The short version
- Four adjacent months. Four consecutive monthly statements with no month missing in between, ending at your newest closed statement.
- Business account, business name. The account must be the business bank account. Personal accounts do not count.
- Complete PDFs from your bank. Every page, original, unaltered, unredacted, downloaded directly from online banking.
- Not accepted: screenshots, photos of pages, image files wrapped as PDFs, edited or redacted files, summaries, and Cash App, Square or Chime statements.
- More may be asked. Additional statement months may be requested.
T.A.G. Business Funding is an independent ISO and intermediary, not a direct lender. Funding is provided by third-party funders and is subject to their underwriting and approval. Nothing here is a promise of approval, funding or timing.
Which four months do I download? A worked framework
The method is the same every time, so you can run it on any date.
Stated assumptions. Your bank closes each statement cycle at or near the end of the month, and a statement is only available once its cycle has closed. If your bank uses a different closing date, the idea does not change: count back from your newest closed statement.
- Find your newest closed statement. If today is partway through a month, that month is still open. The newest closed statement is normally for the month before.
- Call that Month 1. Then take the three months immediately before it: Month 2, Month 3 and Month 4.
- Download those four and leave none out. The four must touch each other with no missing month.
- Roll forward when a new statement closes. The window moves by one month. The new month becomes Month 1, and the oldest of your four drops out of the window.
For example, if today is in the month of this month, the newest closed statement is normally for last month, and the four months to download are the four months before this one. That example is computed from today's date in your browser. It illustrates the method and is not a statement about any particular business.
Interactive readiness checklist
Check off each month as you download its complete statement PDF. This saves in your browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere until you apply.
0 of 4 months ready
Self-check: does what you have count?
Find the file you hold in the left column, then read across.
| What you have | Does it count? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Complete PDF from your bank, every page, business account in the business name | Counts | Keep it. Make sure it sits in an unbroken run of four adjacent months. |
| Statement from a personal account, including a sole proprietor's personal checking or savings | Does not count | Use statements from the business bank account. If there is none, open one and use it for business deposits. |
| Cash App, Square or Chime statement | Does not count | Not accepted. Use statements from a business bank account. |
| Screenshot or photo of a statement | Does not count | Download the original PDF from your bank's online banking. |
| PDF made from a photo or scan of pages | Does not count | Download the original PDF from the bank instead of converting images. |
| PDF with missing pages, or one page pulled out | Does not count yet | Download the full statement again. Blank and informational pages are part of it. |
| Edited or redacted file | Does not count | Download a fresh, unaltered copy. |
| Spreadsheet, transaction history, summary or sales report | Does not count | These do not replace a bank statement. Download the monthly statement. |
| Two files for the same month | Counts once | A duplicate month does not add a month. Find the missing one. |
| Cycle that has not closed yet | Not yet | Wait for it to close, then use it as your newest month. |
| Statement from a bank you have not heard of | Reviewed by a person | Not automatically invalid. Institution, account type and ownership are checked. |
| Statement with a different company name on it | Needs a look | See the guide on matching the business name to the statements. |
I only have part of the set
My set is short by one or more months
Fewer than four qualifying months does not meet the minimum yet. Work backward from the oldest month you have: download the month immediately before it, then the one before that, until the run is four adjacent months. Statements are normally available as PDF downloads in online banking.
My months have a gap
A gap breaks the run even when the count looks right. Four statements for January, February, April and May are four statements but not four adjacent months. The window ends at the newest month (May), so it runs February, March, April and May. Download March, and January is no longer needed.
Why these do not count, and what to do instead
A statement has to show how the business itself moves money through its own bank account. The items below cannot show that, whatever they look like, and T.A.G. does not make exceptions for them.
- Personal accounts. They mix personal and business activity, including a sole proprietor's personal checking or savings. Use the business bank account. If there is none, open a business account at your bank and run business deposits through it. A usable set builds one closed statement at a time.
- Cash App, Square and Chime. These statements are not accepted. Payment-app and payment-processor records are not substitutes for bank statements. Use the statements from the business bank account that receives the business's money.
- Screenshots, photographs and PDF wrappers. An image of a statement, or an image placed inside a PDF, cannot be confirmed as the bank's original. Sign in to online banking and download the original PDF.
- Redacted, edited or partial files, summaries and exports. Anything other than the bank's complete, unaltered statement does not replace it.
If you are unsure what a document is, do not guess and do not alter it. Download the bank's own statement, or upload what you have and the file is reviewed by a person who will tell you exactly what is still needed.
The longer version of this list is in which bank statements count for business funding. If the statements show a different company name than your application, read why the business name must match the statements.
How to download a complete PDF
Every bank's screens look different, so use these steps as a general pattern rather than exact instructions for your bank.
- Sign in to online banking on a computer if you can. Phone apps sometimes offer only previews.
- Open the business account, then the section usually named Statements or Documents.
- Choose the statement period, then use the download or save as PDF option offered by the bank.
- Open the saved file. Confirm the business name, the account type and the period, and scroll to the last page. Do not trim, annotate or redact it.
- Repeat for each of the four months. If your bank does not offer a statement as a PDF, contact the bank and ask for the original PDF.
A step-by-step guide is in how to download business bank statements as PDFs.
What happens after you upload
Your files are checked for completeness, account type and month coverage. When something is clear, the package moves forward. When something is uncertain, such as an unfamiliar bank or an unclear account type, a person reviews it rather than the file being discarded. You are told which months or documents are still needed. T.A.G. does not promise a review time, an approval or a funding amount, and a funding provider makes its own decision. See what happens after you apply for business funding for the full sequence.
It helps to keep your four statements together in one folder and to reply promptly when something is requested, because delays in getting the right statements are a common reason files take longer. That is operating experience, not a measured statistic.
FAQ
Which months of bank statements do I need?
Your four most recent consecutive monthly business bank statements: four adjacent months ending at your newest closed statement. If your current cycle has not closed yet, it does not count yet; start from the most recent closed one. Additional statement months may be requested.
What if I only have one, two or three months?
Fewer than four qualifying months does not meet the minimum yet. Download the missing months from your bank, starting with the month right before your oldest one, so the set runs four adjacent months. If the business account is newer than four months, the set becomes complete as more statements close.
What if my months have a gap?
Four months with a gap, such as January, February, April and May, do not meet the minimum. Download the missing month and use the four adjacent months ending at your newest statement. In that example the four months are February, March, April and May, and January is not needed.
Do my statements need to be from a business account?
Yes. They must come from the business bank account, in the business name. Personal accounts, including a sole proprietor's personal checking or savings, are not accepted. If the business does not have its own bank account yet, the way forward is to open a business account at your bank and use it for business deposits. A set of four adjacent months builds as statements close.
Are Cash App, Square or Chime statements accepted?
No. Cash App statements, Square statements and Chime statements are not accepted, and payment-app or payment-processor records are not substitutes for business bank statements.
Can I send screenshots, photos or a PDF made from photos?
No. Screenshots, photographs of statement pages and image files converted into PDF wrappers are not accepted. Download the original PDF directly from your bank's online banking.
What counts as a complete statement?
The original PDF from your bank with every page of the statement, including pages that look blank or purely informational, unaltered and unredacted. Extracted single pages, summaries, spreadsheets and transaction histories do not replace a statement.
What if my bank is not a name you recognize?
An unfamiliar bank name does not by itself make a statement invalid. When the institution, account type or ownership is unclear, a person reviews the file before anything is decided, rather than the file being silently discarded.
What happens after I upload?
Your uploads are checked for completeness, account type and month coverage. If something is uncertain, a person reviews it, and you are told exactly which documents or months are still needed. T.A.G. does not promise a review time or an outcome.
Does my ending balance have to meet a minimum?
T.A.G. does not set an ending-balance minimum for submitting a package. Send complete statements as they are rather than waiting for a better-looking month. The funding provider reviews cash flow as part of its own decision.
Does a hard credit inquiry happen before the initial decision?
Initial funding decisions are based primarily on your business's bank-statement cash flow, without a hard credit inquiry before the initial decision. Additional underwriting and credit checks, potentially including a hard inquiry, may occur before final funding.