For Australian business owners
Turned down by the bank? Let's decode why, then fix it.
ATO debt, a default, a past bankruptcy, a trust the bank couldn't follow, or security it wouldn't touch. We work out exactly why the answer was no, then match your business with a lender who treats that reason differently.
- No credit check to enquire
- Never sent to a lender list
- $20k – $5m property-secured
No credit check to ask
Finding out where you stand doesn't touch your credit file. A credit check only comes up once you choose to go ahead.
Not sprayed around
Your enquiry isn't auctioned off to a list of lenders. One team reads it and works out the lender that genuinely fits your file.
A real person on your file
Someone who deals with difficult files every day calls you. Honest, accurate answers on the form mean the right match first time.
Try the decoder
What did the bank say? Here's what it usually means.
Pick the reason closest to yours. You'll see what the bank most likely saw, what actually fixes it, and the one thing to do before you call anyone.
Several reasons at once? The full decoder takes them all, plus your property and trading picture, and points you at a likely route.
Declined because of…
Find the reason on your letter
Every one of these is a reason a bank says no. None of them is automatically a reason a specialist lender will.
Before anyone takes the keys
Funded out of trouble, not wound up by it
Search for help with business debt and most of what you'll find is written by firms whose work starts when a company goes into administration or liquidation. There's a place for that. But if the business still trades and there's equity or cash flow to work with, borrowing your way through is often worth exploring first.
When an administrator is appointed
- An independent administrator takes control of the company and the directors lose their powers
- Creditors vote on the company's future at a second meeting, usually about five weeks in
- In ASIC's 2026 review, half of voluntary administrations ended in voluntary liquidation
- For the smallest companies studied, a deed of company arrangement was the result far less often
When the business is funded through
- You keep running your company, your staff and your customer relationships
- The ATO, pressing creditors or expensive short-term debt can be paid out directly at settlement
- One lender, one repayment and a plan you agreed to, rather than a vote you don't control
- Your options stay open, including restructuring later if it's ever needed
Source: ASIC voluntary administration guide for creditors and ASIC media release 26-144MR (July 2026). Not every business can or should borrow, and this page explains when funding doesn't fit.
Five ways out
The funding routes that get difficult files over the line
Most solutions are one of these, or two of them working together. Which one fits depends on property, turnover and what's pressing hardest.
Property equity
Borrow against residential or commercial property, from $20k to $5m, as a first mortgage, second mortgage or caveat loan. Equity carries the file when the credit report can't.
Explore this route → 02Unsecured cash flow
For trading businesses without property to offer. Typically $5k to $500k, sized on turnover and bank statements rather than a spotless credit history.
Explore this route → 03Line of credit
A limit you draw on when a quarter goes lumpy and repay when customers pay. Handy after a decline has left you without a bank overdraft.
Explore this route → 04Refinance the expensive stuff
Roll stacked short-term loans, cash advances and pressing creditors into one facility, paid out directly, with one repayment to manage.
Explore this route → 05Clear the ATO
Pay tax arrears out at settlement so the collection letters, the credit-file risk and the director-penalty worry stop with the loan.
Explore this route →Complicated, not risky
Trusts, groups and security the bank's checklist can't hold
Some of the strongest businesses we see get declined because the paperwork doesn't fit a form: a trading trust with a corporate trustee, a property company beside an operating company, a rural block or a building with one specific use.
How it works
From "no" to a plan, in four steps
- 1
Tell us the whole story
A 60-second enquiry. Include the awkward parts: the tax debt, the default, the structure. No credit check at this stage.
- 2
A real person calls
Someone who handles difficult files every day works out why the bank said no and what matters most to fix it.
- 3
One matched lender
We take your file to the lender whose rules suit it, not to a crowd. You hear what's realistic, what it takes and what it costs before anything is signed.
- 4
Paid out, back to work
Funds go to your account or straight to the ATO, creditors or the lender being refinanced. See the detail.
After a decline
Five things owners believe that aren't quite true
BeliefOne bank said no, so every lender will.
RealityBanks mostly decline on policy and scorecards. Specialist and private lenders use different rules, and many of them read the explanation rather than the flag.
BeliefI have to clear my credit file before anyone will lend.
RealityPaid defaults, old judgments and even a past bankruptcy are assessed case by case. Property security and current trading often count for more.
BeliefWith ATO debt, administration is the only realistic path.
RealityPlenty of owners pay the ATO out with a loan and keep trading. Administration hands control of your company to someone else. It's worth knowing your funding options first.
BeliefShopping around online protects me.
RealityLead sites that pass your details to many lenders can leave a trail of enquiries on your file. We don't do that, and there's no credit check when you first enquire.
BeliefA trust or group structure means restructuring first.
RealityLenders who handle complex files regularly work with the structure you already have: the right borrower, the right security provider and the right guarantors.
Guides
Plain answers for difficult weeks
ATO Tax Debt on Your Credit Report: The 28-Day Window
Got an ATO letter about disclosing your tax debt? Who qualifies, the 28-day window, how to stop the listing or get it removed, and what lenders then see.
ATO Interest No Longer Deductible: What Tax Debt Costs Now
GIC and SIC incurred from 1 July 2025 are no longer tax deductible. How that changes the true cost of carrying ATO debt, and how to compare a payout loan.
How to Explain a Default to a Lender (With a Template)
A default on your credit file doesn't have to sink a business loan. What to write, what to leave out, the evidence to attach and a template you can adapt.
Questions owners ask us first
Can I still get a business loan after the bank declined me?
Often, yes. A bank decline usually means your file didn't fit that bank's policy, not that no lender will fund you. Specialist and private lenders look at ATO debt, defaults, a past bankruptcy, overdue lodgements, complex structures and unusual security case by case. Property-secured loans run from $20,000 to $5,000,000, and unsecured options for trading businesses typically run from $5,000 to $500,000.
Will enquiring hurt my credit file?
No. There's no credit check when you first enquire. A lending specialist talks your situation through first, and a credit check only happens later if you decide to go ahead with a particular lender.
Can a business loan pay off what we owe the ATO?
Yes. A business loan can be used to pay tax arrears, and with property-secured lending the ATO is commonly paid directly at settlement. Clearing the debt stops further general interest charge building on that balance and ends collection action on it.
I was bankrupt years ago. Does that rule me out?
Not by itself. Once you're discharged you can run a business and act as a company director again. The bankruptcy stays on the public register, but many specialist lenders focus on what has happened since, the strength of the business and any security available.
Our business runs through a trust and two companies. Can you help?
Yes, that's a common file for us. We work out which entity should borrow, which one provides security and who guarantees, based on the trust deed and how the group is set up. You don't usually need to restructure first.
Do you lend for home loans or personal debts?
No. We only arrange business finance. Funds must be for business purposes, such as paying tax arrears, refinancing business debt, working capital, stock, equipment or growth.
Why do you ask for so much detail on the form?
Because difficult files are won or lost on detail. Accurate answers about the amount, the security, your credit history and any tax debt let us match you with the right lender first time, instead of guessing and wasting your time.
The bank's answer was no. Ours starts with a conversation.
A 60-second enquiry with no credit check when you first enquire. A real person reads the whole story, including the awkward parts, and calls you with options that fit. Your details stay with us, not a lender list.
No credit check to ask
Not sprayed around
A real person on your file