Your job pays the regular bills. The business you run outside work brings in extra money. When you apply for a home loan, it can be tempting to add both figures together and call that your income.
The better starting point is to separate them. Show what the job pays, what the business earns after costs and what commitments sit behind each. Then establish which income the lender will use.
This is a different situation from receiving wages from your own company. If that is your arrangement, our company director income guide is the more useful starting point. Here, the salary comes from a separate employer and the side business is another source of income and obligations.
Prepare two clear pictures
For the job, gather current pay information and evidence of regular salary credits. For the business, prepare the available tax records, financial statements and bank records relevant to its structure. Tell the broker when it started, what it does and whether you expect the employment arrangement to change.
A single bank account can make this harder to explain. Deposits may include wages, customer receipts, transfers and refunds. Label the sources accurately rather than assuming the statement total represents income.
The same care applies to turnover. A side business that invoices $50,000 and spends $35,000 delivering the work has a different financial story from one that retains most of its receipts. Our explanation of business income for a home loan helps you prepare that distinction without double counting payments.
A salary does not erase the business
Even if you hope the job can support the whole loan, disclose the business and its commitments. Ask how the proposed lender would treat a loss, business borrowing, guarantees and any personal cash used to keep it running.
A business that needs regular support affects the household budget. Leaving its income out of your own calculation does not make that support disappear. Equally, a profitable result does not establish how much a lender will accept. The answer needs an assessment of the actual records.
It is useful to request a salary-only borrowing estimate alongside an assessment that includes eligible business income. Both should disclose the business and all relevant liabilities. The comparison tells you whether the purchase depends on the extra income, and how much uncertainty remains if the lender will not use it.
Two routes to investigate
If your business records are complete, ANZ's home loan checklist provides a concrete starting point for an income-evidence discussion. It separately lists employment and self-employed documents. For its standard self-employed route, it lists an individual return and assessment notice, together with business tax and financial records.
That is a reason to ask about a full-documentation assessment, not proof that ANZ will add every side-business dollar to your salary. Confirm the required trading history, acceptable result and treatment of any loss for your application. The checklist also says it does not apply to ANZ Plus products, so identify the actual loan being considered.
If your returns are unfinished, Athena Tailored Lite Doc is another route to investigate for the business-income component, provided the business meets its published minimum two-year history. Its alternative verification may include an accountant's letter. Ask specifically whether the combined employment and business scenario can be assessed. The public description does not promise that any combination will qualify.
The trade-off is worth making explicit: would completing the financials open a suitable standard loan, or does an alternative evidence route allow a viable application sooner at a different quoted cost? Use our low-doc rates and fees guide to frame that cost comparison. Do not delay a return purely to pursue a particular loan category.
Decide what the purchase relies on
Before looking for a larger borrowing limit, ask whether you want the mortgage to depend on the side business continuing at its current pace. If the extra work became difficult alongside your job, what purchase budget would remain comfortable?
Bring your employment evidence, business records and a list of all commitments to Flexdoc. Ask for the income figures the proposed lender would use, any further evidence needed and the difference between the two borrowing scenarios. You can then choose a price range with a clear understanding of which income has to keep arriving.