The short answer
Most declines come down to eight things: negative days, low average daily balance, too many existing positions, inconsistent deposits, insufficient time in business, a restricted industry, an unrealistic ask, or an incomplete file. Roughly half are properties of the merchant and cannot be fixed. The other half are properties of how the file was prepared and placed, which is entirely within a broker’s control.
A high decline rate is expensive twice — the rep time on files that go nowhere, and the standing you lose with funders who start treating your submissions as low quality. Both are worth attacking.
| Reason | Fixable by you? |
|---|---|
| Negative days across the statements | No |
| Average daily balance too low for the ask | Partly — resize the ask |
| Too many existing positions | No |
| Inconsistent or lumpy deposits | Partly — provide context |
| Under the time-in-business floor | No |
| Restricted or high-risk industry | Partly — placement |
| Ask unrealistic against revenue | Yes |
| Incomplete or illegible file | Yes |
The ones you cannot fix
Negative days, existing positions and time in business are facts about the merchant. What you control is finding them out before you submit rather than after — a decline you predicted costs a phone call, one you did not costs a submission and some credibility.
This is also where qualifying properly on the first call pays for itself. Three questions — how many positions, any negative days, how long trading — filter most of the files that were never going to fund.
The ones that are entirely yours
- An unrealistic ask. Requesting three or four times what the revenue supports tells the underwriter you did not read the statements, and it colours how they read the rest of the file.
- An incomplete file. Missing months, missing pages, screenshots instead of statements. This reads as concealment even when it is not, and it is the easiest decline to eliminate.
- Wrong funder. Placement is judgement — sending restaurant paper to a funder who does not take it is a decline you generated.
- No context. An anomalous month with an explanation attached is a different file from the same month left to speak for itself.
What to do with a decline
- Ask the funder why, specifically. A pattern across declines is worth more than any individual answer.
- Consider whether another funder takes that profile before writing the merchant off.
- Tell the merchant plainly what the obstacle was. A merchant who understands why gets a chance to fix it and come back.
- Diary the ones that fail on time in business or a single bad month. Those become fundable later, and almost nobody follows up on them.