Commercial lending guide
Learn how lenders commonly look at cash flow, repayment, collateral, guarantor strength, and loan structure.
Commercial financing, prepared
Make your commercial loan request lender-ready.
RivetRatio helps small-business owners and commercial real-estate investors understand the numbers, organize the details, and prepare for a lender conversation.
Practical preparation for U.S. business financing and commercial real estate—not a loan decision or a promise of approval.
Preparation map
Before the meeting
A clear request connects
The parts of the picture
01
Repayment
Cash flow · DSCR · global cash flow
02
Leverage
LTV · debt yield · existing obligations
03
Borrower strength
Liquidity · ownership · experience
04
Security & terms
Collateral · purpose · loan structure
Clarity before capital
A useful first step, not a verdict
For the people behind the deal.
Small-business owners / Commercial real-estate investors
Choose a starting point
Find a practical starting point.
Explore practical resources to organize questions and financing information before a lender conversation.
U.S. small-business owners
Preparing for an SBA loan conversation?
Review common preparation topics and questions to discuss with a lender.
Commercial real-estate investors
Preparing to discuss property financing?
Find guides for organizing property and financing details before a lender conversation.
These resources support preparation; lenders make their own financing decisions.
Tools for the work before
Know the pieces. Put them together.
A practical set of guides and worksheets turns commercial lending concepts into steps you can work through at your own pace.
Browse all guidesBuild the lending vocabulary
Financing calculators
Explore loan payments, DSCR, LTV, debt yield, sources and uses, existing debt, and rate sensitivity.
Loan request templates
Organize the amount, purpose, repayment source, collateral, ownership, and financial highlights in one place.
Readiness & meeting checklists
Gather the information to prepare and think through questions before you sit down with a lender.
BankReady Academy
Follow a self-paced outline of commercial lending basics and borrower preparation.
What a lender may review
The ratios matter. So does the whole story.
Every lender and transaction is different. RivetRatio helps you get acquainted with common parts of the review so you can organize your questions and information.
DSCR
LTV
Debt yield
Liquidity
- 01Cash flow
- The operating picture behind a potential source of repayment.
- 02DSCR
- How cash flow available for debt service compares with required payments.
- 03LTV
- Loan amount viewed in relation to the collateral value.
- 04Debt yield
- A property’s net operating income expressed as a percentage of its loan amount.
- 05Liquidity & global cash flow
- The broader financial context, resources, and obligations around a request.
- 06Collateral & structure
- The assets, terms, and repayment plan that shape a financing request.
A more prepared conversation
From unfamiliar terms to a clearer request.
Start with what you know about your business or property. Use the tools to make the financing picture easier to explain.
- STEP 01
Understand the lens
Get familiar with the information lenders commonly review.
- STEP 02
Work through the figures
Use practical calculators to organize common financing measures.
- STEP 03
Make the request clear
Bring the purpose, repayment, and supporting details into focus.
Before you ask the bank
Bring a clearer picture to the table.
Start preparing the request you already know you want to make. Questions about RivetRatio’s educational guides and tools? Get in touch.
RivetRatio provides education and preparation tools. It does not determine loan eligibility or guarantee approval. Lenders make their own decisions based on each borrower and transaction.