Your debt rescue document pack: what to gather tonight

When a director penalty notice or statutory demand is on the desk, time is the scarcest resource you have. And in our experience, the thing that burns the most time isn’t the lender’s assessment or the valuation. It’s waiting for documents: the bank statement that needs a login nobody remembers, the rates notice in a drawer at home, the ATO statement the accountant hasn’t sent yet.

This guide is a checklist for building your document pack in one evening, so that when you speak to a lender, the only question left is whether the deal works.

Why do documents matter so much under a deadline?

Because a lender can’t approve what it can’t see. Every missing item adds a round trip: request, wait, chase, receive, review. With a 21-day clock, three or four of those can eat a week.

A complete pack also sends a signal. It shows a lender the business is organised enough to get through this, and it lets the lender tell you quickly and honestly whether the funding is realistic.

What goes in the core pack?

These items are needed for almost every rescue file.

Document	Why it matters	Where to get it
The letter or notice	Shows the deadline, the creditor and the amount	Your mail — photograph or scan every page
Payout figure	The exact amount to clear, including interest and costs	The ATO, creditor or their lawyer
Six months of business bank statements	The basis of cash-flow assessment; shows trading	Internet banking, as PDFs, for every business account
Latest BAS	Turnover and GST position	Your accountant or ATO online services
ATO integrated client account statement	Balance by tax type; shows lodgement status	ATO online services or your accountant
Identification	Required for every borrower and guarantor	Driver’s licence and passport or Medicare card
Company details	ABN, ACN, directors and shareholders	ASIC register and your records

If a BAS is overdue, lodge it before you apply if you possibly can. Monthly BAS is due on the 21st of the following month, and quarterly BAS on 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July. An up-to-date ATO position helps any lender — and, for companies, it’s the reporting that keeps a DPN from being locked down.

What if property is involved?

Property opens the widest range of funding: first mortgages, second mortgages and caveat loans from $20,000 to $5,000,000. Add:

• Rates notice for each property (shows ownership and address)
• Latest statement for any existing mortgage (shows the balance and lender)
• Title details or a recent contract of sale, if you have them
• A recent valuation or appraisal, if one exists — the lender will likely order its own, but it helps set expectations
• Details of every owner, because each owner will need to sign

If the property belongs to a director’s spouse, a parent or a related company, make sure they understand what’s being proposed before the lender asks. A caveat loan or second mortgage depends on their informed agreement.

What about the rest of the debts?

If you’re looking at a consolidation rather than a single payout, add a debt schedule: a simple table listing each creditor, the amount, any arrears, the repayment, and any letters or deadlines. Include:

• ATO balances by tax type
• Suppliers and trade creditors
• Rent arrears
• Other loans, advances, leases and credit cards
• Any collectors or legal action

The which-debt-first sorter can help you put them in order of urgency. Our business debt consolidation page explains how lenders use the schedule.

What should the explanation letter say?

This is the most underrated document in the pack. One page, plain English, covering:

1. What the business does and how long it’s been trading.
2. What went wrong, specifically — a customer that went under, a slow season, a large one-off cost, a health issue.
3. What has changed — a new contract, cost reductions, a closed loss-making division, improved trading.
4. What the funding will do — which debts it pays and why that solves the problem.
5. How the loan will be repaid — from trading, an asset sale, a refinance later.

Be honest. A lender who finds a surprise later trusts nothing else in the file. A lender who reads a candid account of a bad year and a credible recovery often says yes.

If you’re ready to talk while you gather the pack, start the enquiry now — it takes about a minute and no credit check is run.

What can wait until later?

Don’t hold up the process for these; supply them if asked:

• Full financial statements and tax returns for the last two years
• Aged debtors and creditors reports
• Management accounts or a cash-flow forecast
• Contracts with major customers
• Lease documents

They strengthen a file, especially a larger one, but they rarely make or break the first conversation.

An illustrative example

Illustrative only. A Brisbane courier company director receives a statutory demand from a fuel supplier on a Thursday afternoon. That evening, she photographs the demand, downloads six months of statements for both business accounts, pulls the latest BAS and ATO statement from online services, finds the rates notice and mortgage statement for her investment unit, and writes a one-page explanation about a large client that paid 120 days late.

She submits an enquiry on Friday morning with everything attached. Because nothing needs chasing, the lender can assess, value the unit and settle a caveat loan well inside the 21 days. The supplier is paid, the demand is satisfied, and the late client’s eventual payment clears the loan.

Quick checklist to print

• The letter or notice (every page) and its date
• Payout figure from the ATO or creditor
• Six months of statements for every business account
• Latest BAS (lodge any overdue ones)
• ATO integrated client account statement
• ID for every director, borrower and guarantor
• ABN, ACN and company details
• Rates notice and mortgage statement for any property
• Debt schedule, if consolidating
• One-page explanation letter

How should I send the documents?

Make the lender’s job easy and you’ll get answers faster:

• Use PDFs downloaded directly from internet banking and ATO online services rather than photos of screens.
• Name files clearly — “Business account statements Apr–Sep”, “ATO statement 30 Sep”, “DPN dated 12 Sep”.
• Send everything together in one folder or one email, not in dribs and drabs.
• Include every business account, even the one that’s rarely used. Missing accounts raise questions.
• Protect your information. Send documents only to the lender or broker you’re dealing with, through the channel they give you.

What if some documents look bad?

They often will, and that’s fine. Dishonours during a cash squeeze, a garnishee, a run of low balances or a loss in last year’s financials are exactly what a rescue lender expects to see. What matters is that nothing is hidden and that your explanation letter covers each issue in a sentence or two. A lender who can see the whole story can work with it; a lender who discovers a surprise halfway through usually can’t.

Pack ready — or nearly ready?

A complete document pack turns a stressful deadline into a manageable process. Even a half-finished one is enough to start the conversation, and starting early is the best thing you can do with a clock running.

The enquiry takes about 60 seconds, and there’s no credit check when you first make contact. We don’t hand your file to a parade of lenders; one real person reviews it and calls you. Please fill in the form accurately, especially the deadline, the amount and any property, so we can tell you quickly which route fits.

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