New 7(a) Small Business Loan Application Guide

To qualify for an SBA 7(a) small business loan, your business will need to be: 

1. In operation for at least 1 year as a for-profit business
2. US-based location and operations
3. Owner supported / owner funded
4. Eligible per the SBA’s requirements
5. Loan size determined by average annual revenue of the business and FICO score
6. Minimum SBA SBSS score of 155

Navigate to the SBA 7(a) Small Business Loan section within the Smart Portal and click the Apply for a New Loan button. 

Navigate to the 7(a) Portal Dashboard and click on the Complete Application button to enter the application and begin. The first time you access the 7(a) Portal Dashboard, a new application will automatically be created.

Please enter your revenue information as it appears on your business’ tax records for 2019, 2020, and 2021. Depending on your business’ legal structure, this will be Line 1 for Schedule C, Line 2 for Schedule F, or Line 1a for Form 1065, Form 1120, or Form 1120-S.  

Please Note: If your company has 2020 and 2021, or only 2021, enter $0 for the years you were not in business

In this section, you can indicate how you intend to use the funds from this loan.  Simply click the expense category tiles to enter an estimate of how much of the loan proceeds you plan to spend on each category. 

In this section of the application, enter your business information as it appears on your business’ tax records. 

Once you select Continue, our system will perform a Business Look-Up. If your business is found in public listings, certain fields such as the business address, will automatically populate for you. If your business is not found in public listings, you will be prompted to manually enter your business information.

Please take a moment to confirm that your business information is represented correctly throughout the form. 

Next, simply follow the prompts to enter the operating information for your business. 

Eligibility Check-in: 

SBA eligibility requires a business to be an Operating Company or Eligible Passive Company; a for-profit entity; the owners to have relevant business management experience for the industry; and no third party management company can operate the business on behalf of the borrower to qualify.  These certifications will be reviewed by our loan specialists during the underwriting phase, after submission. 

If you indicate Yes to your business having any debt outstanding, your next screen will be the Business Debt Schedule.   

Please be sure to completely read each question and answer to the best of your ability.  If the answer to any of the questions in this section is Yes, unfortunately, your business is not eligible for SBA financing. 

Please provide ownership information for each owner of the business.  The SBA requires 100% of ownership to be disclosed, so you will need to enter information for each owner in this section. 

(This is uncommon) Any Applicant owned in part, or in whole, by an ESOP or 401(k) plan must also provide to the Lender evidence that the Applicant, ESOP or the 401(k) plan is in compliance with all applicable IRS, Treasury, and Department of Labor requirements and it will comply with all relevant operating and reporting requirements.  

You will be able to attach the management agreement, if applicable, in the document upload section at the end of the application.

Be sure to completely read each question and answer to the best of your ability, as incorrect answers could affect your eligibility. 

Eligibility Check-in: For SBA loan eligibility, we are required to confirm that your business does not have sufficient cash on hand or other liquidity to finance the loan request. 

If you do not have access to liquidity elsewhere, simply select Yes – Liquidity is Unavailable to move forward.  Examples of available liquidity that may impact eligibility includes high personal net worth, easy access to traditional bank financing, or large cash balances on the business’ balance sheet. 

Affiliates: 

If any guarantors (i.e., owners of 20% or more of the applicant business) hold 50% or more ownership of any other business, please select Yes to the affiliates question. You will be able to input the affiliate business’ information and answer simple questions about the capital requirements of that business on the next screen.   

To learn more about the SBA’s affiliation rules, please click here.

If you indicate Yes to having affiliates, the next screen will be the Affiliate Information section.  

Please enter your business information here as it appears on your affiliate business’ tax records and answer the few simple questions about the capital requirements of that business. 

Once you have added all business owners, you will see a summary of the ownership information that has been provided.

Congratulations!  You have received a term sheet, which summarizes the loan offer and terms. 

Be sure to review the proposed loan information in detail. Remember, you can always click the Previous button to navigate backward in the journey and make edits as needed. 

This is the last required step of the 7(a) Loan Application! The questions presented in this section are directly from Section I: Business Information on SBA Form 1919. This is a required section that must be collected for all 7(a) loan applications.

Don’t worry; our system will create this form for you! You will just need to answer the listed questions.  Be sure to carefully read each question and answer to the best of your ability, as incorrect answers could affect your eligibility or create delays in processing.

Prior to the initial review of your application by your assigned Relationship Manager, you have the option to upload required supporting documentation. If you do not wish to upload documents at this stage, select  Continue to advance to the next section of the application.  

When you elect to upload documents, you will be able to upload each document as outlined in the document checklist. Please note, these documents are required by the SBA before your loan can be funded. 

Review Document Checklist 

Simply follow the steps within the pop-up modal to find your banking institution and link your account information.  This step is completely optional; please use it if you find it helpful or skip it if you would prefer to provide the required statements manually. 

Confirm Fund Deposit Account 

In this section, you will be prompted to provide the funding account information.  Please be careful to provide your Account Number and Routing Number accurately, as this is the information that will be used to fund your loan if it is approved!  If you are not sure of either number, we recommend contacting your bank or logging into your online banking account, which will typically list these numbers in the Information & Documents or similar section. 

Prior to the initial review of your application by your assigned Relationship Manager, you have the option to submit Interim Financial Statements for your business. If you do not wish to provide Interim Financial Statements when you reach this stage, please click Skip to proceed to the next step of the application.  

When you elect to provide Interim Financial Statements, utilize the simple question and answer format to build your interim financial statements for you. Please note, Interim Financial Statements are required by the SBA before your loan can be funded. 

Please visit NEWITY’s Balance Sheet Statement page and NEWITY’s Profit & Loss Statement page  to watch step-by-step video tutorials to complete the Interim Financial Statement section. 

Prior to the initial review of your application by your assigned Relationship Manager, you also have the option to submit Personal Financial Statements for each guarantor. If you do not wish to provide Personal Financial Statements when you reach this stage, please click Skip to proceed to the next step of the application.   

When you elect to provide Personal Financial Statements, utilize the simple question and answer format to build your personal financial statements for you. Please note, Personal Financial Statements are required by the SBA before your loan can be funded.  

Please visit NEWITY’s Personal Financial Statement page to watch a step-by-step video tutorial to complete the Personal Financial Statement section. 

Your 7(a) Loan Application has been submitted successfully to the Relationship Manager! 

You will see that your loan has been assigned to a Relationship Manager. Please be on the lookout for emails from our team regarding status updates or any additional documentation required.  

Note: Email communication from our team will come from an @newitydev1.wpengine.com email address.  You will be assigned live team members who will assist you through every step of the application review and closing process.  We look forward to working with you! 

You will also be sent your SBA Form 1919 Borrower Information document for execution via DocuSign. Please check your inbox and spam/junk folder for an email from: DocuSign System <[email protected]>. The subject of the email will be E-sign SBA Form 1919. 

Note: All other email communication will come from an @newitydev1.wpengine.com email address. 

Thank you for your application!