and Underwriting

• The supplier's name and the invoice number
• Each item listed by the case, with the units packed in each case
• The price per case and the total for each line, with freight on its own line
• Any minimum the supplier sets per case or per item
• Any deposit the supplier wants before it ships

Each line answers something a partner would otherwise have to ask: what the money buys, how many units it covers and what the supplier wants paid before it ships. A partner may still ask for other records; the invoice sits beside them rather than in place of them.

If a toy store's order changes after the request goes in, a revised invoice keeps the amount in the request matched to the goods.

Underwriting is the partner's check of whether, and on what terms, it will fund. Hillmark Credit takes no part in that decision. A partner may read items such as these:

1. Deposits: how much comes into the grocery's account each month and how steady it is
2. Existing payments: other loans, advances or leases already drawing on the account
3. Credit history: a personal report on the owner, plus a business credit file if the partner uses one
4. How long the grocery has been open and what it sells
5. Purpose: what the money buys and how it should pay for itself

A partner may come back with questions before deciding, for example about a large deposit that is not sales. Its answer can be an offer, a smaller offer than requested, or a decline.

Bank statements show every deposit, not only sales. A shoe store's statements may hold an owner's transfer from a personal account or a supplier's credit for returned pairs, and a partner reading them may ask what each one is.

A short note listing each deposit that is not sales, with its date and amount, can answer that before it is asked. It also keeps the monthly sales figure in the request in line with what the register shows.

Illustration only, invented figures: across three months, the store's statements show $61,840 of deposits, of which $4,500 is an owner transfer and $1,265 a supplier credit, so the sales behind the request come to $56,075, about $18,692 a month.

There is no single qualifying list, because each partner sets its own. For a store paying supplier invoices on net terms, what may count is whether deposits cover those invoices with room left over.

• Bank deposits that cover current supplier invoices and payroll
• Few overdrafts or returned payments in recent statements
• Existing debt payments that leave room for one more
• A purpose tied to sales, such as goods the store already knows how to sell

Owners who are unsure can call (928) 212-1564 and describe the request. Hillmark Credit can explain what partners may ask for, but only a partner can say whether it will fund.

For stock or equipment, a formal business plan may not be needed. A larger step, such as a limited-service restaurant adding a food truck, is where a short written plan helps a partner follow the numbers.

• What the truck costs, with the dealer or builder quote
• Where it will operate and on which days, with any permits already held
• Expected daily sales, stated as an estimate with how it was reached
• Added costs: driver wages, fuel, insurance and commissary fees
• How the payment fits inside the expected sales

A page or two may be enough. A partner may read for whether the estimates rest on the restaurant's current sales, not for length; the equipment financing page covers how the truck itself can be financed.