Quick answer
A company pack has two layers. The first proves the company: an ASIC company extract, ABN details, financial statements or tax returns, lodged BAS and recent business bank statements. The second proves the people behind it: photo ID and a short statement of position for each director or guarantor, plus each director's Director ID. Assessors read both layers together.
Key points
- The company and its directors are assessed as two layers of one file.
- An ASIC company extract confirms who the directors and shareholders are.
- Every director needs a Director ID, and guarantors add their own paperwork.
- Lodged BAS and bank statements usually carry more weight than old accounts.
- Best for
- Pty Ltd companies with one or more directors
- Extra layer
- Director and guarantor details
- Gathering time
- Roughly 2 to 3 hours
Why does a company file have two layers?
A company is its own legal entity. The ATO notes that a company is responsible for its own tax and files its own return, and business.gov.au describes the company, not its owners, as the one that generally carries the debts and losses. So an assessor starts by looking at the company on its own terms: is it real, current, trading and tax-compliant?
Then comes the second question, which is who stands behind it. Directors run the business, shareholders own it, and when a lender asks for a director’s guarantee, the file needs the paperwork of the person giving it. That is why a company pack is a stack of two: the entity layer and the people layer. Prepare both at the same time and you avoid the slow second round of requests.
What belongs in the entity layer?
| Item | What it proves | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| ASIC company extract (current) | Name, ACN, directors, shareholders, registered office | ASIC register search or your accountant |
| ABN details | Active ABN, GST status, entity type | ABN Lookup |
| Latest financial statements or tax return | Reported profit, assets and liabilities | Your accountant |
| Previous year’s equivalent | Direction of travel | Your accountant |
| Lodged BAS, recent quarters | Turnover reported to the ATO | ATO online services for business |
| ATO account position | Whether tax and super are current | Online services for business |
| Business bank statements, recent months | Day-to-day trading | Banking app, PDF |
| Schedule of company debts | Existing commitments | Your records |
| Constitution or shareholder agreement (if one exists) | Who can sign and decide | Your records or solicitor |
Not every business has every row. A company in its first year will not have a prior-year return. That is fine, as long as the pack explains what is absent and why.
What belongs in the people layer?
For each director, and for any guarantor named in the discussion:
- Photo ID, front and back, clear and uncropped.
- Their Director ID number. ASIC states that every director of an Australian company needs one, so there is no excuse for a missing number.
- A short statement of personal position: assets, debts and regular commitments, listed in a table. One page is plenty.
- Contact details that actually answer. The best-prepared file stalls when a co-director’s phone goes to voicemail for a week.
If a director is overseas or hard to reach, mention it early. Assessors handle that every day; they do not handle surprises well.
What do assessors check between the layers?
The most common stumbling block is a mismatch. The company name on the ASIC extract, on the ABN record, on the bank account and on the BAS should all be identical, down to “Pty Ltd” and the punctuation. The address should be consistent, or the change should be explained. Director names should match the IDs.
The next check is cross-referencing: turnover in the BAS against deposits in the bank statements against the revenue line in the financials. The page on the three-way match shows how that comparison works and what a clean result looks like.
Illustrative example. A two-director landscaping company sends a pack in which one director’s ID shows a former surname. The ASIC extract lists the married name. Nothing is wrong, but the assessor must ask. A single line in the cover note, “Director B’s ID is in her former name; the ASIC record is current”, closes the question before it is raised.
How should I present the financials?
Send what an accountant has prepared, in PDF, and include the notes page if there is one. Do not retype numbers into a spreadsheet; assessors prefer the source document. If the accounts are unfinished, send the most recent management report from your accounting software with the date range visible, and be clear that it is unreviewed.
If you want a method for reading these documents the way an assessor does before you send them, the guide on reading your financials like an assessor is the companion piece.
Can I get a head start while I assemble this?
You can. The document pack builder produces the checklist for a company with or without property security, and the first step, the enquiry itself, needs none of this paperwork.
What are the common mistakes in a company pack?
Four turn up again and again, and each takes minutes to avoid.
- An old ASIC extract. Directors change, registered offices move and share structures shift. An extract from last year may describe a different company from the one applying. Pull a fresh one the week you send the pack.
- Financials that stop short. A set of accounts with the notes page missing, or a tax return without the schedules, looks incomplete even when it is not.
- A director left off the list. If the ASIC record shows three directors and the pack carries two IDs, someone will ask about the third. If a director has resigned but the record has not caught up, say so in a line.
- Using the company account for the owners’ personal spending. It is common and it is readable, but it raises questions about director loans that are best answered before they are asked.
How do director loans and drawings look to an assessor?
In a small company the line between the owner’s money and the company’s money is often blurry. An assessor reads the balance sheet for loans to and from directors because they show who is funding whom. A modest director loan that the company owes to the owner reads as support. A large balance owed by the director to the company reads as money taken out. Neither is wrong, but each deserves a sentence of context in your cover note. Keep that sentence factual: the size, how it arose and whether there is a plan to change it.
Ready for the next step?
If the layers are in good shape, lodge your enquiry now. It takes about a minute, it will not touch your credit file, and your details go to one person who works on your situation, not out to a queue of lenders. The more exactly you fill in the form (amount, purpose, state, any property), the more useful the first conversation becomes, and the pack you have just built will be ready the moment it is asked for.
Frequently asked questions
What is a company extract and where do I get one?
It is a record of the company's registered details, such as officeholders, shareholders and registered office, taken from the ASIC register. ASIC publishes a free basic search, and a paid current extract gives the fuller version. Your accountant can often provide one too.
Does every director need to sign or guarantee?
Not automatically. Whether a guarantee is requested, and from whom, depends on the loan and the lender. Be ready for the possibility, and have ID and a simple statement of position ready for each director so nobody is chasing them later.
What is a Director ID?
It is a unique identifier issued to every company director through the Australian Business Registry Services. ASIC states that every director of an Australian company must have one, so it is worth having the number handy.
My company is new but I have traded as a sole trader for years. What do I send?
Send both histories. The company's statements show the new entity, and the earlier sole trader returns and statements show the track record behind it. A one-line note on when the business moved into the company stops the gap looking like a break.
Do company financials need to be audited?
For a typical small business loan, no. Assessors commonly work from tax returns, accountant-prepared financials, BAS and bank statements. Say what exists, and do not describe something as 'audited' unless it is.