The Real Problem
Most “Revenue-Based Financing” Is a Cash Advance Wearing a Nicer Name.
You searched for financing that works off your revenue — and most of what you'll find is a merchant cash advance: a lump sum repaid as a percentage of your daily deposits at a factor rate, which often costs far more than the number suggests. It's fast and flexible, and it can quietly become the most expensive money your business ever takes.
If the financing is underwritten on your revenue either way, why repay it as a daily debit at a factor rate instead of a real structure built to pay down?
Bobby’s Take
Revenue-based financing is the right idea — get underwritten on what your business actually does, not just what it owns or what a credit score says. The problem is the factor-rate crowd took that good idea and made it expensive, repaid out of your deposits every single day.
We keep the good part and drop the bad: we read your revenue — bank statements, cash flow, your story — and fund you into a real structure, a term loan or a line, that's built to pay down. Same underwriting, a structure that doesn't bleed you.
If your revenue is what qualifies you anyway, why would you pay a factor rate for it instead of a real loan?
Bobby Friel · Founder, Basecamp Funding · 20+ years in banking and finance
How We Underwrite
We Read Your Revenue, Not Your Collateral
Banks lead with collateral and credit. We lead with your revenue — what your business actually brings in. Here’s what an advisor reads, and why it qualifies operators a bank turns away.
Click any factor to see how an underwriter actually reads it
Revenue
A revenue-based underwriter starts at the top line — gross monthly deposits — because consistent revenue is the clearest proof a business can carry a payment, whatever the balance sheet says. A bank asks “what can we seize if this fails”; here the question is “what does this business reliably bring in, and will that service the debt.” Steady or growing deposits are the single strongest signal the money comes back.
Cash flow / bank statements
The underwriter reads four months of business statements line by line — average daily balances, how often money lands, how many low or negative days, how cash actually moves. This is where a reinvestment year that shows a loss on the tax return reveals itself as a healthy, cash-generating business. Statements are far harder to dress up than a return, which is exactly why a revenue-based file leans on them.
Time in business
A bank wants two years of profitable returns; here the underwriter wants enough operating history to see a pattern — often just a handful of months of consistent deposits. The question isn't “have you been perfect for two years,” it's “has this run long enough to prove the revenue is real and repeatable.” That's why a profitable eight-month-old business funds here and stalls at a bank.
Credit
To a bank, the score is a gate: below the line, the file dies. To a revenue-based underwriter it's a pricing input — it helps set the rate, but strong revenue and clean statements can carry a file a thin or dinged score would sink elsewhere. The underwriter weighs the whole picture instead of stopping at three digits.
Industry
Banks run blanket risk models that quietly redline whole categories — trucking, construction, restaurants, seasonal businesses, anything flagged “high-risk” on a chart. The lender network underwrites those industries on their actual numbers, not the label. An underwriter who knows how a seasonal or trucking business really runs sees a fundable file where a bank's model sees a decline.
Story
Numbers without context get misread. A revenue-based underwriter wants the why behind them — why last quarter dipped, why the return shows a loss, why a large deposit landed when it did. A one-time event, a deliberate reinvestment, a seasonal trough: the context a bank's automated checklist throws away is often the exact thing that turns a borderline file into an approval.
That’s the engine behind every product we route you to — and it’s why “revenue-based” should mean a real structure, not a daily-debit advance.
Bank Said No, Revenue Said Yes
What This Looks Like When Revenue Carries the File
Representative scenarios — illustrative figures, not specific client transactions.
What an operator said
“Three lenders quoted me a cash advance with a factor rate and a daily debit that would've choked my cash flow. The specialist desk underwrote the exact same thing they did — my revenue — but funded me into a real term loan that actually pays down. Same approval, a structure I could live with.”
Operator · revenue-based term loan
Start Here
See What Your Revenue Qualifies You For — in About 60 Seconds
Slide to your monthly revenue, answer three quick questions, and an advisor reads your file. Soft-pull review only — no documents required yet, and your FICO stays untouched. You get routed to a real structure, not a cash advance.
Soft-pull review · 4 months bank statements · A real structure, not a factor rate
Estimate Your Capital Range
Slide to your annual gross revenue. We size capital off your top line — not your credit score.
Estimated Capital Range
A conservative range based on 10-15% of annual revenue — many businesses qualify for more with strong receivables or assets behind them. Lenders return real term sheets once they see your file.
60 seconds · No obligation · Estimate only
Where Revenue-Based Underwriting Takes You
Which Structure Your Revenue Qualifies You For
“Revenue-based financing” isn’t one product — it’s how we underwrite, then route you to the real structure that fits. Here’s where revenue-first underwriting leads:
Term Loan
A lump sum, fixed paydown.
Line of Credit
Revolving, draw as needed.
Working Capital
Cover the gap, the ramp, the season.
Equipment Financing
The asset secures it.
Invoice Financing
Turn receivables into cash.
Capital Stack
More than one product, structured as one facility.
Not sure which? That’s the advisor’s job — one soft-pull review and they route you to the structure your revenue qualifies. For stacked needs past $1M, see commercial financing.
The Cost of the Easy Option
A Factor Rate Feels Fast. Then It Doesn't.
Underwritten on the same revenue — into a structure built to pay down, not bleed you.
Structure Your Capital Plan →Compare the Options
Revenue-Based vs the Bank vs a Cash Advance
| BCF Revenue-Based | Conventional Bank | Cash Advance / Factor Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Underwriting basis | Your revenue + bank statements + story | Collateral + credit + 2 yrs returns | Daily deposits |
| Repayment | A real structure — term loan or line, built to pay down | Fixed monthly | Daily/weekly debit at a factor rate |
| Cost | Priced as a loan | Lowest — if you qualify | Highest — a factor rate, often the most expensive money |
| Speed | Days | Weeks to months | Hours to days |
| Best for | An operator the bank's too slow or rigid for, who wants a real structure | Bank-fit borrowers with time | A last resort |
Bobby’s Take
“Revenue-based underwriting is the right instinct — qualify on what the business actually does. The factor-rate crowd just weaponized it, turning a good idea into the most expensive money on the menu. Take the underwriting and leave the gimmick: get qualified on your revenue, and funded into a real loan that pays down. You want the structure, not the gimmick.”
Bobby Friel · Founder, Basecamp Funding · 20+ years in banking and finance
Straight Answers
The Straight Answers Operators Ask For
Isn't this just a merchant cash advance?
No — that's the entire point. An MCA repays as a daily debit at a factor rate. We underwrite the same thing — your revenue — but fund you into a real structure that pays down. Same approval, very different cost.
My tax return shows a loss.
Then we underwrite the bank statements. A reinvestment year that reads as a loss on paper still shows real revenue in the deposits.
My credit isn't strong.
Credit prices the rate; it doesn't gate the file. Revenue and cash flow carry more weight here than a single score.
Is my revenue even enough?
There's no one number — the structure scales to what your revenue supports, from a working-capital line up to a stacked facility. The soft-pull review tells you.
I need it fast.
Days, not the bank's weeks — and faster than that where the file's clean. You don't trade speed for a factor rate to get it.
Which product will I actually get?
Whichever your revenue qualifies and your need calls for — term loan, line, working capital, equipment, or A/R. The advisor routes you; you don't have to know going in.
Get qualified on your revenue now, and optimize as the business grows.
Get qualified on your revenue now, into the right structure — and optimize as the business grows. You don't take a factor-rate advance because it's the only thing in front of you.
The Process
From Revenue to Funded in 5 Steps
Tell us your revenue and your need.
Monthly revenue, what the capital's for. ~60-second soft-pull review, no documents yet.
An advisor reads your revenue.
Bank statements, cash flow, and your story — not your collateral or a single credit score.
You get routed to a real structure.
Term loan, line, working capital, equipment, or A/R — whichever your revenue qualifies and your need fits.
Real term sheets come back.
Fundable offers on a real structure, not a factor-rate advance.
Fund and grow.
Funded in days, into a structure built to pay down — and positioned for the next one.
Self-Qualify
Who Revenue-Based Underwriting Fits — and Who It Doesn't
FAQs
Revenue-Based Financing — Questions Operators Actually Ask
Underwriting that qualifies you on your revenue — bank statements and cash flow — rather than collateral and credit, then funds you into a real structure (a term loan, line, or working capital). It's how we underwrite, not a single product.
No. An MCA repays as a daily debit at a factor rate. We use the same revenue-based underwriting but fund you into a real structure built to pay down — typically far cheaper than an advance.
No, by design. If that's specifically what you want, we're not the fit. We route revenue-based approvals into amortizing structures.
Yes. Four months of bank statements carry the file when a return is thinned by reinvestment or depreciation.
There's no hard floor — credit prices the rate, it doesn't gate the file. Revenue and cash flow do the heavy lifting.
It scales with your revenue and the structure — from a working-capital line up to a stacked facility past $1M via the commercial desk. The soft-pull review sizes it.
Whichever your revenue qualifies and your need fits — term loan, line, working capital, equipment, or A/R. The advisor routes you.
Days for most files. You don't pay a factor-rate premium to move quickly.
A signed application and four months of business bank statements. Soft-pull review only.
The Operator's Guide
Revenue-Based Financing, Done Right
What revenue-based underwriting actually is
Get underwritten on your revenue — and funded into a real structure, not a factor-rate advance. That's the whole idea, and it's worth separating from the product names that get attached to it. Revenue-based financing isn't a single loan; it's an underwriting approach. Instead of leading with collateral and a credit score the way a bank does, an advisor reads what your business actually brings in — your revenue, four months of bank statements, your cash flow, your time in business, your industry, and the story behind the numbers. That's why an operator with a strong top line and a tax return thinned by reinvestment can qualify here when a bank says no: the deposits tell the truth the return obscures.
Why it isn't a merchant cash advance
Here's the distinction that matters most. A merchant cash advance uses revenue-based underwriting too — but it repays as a percentage of your daily deposits at a factor rate, money pulled out whether the day was good or not. A factor rate isn't an interest rate, and the real cost is usually far higher than the number suggests, which is how an advance quietly becomes some of the most expensive money a business can take. We use the same revenue-based underwriting and fund you into a real amortizing structure instead — a term loan or a line built to pay down. Same approval a cash-advance shop would give you, without the daily debit. Take the underwriting; leave the gimmick.
The six factors — and where they route you
An advisor weighs six things: revenue, cash flow and bank statements, time in business, credit (which prices the rate but doesn't gate the file), industry, and your story. That engine is what every product on this page runs on. Once your revenue qualifies you, the question becomes which structure fits the need — and that's the routing. A lump sum with a fixed paydown is a term loan. A revolving facility you draw on as projects land is a line of credit. Covering a gap, a ramp, or a season is working capital. An asset that secures its own financing is equipment. Receivables turned into cash today is invoice financing. And when an operator needs more than one of those at once, they stack into a single facility — which, past $1M, routes to the commercial desk. You don't have to know which one going in; the soft-pull review and the advisor sort it.
Operators reach revenue-based underwriting from every corner of the map — auto repair shops in Louisiana bridging slow quarters, construction contractors across Michigan smoothing winter dips, med spas in South Carolina funding new treatment lines, and trucking companies in Missouri scaling fleets — each underwritten on revenue, each routed to a real structure. Run your numbers on the loan cost calculator, or go straight to the product your revenue qualifies.
Revenue-first underwriting routes to real structures: term loans, a business line of credit, working capital, equipment financing, and invoice financing. When an operator needs more than one, they stack into a single facility — and past $1M that routes to the commercial desk. One 60-second application, soft-pull review, and an advisor reads your revenue and routes you to the structure that fits.
