Business line of credit
An approved limit you pull from when you need it. You only carry a cost on what you actually use, and the room frees up again as you deliver.
What it actually is
A limit sits available to you. You take what you need, when you need it, and the cost attaches only to the amount you have actually drawn. Money left untouched costs nothing.
As you deliver what you have drawn, that room becomes available again. This is the difference that matters: revenue-based funding and term funding are one event each, and a line is a facility you keep. For a business whose gap comes back every few months, that difference is the whole point.
When it earns its place
The clearest case is a gap that recurs but is not identical each time. Payroll lands before a large invoice clears, then the same thing happens six weeks later with a different customer and a different number.
Taking one lump sum for that pattern means paying for capital in the weeks you did not need it. A line lets you take the amount the week actually calls for, which is usually less than you would have taken as a lump.
What qualifying usually takes
Typically a stronger file than revenue-based funding. The funding partner is committing to availability it may never be called on, so it looks harder at credit history, time in business, and whether deposits are consistent rather than merely present.
That is a general pattern across partners, not a rule we set or can waive. If a line is not available to you today, revenue-based funding often is, and the honest sequence is to build the trading history that makes a line reachable later.
Whether it fits
The question is not which product is best. It is which one matches the shape of your gap.
This is probably your product if
- The gap recurs — it is not a single event you can size in advance
- You want capital available without carrying a cost while it sits
- Your credit history is reasonably strong
- Amounts vary and you would rather take what the week needs
- You have enough trading history to show a pattern
Look at something else if
- You need the money once, for a known amount, for a defined purchase
- Credit history is the weakest part of your file
- You are early in business and the trading record is thin
- You are under six months in business or below $15,000 a month
What it costs
Costs attach to what you draw, for as long as it is out. Structures differ more between partners here than on the other two products, so compare what you are actually shown rather than assuming.
Questions we get about this one
How is this different from revenue-based funding?
Revenue-based funding is one event: an amount arrives, and an agreed share of sales goes out until it is complete. A line is a facility you keep — you take what you need, the cost attaches to that, and the room comes back. Choose by whether your gap is a single event or a recurring one.
Do I carry a cost if I never draw on it?
Costs attach to what you actually take. Some partners charge a fee for maintaining availability regardless — that varies between them, we do not set it, and it will be in writing before you sign. Ask about it specifically; it is the question people forget to ask about a line.
Does the limit stay available indefinitely?
That is the funding partner's decision and it is usually reviewed. A line is a commitment they are making about the future, so they revisit it as your trading history changes — in both directions. Nothing here is a promise that a limit offered today stays open.
What we can't tell you
We do not set the limit, the cost, or whether a line is offered at all. Those come from the funding partner, in writing, before you sign. Any figure you see on this site is a hypothetical illustration and not an offer. What we do is package your file honestly and put it in front of partners whose criteria it actually fits — and tell you plainly when it fits none of them.
The other two
The same application covers all three.
One form. Then a real conversation.
The same application covers all three products. We will tell you which ones your file is a candidate for, including when the answer is none of them.