Sagora advisory
Advisory: financing file

Bank financing file: present your SME the way the banker analyses it

Your project is solid, but the bank does not finance a project: it finances a file. Many credible requests fail or drag on because the information arrives incomplete, poorly structured or without answers to the questions the credit committee will ask. Sagora prepares with you a financing file that speaks the banker's language: credit memo, articulated forecast and expected ratios.

What your banker really assesses

Before the rate and the guarantees, the banker assesses one thing: your company's capacity to repay. They measure it with precise ratios, foremost among them the DSCR (debt service coverage ratio), which compares available cash flows to debt service.

  • Repayment capacity: do cash flows cover the instalments, and with what margin (DSCR)?
  • Financial structure: level of equity, existing debt, balance sheet equilibrium.
  • Quality of information: up-to-date accounts, forecast consistent with the track record, justified assumptions.
  • Guarantees and collateral: what secures the bank if the central scenario does not materialise.
  • Coherence of the project: does the financed investment generate the flows that repay the credit?

What a solid file contains

A solid file anticipates the credit committee's questions instead of enduring them. It rests on three key pieces: a credit memo presenting the company and the request, a forecast articulated across income statement, balance sheet and cash, and the ratios the bank will calculate anyway.

  • Credit memo: activity, market, key figures, purpose and structure of the request.
  • Articulated forecast: income statement, balance sheet and cash plan consistent with one another.
  • Ratios presented rather than endured: DSCR, indebtedness, interest coverage.
  • Documented assumptions: every figure in the forecast tied to something verifiable.
  • Sensitivities: what happens if revenue disappoints, and the leeway planned for it.

The classic mistakes that cost a credit

The same mistakes recur in rejected files: a forecast disconnected from the track record, working capital forgotten in the financing plan, a poorly calibrated request or a single scenario presented as a certainty.

  • Optimistic forecast with no link to past performance: credibility immediately dented.
  • Working capital missing from the financing plan: financed growth consumes cash the file ignores.
  • Poorly calibrated amount: too tight, you will have to come back; too large, it worries.
  • Single scenario: without sensitivities or a plan B, the committee makes its own assumptions, rarely in your favour.
  • Incomplete or late information: every back-and-forth delays the decision and erodes trust.

Our support

Sagora intervenes upstream of your request: diagnosis of the financial situation, construction of the forecast, drafting of the credit memo and preparation for the bank's questions. You remain your banker's counterpart; we give you a file that holds.

To objectify the starting point, you can request a first free analysis of your company based on its public accounts. It often reveals the points the bank will raise, while there is still time to address them.

Going further

Frequently asked questions

What is the DSCR and why does it matter so much?

The DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) compares available cash flows to debt service (interest plus principal) over a period. A DSCR above 1 means the business covers its instalments; banks generally require a margin beyond that. It is the central indicator of repayment capacity.

Which documents should be prepared?

The annual accounts of recent years, a recent accounting position, a forecast (income, cash) and a precise description of what is being financed. The credit memo then assembles these elements into a structured, coherent file.

When should you start preparing the file?

Before approaching the bank, not after its first feedback. A file prepared upstream avoids the back-and-forth that delays the decision, and leaves time to fix the weak points the diagnosis reveals.

How much does the support cost?

The assignment is quoted case by case: the scope depends on the size of the company, the amount and complexity of the financing, and the state of the available elements. The scope is validated with you before any commitment.

Does Sagora guarantee that the credit will be obtained?

No, and nobody seriously can: the decision belongs to the bank. Our role is to ensure your request is judged on a complete, coherent file that anticipates the credit committee's questions, rather than on partial information.

Does the bank require a full business plan?

For significant financing, the bank generally expects a multi-year forecast articulating income statement, balance sheet and cash, supported by justified assumptions. The credit memo presents the summary; the detailed forecast goes in the annex.

Present your bank with a file that holds

Tell us about your financing project: together we will scope the perimeter of the support.

Request the free analysis