What does this guide cover?

Ask them in writing, keep the answers, and pay attention to which ones get answered with a number and which get answered with reassurance.

Which funding products does this apply to?

Merchant Cash Advance. Each has its own page listing the funders in this directory that offer it and what each one publishes about its terms.

Are the figures here quotes?

No. Every worked example is labelled illustrative and exists to show the arithmetic. What a particular lender charges is on that lender's page, where it publishes it at all.

The Find Me Funders research desk. Some drafting is AI-assisted, and every page that is says so at the top, including whether a person has checked its claims yet.

How do I know a figure here is right?

Where a page carries the green notice, its claims were checked against the sources listed at the end and a reviewer is named. Where it carries the amber one, nobody has verified it yet and you should confirm anything you plan to act on.

Are the examples real deals?

No. Every worked example is labelled illustrative and exists to show the arithmetic. What any particular lender charges is on that lender's page, where it publishes it.

Why do you never say what a typical rate is?

Because we cannot source it. A market average assembled from lenders who do not publish prices is a guess with a decimal point on it. Where a lender publishes a figure, we show that figure and say where it came from.

Is this financial or legal advice?

No. It is general information about how these products work. Outcomes depend on your contract and your state, and a lawyer or accountant licensed where you are is the person to ask about your situation.

Can I reuse this content?

Quote a paragraph with a link back. Do not republish whole articles.

20 questions to ask before signing a merchant cash advance

Every question below has a correct form of answer: a number, a document, or a clause reference. Ask by email so the answers exist in writing. How a broker handles the list is itself information.

The money

1. What is the exact dollar amount that will hit my bank account?Not the approved amount. The net wire, as a figure. A good answer is a number. A bad one is "around".

2. What is the purchased amount?The total you will deliver.

3. What is every fee that can be charged, when, and how much?Origination, underwriting, UCC filing, wire, per-debit ACH, program or servicing, reconciliation, NSF, default, collection. Ask for it as a list with amounts and triggers, and then check it against the fee schedule in the contract.

4. What is the remittance amount and how often?Daily, weekly, or otherwise, as a dollar figure.

5. How many payments does that imply, and over roughly how many months?Purchased amount divided by remittance. If the answer is vague, do the division yourself and ask them to confirm it.

6. Is there any discount for early payoff, and is it in the document?If it is not written into the agreement or an addendum before funding, assume there is none.

The mechanics

7. Is the remittance a fixed amount or a true percentage of receipts?And if it is fixed, what deposit figure was it calculated from, over which months?

8. Is there a reconciliation clause? Which section? What exactly must I send, and by when?Ask them to walk you through a hypothetical: sales fall 30% next month, what do I do, on what date, to whom, and what happens then.

9. How do you collect — ACH, split funding at the processor, or a lockbox?And what am I required to do before changing bank or processor during the deal?

10. What happens on the day the purchased amount is delivered in full?Who stops the debit, who files the UCC-3 termination, and how long does it take?

The contract

11. Send me the complete document pack now, before I sign anything.The agreement, the guarantee, any confession of judgment affidavit, the ACH authorisation and every addendum. Reading them is the point of asking.

12. Am I signing any document that could make me personally liable, and under what circumstances?Then read the guarantee yourself and identify whether it is of payment, of performance, or of validity.

13. Is a confession of judgment in the pack?If so, for what amount, and where would it be filed?

14. Which state's law governs, and where would a dispute be heard?And is there an arbitration clause, a jury waiver, or a class action waiver?

15. Is there an anti-stacking clause, and what does it cover?Including whether ordinary equipment finance or an existing bank line would breach it.

16. What is the full list of events of default, and is there any cure period?Then read that list against what you are planning in the next ninety days.

The counterparty

17. Are you the funder or a broker?If a broker: who pays you, how much, and is any part of it deducted from my wire?

18. Is the rate you quoted the funder's rate, or does it include a margin you added?Brokers are frequently quoted a buy rate and may sell above it. You are entitled to ask.

19. Who services the account after funding, and what is their direct contact?The broker will not be your contact when something goes wrong.

20. Will you provide a written disclosure of the cost?Several states now require standardised pre-contract disclosures for commercial financing, including an estimated APR on an assumed term — New York under Financial Services Law article 8, California under the DFPI's commercial financing regulations, with other states adding their own. Coverage depends on the transaction and where you are, so ask whether you are entitled to one and request it if you are.

How to read the answers

Three patterns are worth watching for.

Numbers answered with adjectives."It's very competitive", "it works out to about the same as a loan", "the fees are minimal". Repeat the question with the word "dollars" in it.

Urgency applied to a document request.A funder that needs a signature today, before you have read the guarantee, has told you something about the guarantee.

The pack arriving in pieces.Ask for all of it at once. The affidavit of confession of judgment in particular tends to arrive last, inside a bundle, at signing.

Putting two sets of answers side by side

Illustrative only —two brokers come back with complete answers.

Offer one.$75,000 funded, $3,500 of fees deducted, so $71,500 reaches the account. Purchased amount $101,250. Daily debit $843.75 across roughly 120 business days, about 5.5 months.

Offer two.$75,000 funded, nothing deducted. Purchased amount $111,750. Weekly debit $1,862.50 across 60 weeks, about 13.8 months.

Offer one costs $29,750. Offer two costs $36,750. On dollars alone, offer one wins by $7,000.

Annualise them and the ranking inverts: offer one is roughly 160% a year, offer two roughly 74%. And the monthly burden is not close — offer one takes about $18,300 a month out of the account, offer two about $8,070.

There is no universally right answer between those two. There is a right answer for a business that knows whether it can carry $18,300 a month for five months. What is not defensible is choosing on one figure, because every figure here points somewhere different.

The three answers that should end the conversation

"I can't send the contract until you sign the approval."There is no version of this that works in your favour.

"The fee is standard."A fee is a dollar amount with a trigger. An adjective is not an answer to question three.

"Don't worry about the confession of judgment, nobody uses those."Whether it is used is not the question. Whether it is in the pack, for what amount, and where it can be entered, is.

If you get straight answers to all twenty, you may still decide the deal is too expensive — but you will be deciding, which is the entire objective.

Questions to ask before you sign an advance