A clean merchant cash advance deal runs from lead to funded in roughly two to five business days: same-day contact and statements, submission the same or next day, an offer within a day, then stips and funding. Where deals take two weeks it is almost never underwriting — it is the gaps between the merchant sending documents and somebody chasing them.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We will tell you straight up if we cannot help you. No commission deals, no free trials, no chasing you for three weeks.