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Speed is the product an advance sells. A merchant who wanted money in a week and gets it in three has bought the expensive version of a bank loan, and they notice.
| Stage | Should take | Usually takes |
|---|---|---|
| Lead delivered → first dial | Under 5 minutes | Hours, on most floors |
| First contact → statements received | Same call | Two to four days |
| Statements → submitted | Same day | One to two days |
| Submitted → offer | Same or next day | One to two days |
| Offer → signed | Same day | One to three days |
| Signed → stips cleared | Same day | One to three days |
| Stips → funded | Next business day | One to two days |
The two columns tell the whole story
The funder-controlled rows — submission to offer, stips to funding — are the ones already running near their floor. Every row where the gap between "should" and "usually" is large is a row the broker controls. That is the useful finding, and it is not comfortable.
Why the timeline is competitive, not just operational
A merchant shopping for funding is usually talking to more than one broker. The one who gets statements first submits first, and the first real offer in front of a merchant who needs money this week frequently wins regardless of whether a better one arrives on Thursday. Speed is not just a service quality — it is most of the win rate.
Questions brokers ask
How long does an MCA take from application to funding?
A clean deal runs two to five business days end to end — same-day contact and statements, submission that day or the next, an offer within a day, then stips and funding. Deals stretching to two weeks are almost always waiting on documents rather than on underwriting.
What is the slowest part of an MCA deal?
Getting bank statements from the merchant. It is the one step that depends on the merchant doing something alone, and it is the step most improved by asking on the call and staying on the line rather than emailing afterwards.
How fast do funders turn around a submission?
Typically same day or next day for an offer on a complete file, and next business day for funding once stips clear. The funder-controlled parts of the timeline are already close to their floor.
Does being first actually win the deal?
Frequently. A merchant who needs money this week often takes the first real offer in front of them, and a better offer arriving two days later loses to one that arrived on Tuesday.
Can a deal fund the same day?
It happens on clean files where the merchant is responsive and the stips were collected up front, but it is not the thing to promise. Two to five business days is the honest range to give a merchant.
Alex Makowski
Founder, Infinite Bookings
Runs the lead generation operation behind Infinite Bookings — paid traffic, the funding application, and the delivery pipeline that puts records into brokers’ CRMs.
Reachable directly at alex@infinitebookings.com or 732-609-7182.