Most files come back the first time for an administrative reason rather than a financial one: an expired document, a missing signature, a file supplied in a format the branch will not accept. Each round trip costs two to three weeks.
This is the list we use internally before filing, with the reason each document is required — because a document you understand is a document you prepare properly.
The six pages are not really read, they are ticked. Each corresponds to a stage of the file, in the order the documents are asked for, and each line carries the document, the reason the bank asks for it, and the formal defect that sends it back. The reason column is not an author's aside: it settles the cases where you hesitate over which version of a document to supply, because knowing what the analyst does with it is almost always enough to choose. And the format is a PDF because the place for this list is on a table, next to the pile of documents.
It does not tell you whether your file holds up. A complete file is not an accepted file: it removes the administrative round trips, and touches neither the consistency of your forecast, nor the ratios, nor the justification of your assumptions. Nor does it cover the documents specific to a particular scheme, which follow their own forms. And it does not look at your file: if you want an outside eye to open your documents and tell you where this will stick, that is the pre-filing review, not a PDF.
What you receive
- A six-page PDF checklist, organised by stage of the file.
- A "why the bank asks for it" column against each document.
- The formal rejection grounds we see recur, and how to avoid them.
Included
- Updates whenever observed practice changes, for 12 months
Not included
- A review of your actual file — that is the separate session
- Documents specific to a particular scheme (ANGEM, FGAR, CGCI-PME)