Before asking your accountant for a letter, find out what the proposed lender needs. Your existing accounts may support a full-document application. Another lender may use different evidence. Asking for the right records first can avoid paying for a letter that does not serve the application.
Start with the broker's request
Ask your broker to identify the proposed lender, product, relevant entities, financial periods and required documents. If these have not been settled, ask the accountant which records are available now and what work would be needed to bring them up to date.
Keep the information proportionate. A full-document assessment and an alternative-document assessment can require different records. For example, Pepper Money's published alt-doc route includes a financial-position declaration supported by one of its specified evidence options. An accountant's letter is one possible option, with eligibility conditions. It is not a universal substitute for financial records.
Ask for the records relevant to your structure
- Business identity: legal entity names, ABNs, ownership interests and any recent structure changes.
- Completed years: the requested personal and business tax returns, notices of assessment where relevant, and financial statements. Confirm which periods are final and which remain in preparation.
- Current trading: the requested year-to-date accounts, BAS or supporting records, with the period clearly labelled. Distinguish lodged documents from drafts.
- Your income: an explanation of wages, business profit, distributions or other income relevant to the application, showing which entity pays or earns each amount.
- Liabilities and adjustments: records explaining relevant finance commitments, depreciation or unusual expenses. Do not assume a lender will add an expense back or treat it as available cash.
A business owner may receive wages and distributions from related entities. Ask the broker and accountant to explain how the figures connect, so the same income is not counted twice. Our guide to depreciation and one-off expenses explains why a tax deduction and a lending adjustment are different questions.
A request you can adapt
I'm preparing a home loan application. My broker has requested the documents listed below for the entities and periods shown.
Please let me know which records are final and available, what remains outstanding, and the expected cost and timing of any preparation work. Please also flag any recent business structure changes or differences between my personal income and business figures that need explanation.
Requested entities: [insert]
Requested periods: [insert]
Requested documents or lender form: [attach broker's list]If a lender form or letter is required, please review the exact wording before preparing it and raise any statement you cannot support. Please confirm a suitable secure way to provide the records.
Check the pack before it goes to the lender
- Entity names, financial periods and ownership details agree across the documents.
- Draft, final and lodged records are clearly distinguished.
- Any unexplained difference has a factual explanation and supporting record.
- The accountant has reviewed any lender-specific form rather than being asked to certify an assumed borrowing amount.
Do not send tax returns or identity documents through a public website comment or social message. Agree a secure channel with your broker and accountant.
Start the Flexdoc conversation with your business structure and the financial years already available. That lets us discuss a suitable evidence route before you commission additional accounting work. Your accountant prepares or explains the records; the lender makes the credit decision.
General information only. Your circumstances have not been assessed. Lending criteria, terms, fees and approval apply. Seek appropriate tax and legal advice.