Pulling your business numbers together at midnight, without your accountant

Accountants are wonderful people who, sensibly, don’t answer their phones at 11pm. The good news is you don’t need them for the first stage of a business loan. The figures a specialist wants to see in a first conversation are sitting in your accounting software and internet banking, and you can export them yourself tonight.

Which reports can you export yourself?

If you use cloud accounting software, all of these are usually a few clicks away:

Report	What it shows	Tonight or later?
Profit and loss, year to date	Income, expenses and profit this financial year	Tonight
Profit and loss, last financial year	Last year’s result for comparison	Tonight
Balance sheet	What the business owns and owes right now	Tonight
Aged receivables	Who owes you, and how overdue	Tonight
Aged payables	Who you owe, and how overdue	Tonight
Latest lodged BAS	Turnover and GST for the last period	Tonight, if saved
Formal financial statements	Accountant-prepared annual accounts	Later, from your accountant
Tax returns	Lodged income tax returns	Later, if needed

Save each as a PDF with a clear name and date. If the software offers a comparison to the same period last year, use it; it shows the direction the business is heading.

Why do these reports matter alongside bank statements?

Bank statements show cash moving. Accounting reports explain it. Together, they answer the questions a specialist would otherwise have to ask:

• Is the business profitable, or just busy? The profit and loss shows it.
• How much is owed to and by the business? Aged receivables and payables show it.
• What does the business own and owe overall? The balance sheet shows it.
• Is there tax owing? The balance sheet and your ATO statement show it.

For unsecured and cash-flow options, which are sized on turnover and bank statements, these reports add useful context. For property-secured loans, they help show how the loan will be serviced or repaid.

Exported what you can? Start your enquiry — you can mention that your accountant will provide anything more formal.

What if your books are behind?

You’re not alone, and it’s not a reason to wait. Here’s how to handle it honestly:

1. Export what’s there anyway, noting the date the books are reconciled to.
2. Let bank statements carry the weight for recent months.
3. Note any big items not yet recorded, like a large invoice raised outside the software.
4. Tell your specialist how far behind the books are and when they’ll be caught up.

A clear “books reconciled to 30 June; July to September not yet entered, see bank statements” is far more useful than a report that looks current but isn’t.

How do you read your own aged receivables at midnight?

Look for three things:

• Big invoices near their due date: money that should arrive soon and may form part of a repayment plan.
• Overdue invoices: money that’s late. It may still be solid, but a lender will treat it with more caution.
• Concentration: if one customer owes most of the total, note it. It’s not a problem in itself, but it’s part of the picture.

If chasing overdue invoices would solve some of the gap, a polite reminder email tonight costs nothing. The business.gov.au payments and invoicing guidance has practical tips on getting paid on time.

What if you don’t use accounting software?

Plenty of sole traders and small operators don’t, and that’s fine. Tonight, you can still put together a simple picture:

1. Monthly income for the last six months, taken straight from your bank statements.
2. Your main regular costs: rent, wages, vehicle, insurance, stock, loan repayments.
3. Money owed to you: a list of unpaid invoices with amounts and due dates.
4. Money you owe: suppliers, the ATO, other lenders.
5. Your latest BAS, if you’re registered for GST. The ATO sets quarterly due dates at 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July, so the most recent one shouldn’t be far away.

A one-page summary like this, alongside statements, is often enough for a specialist to understand the business and suggest where to go next. The business.gov.au cash flow page has a free template if you’d like to turn it into a proper cash flow statement later.

Illustrative example: the owner who didn’t need to wait

Illustrative example only.

The owner of an electrical contracting business in Brisbane assumed he’d have to wait for his accountant before approaching a lender. At 11pm he exported a year-to-date profit and loss, a balance sheet and an aged receivables report showing a large progress claim due in three weeks. With six months of statements and his latest BAS, the specialist who called the next morning had enough to discuss a short-term facility repaid from the progress claim. The accountant supplied last year’s financial statements later that day.

Your numbers, your enquiry, tonight

You know your business better than anyone. The reports just put that knowledge on paper in a form a lender can read quickly.

The enquiry is a sixty-second job. There’s no credit check at this stage, and your figures aren’t sold on to other lenders; one team reads them and a real person rings you. Please enter turnover, amount and purpose as accurately as you can, so the first call finds the right fit. See if you qualify tonight. If you’re wondering how to explain the repayment side, the purpose and exit page shows you how.