What credit officers quietly check first in SME facility packs

When Continuum Application Audit reviews a draft facility pack, we try to open it in the same order a busy credit officer would. That order is rarely the order the applicant assembled it.

Most officers glance at the cover sheet, then jump to the repayment capacity table and the ageing of receivables. If those two pages disagree with the narrative — for example, a story of growing collections while receivables days lengthen — the rest of the pack starts under suspicion.

Next comes the use-of-proceeds schedule. Vague buckets such as “working capital and other” invite follow-up letters. Naming the month of inventory build or the supplier concentration that requires deposit terms gives the officer something concrete to underwrite.

We also watch for interest-rate assumptions that sit below current quoted bands without explanation. Optimism is fine; silent optimism is not. A one-line note on why the assumed rate differs from yesterday’s indicative quote saves a query round later.

Finally, officers compare the personal or corporate guarantee description with the collateral schedule. Mismatched names, missing registration numbers, or collateral listed at book value without a valuation date are small defects that consume large calendar days.

A financial audit of applications is not theatre. It is rehearsal for that first quiet reading — the one that decides whether your pack earns a careful second look or a form letter.