Windward Navigator · Guide
The document list behind a business line of credit, term loan or SBA 7(a) application — entity records, ownership, authority, financials, guaranties, collateral — and how to keep it current so a loan closes in weeks, not months.
A bank's first request list is not a test of your business; it is a test of your records. Companies that keep the file current close credit facilities in weeks. Companies that assemble it from scratch lose a month before underwriting begins. This guide lists what a Texas lender will ask for, why, and which items are legal work rather than bookkeeping.
The bank must be able to prove the borrower exists, is in good standing, and has authorized the loan. Expect to provide the certificate of formation and all amendments; the company agreement or bylaws; a certificate of fact from the Texas Secretary of State and a franchise-tax account status from the Comptroller; the EIN letter; any assumed-name certificates; and a borrowing resolution — a consent of the members, managers or board authorizing the facility and naming who may sign. If the entity is foreign-registered in Texas or has subsidiaries, the same set is needed for each.
Banks are required to identify each individual who owns 25% or more of the borrower and one individual with significant control, under the federal customer due diligence rule, regardless of the status of the separate Corporate Transparency Act reporting regime (which, as of 2025, no longer applies to most domestic companies). Have a current cap table or membership ledger that ties to executed instruments, organizational charts for layered ownership, and government identification for the people named. Discrepancies between the ledger and the company agreement are the most common reason this step stalls.
Two to three years of business tax returns; year-to-date profit-and-loss and balance sheet; accounts receivable and payable agings; a debt schedule listing every note, lease and line with balances and payments; bank statements, typically three to twelve months; and projections for the term of the loan with the assumptions written out. For a start-up or a company under two years old, lenders substitute a business plan and the owners' track record. Interim statements should reconcile to the bank statements; lenders check.
Most bank and all SBA loans require personal guaranties from owners of 20% or more, so each of those owners provides a personal financial statement, personal tax returns, and consent from a spouse where community-property rules require it. SBA 7(a) loans add the borrower information form, a certification of eligibility, and evidence of the owners' equity injection for start-up and acquisition loans.
For a secured facility the lender will run a UCC search against the borrower and ask for a schedule of assets; titles for vehicles and equipment; leases for real property and landlord waivers; evidence of insurance naming the lender; and, for real estate, an appraisal and environmental review. For energy companies the collateral package extends to the leasehold and the operating agreements, and the bank's counsel will ask for title opinions on the properties that carry the borrowing base.
Material customer and supplier contracts (especially anything with a change-of-control or anti-assignment clause), key licenses and permits, a schedule of intellectual property, employment and contractor agreements for key people, and a written statement of any pending or threatened litigation. A customer-concentration summary is often requested for companies whose revenue depends on a few accounts.
Three items on every list are legal work: the borrowing resolution and incumbency certificate, which must match the governing documents as they actually read; the ownership record, which must tie to signed instruments; and the review of the loan documents themselves — covenants, reporting obligations, guaranty carve-outs, and the events of default that can accelerate the loan. Negotiating a covenant before signing is routine; curing a breach after is not.
The companies that borrow easily treat the credit file as a living record rather than a project: good-standing confirmed and franchise tax filed each year; consents signed when decisions are made, not reconstructed later; the cap table updated the day an instrument is executed; insurance, leases and licenses tracked on one calendar. That is the discipline Windward Charts and Compliance Watch are built to enforce, and it is the same record a buyer, an investor or an exchange will ask for later — the lender is simply the first reader.
Formation documents and good-standing certificates, a borrowing resolution, an ownership record identifying 25% owners and a control person, two to three years of financial statements and tax returns, a debt schedule, projections, personal financial statements and guaranties from 20% owners, and collateral and insurance documents for a secured line.
As of 2025, federal beneficial-ownership reporting under the CTA no longer applies to most domestic companies. Banks, however, still must collect beneficial-ownership information under the customer due diligence rule when opening accounts or extending credit, so the ownership record is required either way.
Most lenders, and the SBA in every case, require guaranties from owners of 20% or more. Guaranties can sometimes be limited or carved out for specific defaults; that is a negotiation before signing, not after.
Timing is driven by the completeness of the file and the lender's SBA experience. With a complete package, several weeks to a few months is typical; incomplete ownership records and missing consents are the most common delays.
Yes. The borrowing resolution, incumbency certificate, ownership record and loan-document review are legal work; the financial package comes from your accountant. Windward offers fixed-fee governance clean-up and ongoing Compliance Watch so the file stays current.
Windward Navigator guides are general information about Texas and federal law, not legal advice about your company or project. Laws and thresholds change; confirm the current figures and talk to counsel before acting. Attorney advertising.