The Life Starter
Sign up
All courses/Money

Course 165 · Money course 36

Prepare a Small-Business Loan Readiness File

Practice prepare a small-business loan readiness file with complete fictional records, worked calculations and changed-input checks.

Before you start

Use the supplied fictional case; paper and a calculator are sufficient.

Read Business Financial Statements See everything you’ll need

Free download · Original practice data · No external account required. Download the starter pack

What you’ll leave with

A fictional funding request with verified uses, owner contribution, cash capacity, loan-term comparison, collateral questions and a go/no-go recommendation.

Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.

Your project

Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.

Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.

  1. Get your materialsDownload practice filesSupplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.
  2. Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
  3. Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Course handbook

Know the route before you begin.

Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.

Who this is for

Learners ages 14+ practicing independently; adult-only transactions are studied as fictional future decisions.

Prepare before lesson one
  • Use the supplied fictional case; paper and a calculator are sufficient.
  • Recommended preparation: Read Business Financial Statements. Do not supply private financial documents.
Your final project

Finish with proof you can use.

A fictional funding request with verified uses, owner contribution, cash capacity, loan-term comparison, collateral questions and a go/no-go recommendation.

Save a project record in My Proof
See project checklist and review criteria

Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.

What to include

  • A funding-use table and source/term verification questions.
  • A balanced or gap-flagged sources-and-uses schedule.
  • A repayment-capacity worksheet with numerator definition and downside gap.
  • A business-loan term/proceeds/cost scorecard.
  • A collateral/guarantee question map for qualified review.
  • A completed fictional small-business loan-readiness packet.

Review and revise

Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.

  • All supplied records reconcile and the decision uses the named case rules.
  • Calculations show units, intermediate values and a second check.
  • Changed-input practice revises the affected result and identifies uncertainty.
  • The final project combines six lesson records, separates fictional assumptions from current rules, and states a supported next step.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas

The rules behind the steps.

01

Trace the money

For prepare a small-business loan readiness file, keep the source amount, transformation and resulting balance together.

02

Keep the assumption visible

Use the stated rate, date, permission and case rule; a real arrangement can produce a different result.

03

Test the decision

Use a changed input and a clear stop or review condition before turning this practice into an action.

What do these words mean?
Key words

Key terms worth knowing.

Sources and uses
A schedule matching how funds are obtained with what they will pay for.
Debt service
Scheduled principal and interest payments within the stated scope and period.
Coverage ratio
Defined cash available divided by the specified debt payments.
Collateral
An asset proposed as security under an agreement’s specific terms.
Your route

6 lessons.
One useful project.

Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.

  1. 1
    Up next

    Match a business funding need to its use

    Classify a business funding request by complete use and assumed cash/use horizon.

  2. 2
    11 min

    Reconcile sources and uses of funds

    Reconcile proposed business sources/uses and preserve an unfunded gap.

  3. 3
    13 min

    Calculate a repayment-capacity scenario

    Calculate defined debt-service coverage and test a downside cash scenario.

  4. 4
    13 min

    Compare business loan terms and proceeds

    Compare complete business financing outflows against equal delivered proceeds.

  5. 5
    11 min

    Map collateral and guarantee questions

    Distinguish proposed collateral and personal-guarantee commitments and identify missing scope.

  6. 6
    15 min

    Write a business funding-readiness recommendation

    Combine funding gaps, repayment stress and unresolved terms into a readiness recommendation.

Use the tools

Tools to help you practice.

See all tools
ZIP · practice files

Prepare a Small-Business Loan Readiness File practice files

Supplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.

Text worksheet

Your course project worksheet

A downloadable text worksheet with each lesson’s working output, space for your answers, and the shared final-project checklist. Save your own copy.

Source transparency

Sources and further study.

Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.

U.S. Small Business Administration — Lender Match
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Official page opened/read during Money expansion authoring; checked the relevant concept and access state. These sources do not establish funding eligibility.

Access: Readable official webpage inspected with the web reader on 2026-10-01. No interactive-tool operation is claimed.

Reuse: Original fictional practice, questions and calculations; paraphrased concepts with a source link. No source exercise copied.

U.S. Small Business Administration — 7(a) loans
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Official page opened/read during Money expansion authoring; checked the relevant concept and access state. These sources do not establish funding eligibility.

Access: Readable official webpage inspected with the web reader on 2026-10-01. No interactive-tool operation is claimed.

Reuse: Original fictional practice, questions and calculations; paraphrased concepts with a source link. No source exercise copied.

U.S. Small Business Administration — Microloans
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Official page opened/read during Money expansion authoring; checked the relevant concept and access state. These sources do not establish funding eligibility.

Access: Readable official webpage inspected with the web reader on 2026-10-01. No interactive-tool operation is claimed.

Reuse: Original fictional practice, questions and calculations; paraphrased concepts with a source link. No source exercise copied.

Ready when you are

Start with the first useful move.

You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.

Start lesson one