Stipulations are the documents a funder requires before releasing money — commonly a driver’s licence, a voided cheque, proof of ownership, a landlord or lease document, and recent statements to bridge the gap since submission. They rarely change an approved decision; what they change is the timeline, and a deal that slows down at the stip stage is a deal a competing broker can still take.
Approval is not funding. Between the two sits a list of documents, and the merchant’s enthusiasm has a half-life measured in days. Treat stips as a race rather than as paperwork.
| Stip | Why it is asked for |
|---|---|
| Photo ID | Identity, and matching the personal guarantee |
| Voided cheque or bank letter | Confirming the account that will be debited |
| Proof of ownership | That the person signing can bind the business |
| Lease or landlord contact | That the business operates where it says |
| Most recent month’s statements | Bridging the gap since submission |
| Tax ID confirmation | Matching the entity to the filing |
The ID and the voided cheque are asked for on essentially every deal. Getting them on the same call as the statements costs the merchant one extra minute while they are already engaged, and removes a day from the funding timeline later — which is the day a competing offer arrives in.
None of these is fatal, but each one tells you what the underwriter is uncertain about — which is useful information you can address directly rather than waiting to see whether it kills the file.
Stipulations — the documents a funder requires before releasing funds. Commonly photo ID, a voided cheque, proof of ownership, a lease or landlord contact, and the most recent month’s bank statements.
Photo ID and the voided cheque, because they are asked for on nearly every deal. Getting them on the same call as the statements removes a day from the funding timeline and that day is when competing offers land.
It can, though it is uncommon — the usual causes are the gap-month statements looking materially worse than the submitted ones, or an ownership or account mismatch surfacing. Approval is not funding until the stips clear.
To bridge the gap between submission and funding. If revenue or balances dropped in the interval, the offer can be resized or withdrawn, so it is worth watching that month yourself and raising it first if something changed.
Same day where possible. Merchant enthusiasm decays quickly and competing brokers are still working the same file, so the stip stage is where deals are lost to delay rather than to underwriting.
We will tell you straight up if we cannot help you. No commission deals, no free trials, no chasing you for three weeks.