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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 |
Collect what you can before you submit
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.
When a stip is really a warning
- A request to see other accounts usually means the deposits do not reconcile with the stated revenue.
- Landlord verification on a business with a residential address means they are checking it operates at all.
- A request for the last two weeks of transactions usually means something recent looked off.
- Repeated ownership questions can mean the entity name does not match the account.
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.
Questions brokers ask
What are stips in merchant cash advance?
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.
Which stips should you collect before submitting?
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.
Can a deal be declined at the stip stage?
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.
Why does the funder want the most recent statement again?
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.
How fast should stips be collected?
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.
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.