No-Doc Business Loans: Do They Really Exist?

Virtually every business funding option requires at least minimal documentation from a potential borrower, but here are your options for (almost) no-doc business loans.
Last updated Jan. 21, 2025
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If you’re looking for fast business financing without a mess of paperwork, then you may want to consider so-called no-doc business loans. To be fair, any financing option will require at least a few documents with the application process, so a true no-doc business loan doesn’t really exist. You can, however, find small business loans with an application process that requires only minimal paperwork on your end.

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The Best No-Doc Business Loans

We’ve detailed below several financing options that will require very little of you in the way of gathering and preparing documents. But while actual documentation may be limited, it’s important to note that most loan applications will ask you several questions and require a standard set of information, including:
  • Personal and business tax IDs
  • Total time in business 
  • Average annual revenue 
  • Personal and/or business credit score 
So you’ll want to have that info at the ready when you apply for a small business loan.
Here are your best options for (virtually) no-doc business loans.

Short-Term Loan

Best for: General working capital needs, one-time expenses, or investments.
  • Business bank account number
  • Last 3-6 months of bank statements
  • Altbanq is an alternative lender that offers short-term loans and an online application that it states can be completed “in under 5 minutes.” The application requires only that you provide some basic information regarding your business and ownership, and then either connect your business bank account or provide a few of your most recent monthly business bank statements.
  • OnDeck offers short-term loans up to $250,000 and an easy online application that requires only a few bank statements in addition to some basic business and owner information.
Short-term loans are like the traditional business term loans you know well—lump-sum loans that get repaid over a set period of time with regular payments, including interest—but with a few key differences.
Short-term loans have, as their name implies, shorter terms—typically three to 24 months. You repay the capital with daily, weekly, or sometimes monthly payments, depending on the lender. Loan amounts can reach up to $10 million but often max out in the hundreds of thousands, and interest rates range from 10% to nearly 100%.
Short-term loans are particularly useful when you have working capital needs, or one-off business investments or expenses you need to make. In addition, these can be great no-doc business loan options for startups, as well as businesses with average or bad credit, as they’re often easier to qualify for than longer-term loans.

Business Line of Credit

Best for: Ongoing access to funds as needed.
  • Business bank account
  • Last few months of business bank statements
  • American Express is not just in the business of credit cards; it also offers a business line of credit of up to $150,000 ($250,000 for select applicants). To apply, you need only fill in the typical business and tax information expected on any loan application, and then link your business bank account. 
  • Backd is an alternative lender offering a business line of credit up to $750,000. The lender claims its application can be completed in just a few minutes. Similar to other no-doc business lenders, it will ask you to link your business bank account as part of the application process.
  • Fundbox has some of the most accessible qualification requirements among its line of credit competitors, making its product available to very young businesses that don’t yet bring in a huge annual revenue. For its just about no-doc loan application, Fundbox requests to sync with your accounting software or business checking account.
With a business line of credit, you have access to a pool of funds that you can tap into for any business-related expenses. You only pay interest on the amount you draw, and once you pay it back with interest, your credit line gets refilled to its original amount.
Although there are different types of business lines of credit, short-term lines of credit will have minimal documentation requirements and be the easiest to qualify for. These lines of credit, however, will also offer smaller line amounts over shorter repayment periods and at higher rates—ranging from 10% to 99%.

Invoice Financing

Best for: B2B businesses with cash flow tied up in unpaid invoices.
Most lenders will require only some of the following for their invoice financing application:
  • Accounts receivable aging report
  • Articles of incorporation
  • Business bank statements
  • Business debt schedule
  • Invoices you wish to finance
  • Porter Capital offers invoice financing, also called accounts receivable financing. It will advance you up to 80% of a total invoice amount, typically within 24 hours. Porter asks for the past two to three months of business bank statements, a schedule of business debt and an accounts receivable report with your application.
Invoice financing essentially gives you an advance on your outstanding invoices, freeing up your cash flow. Invoice financing companies advance you a lump sum amount that’s typically a large percentage of the value of the outstanding invoice in question—up to 90%.
This is a solid option for borrowers with less-than-stellar credit, little time in business, and in need of fast, accessible funding, as your eligibility for this financing largely depends on the details of your outstanding invoices and customers’ payment history (and less on your own financials).

Merchant Cash Advance

Best for: The closest you can get to no-doc financing; businesses that can’t qualify for other options.
  • Business bank account or merchant account
  • Fundomate can fund up to $500,000 with up to 18-month terms. The company offers slightly more flexible repayment terms than most in this space, including a biweekly payment option along with a daily and weekly one. Its brief application requires only your bank account details in addition to the standard business questions. 
  • PayPal Working Capital is a trustworthy option for any business owner with a PayPal Business or Premier Account—no financial documents required. If you can meet the minimum processing requirements, this solution may help bail you out of challenging financial times. As with any loan or advance, though, be sure you fully understand all terms and fees up front before signing an agreement.
While a merchant cash advance (MCA) is the closest option you’ll find to no-doc financing, we’ve put it at the end of our list because this type of financing should really be a last resort for small business owners. An MCA is not a loan; it’s a cash advance. This type of financing, therefore, is highly unregulated—proceed with caution when exploring this option.
Merchant cash advance companies advance you a sum of money by purchasing your future credit or debit card sales. This means that to repay this advance, you’ll allow the lender to take a fixed percentage of your card sales each day until you’ve repaid the total sum, plus interest.
MCAs are the most accessible financing products on the market: The companies that offer them often require little-to-no time in business and have very low minimum thresholds for annual revenue and credit score in order to qualify.
And as for the documentation required once you’ve supplied basic business information, you’ll typically need only to sync your business bank or merchant account to verify the average revenue volume you’re bringing in.
It’s important to note that MCAs are the most expensive financing option on the market. Interest on them is typically calculated in terms of a factor rate, which is often much higher than other business funding options (40% to 350%). Plus, daily repayments mean your business’s cash flow can be seriously affected.
In general, merchant cash advances should be avoided if you can qualify for a different financing solution with lower rates and better terms.

Pros and Cons of No-Doc Business Loans

Before you decide whether a (close to) no-doc business loan is the right option for your small business, consider the advantages and disadvantages to this type of financing compared with other types of business loans.

Pros

Most alternative lenders, which are typically the ones offering (almost) no-doc business loans, operate online—meaning their applications are also online. By using technology to process your loan application and algorithms for the underwriting process, these lenders don’t need to see as many documents from the borrower. Several, in fact, may simply ask you to sync your business bank account or accounting software. Then the lender’s technology gets to work and collects the information the lender will use to determine if you qualify.
You can acquire a no-doc business loan much faster than a bank loan because alternative lenders are not subject to the same government regulations as big banks are. While a bank needs to see extensive financial evidence, an alternative lender only needs to see specific documentation that it deems important. The technology aspect also plays a big role in the speed of alternative lenders. With efficient underwriting programs and highly automated applications, alternative lenders can process more small business loan applications in less time.

Cons

Banks charge lower interest rates because they’re so selective with their borrowers. If they only lend to business owners with long and successful track records, they can be more confident that they’ll get their money back. Alternative lenders don’t spend as much time looking at paperwork to see if you’re a qualified borrower. In general, they accept entrepreneurs with shorter business histories, lower credit scores, and less proven revenues and cash flow. To balance the scales and compensate for the risk of lending to you, alternative lenders charge higher interest rates. That way, even if they only get a portion of the loan repayments, they’ll end up getting a fair amount of their money back.
Because no-doc business loans have shorter terms, more frequent repayment schedules, and higher interest rates than more traditional business loans, they come with a greater risk of creating a cycle of debt for small business owners that can be difficult to escape.
If you can stand to handle a more intensive application period and are slightly more qualified, consider these other options instead, as they’re likely to fetch you much more desirable rates and terms:

Fundera Can Help

Curious to see whether you qualify for any of these no-doc business loan options? Fill out one simple application with Fundera, and we’ll show you your loan options. This won’t impact your credit score, and there’s no obligation to get your funding through one of our partners.
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