Business loan requirements in Ireland: what lenders look for

Almost every lender will want your company to:

• Be registered and operating in Ireland, with a business bank account in the company’s name.
• Have been trading for a minimum period, which depends on the lender and product.
• Have enough turnover and, for most loans, profit or cash flow to cover the repayments.
• Be up to date with CROThe State body that registers Irish companies and business names and keeps their public filings, including constitutions, director details, annual returns, financial statements and registered charges. filings and Revenue.
• Have a satisfactory repayment record on the Central Credit Register.
• Pass identity, anti-money laundering and beneficial ownership checks.
• Use the loan for a legitimate business purpose.

There is no single rule, but most commercial lenders want at least six months of trading and many want two years or more. Examples from lenders’ websites on 22 October 2026:

• 365 Finance (unsecured funding repaid from card sales): businesses trading for over six months.
• Treyd (supplier and inventory finance): at least one year of proven financial performance.
• Linked Finance (term loans): €10,000 to €500,000 over 6 to 60 months, for companies with turnover over €100,000; the rate depends on the company’s credit grade.
• PTSB (bank lending): asks for financial accounts for the past three years as part of its information requirements.
• Microfinance IrelandA not-for-profit lender, supported by the State, that provides unsecured business loans of €2,000 to €50,000 to micro-enterprises in Ireland with fewer than 10 employees and annual turnover under €2 million that cannot get credit from banks or other commercial lenders.: lends to start-ups and early-stage micro-enterprises, as well as established ones.

Younger companies are often limited to smaller amounts, shorter terms or products backed by an asset or by sales.

Turnover thresholds are usually modest, but they rule out very small or new businesses. Examples: Linked Finance asks for turnover above €100,000; Treyd asks for annual revenue of at least €200,000 from trading in physical goods; 365 Finance’s card-sales products suit businesses with monthly card sales over €10,000. Banks rarely publish a minimum turnover and assess each application on its merits.

Turnover alone does not decide the amount. Many non-bank lenders cap a loan at a share of monthly or annual sales, while banks focus more on profit and repayment capacity.

This is the most important requirement. PTSB, for example, says approval is subject to a repayment capacity assessment. Lenders typically look at:

• Profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), from filed and management accountsInternal financial reports, usually monthly or quarterly, showing a company's recent trading, balance sheet and cash position..
• The debt service coverage ratio (DSCR): cash available for debt repayments divided by the total repayments due. Many lenders want comfortably more than 1, so that there is a buffer.
• Bank statements, to see real cash in and out, regular balances, returned payments and how often the account is overdrawn. PTSB asks for six months of statements if your main account is elsewhere; many non-bank lenders connect through open bankingA system, set up under EU payment services rules, that lets a business share its bank account data securely with authorised third parties, with its consent. instead.
• Seasonality and trends: whether turnover is growing, stable or falling.
• Existing debt: loans, leases, overdrafts, merchant cash advancesA form of finance where a provider advances a lump sum in return for a fixed percentage of the company's future card takings until an agreed total is repaid. and any Revenue phased payment arrangement.

You can test your own numbers with our DSCR calculator.

Illustrative example: a DSCR check

Lenders check the Companies Registration Office (CRO) to confirm your company exists, who its directors are, whether it has filed its annual return and accounts on time, and whether charges are registered against it. Late or missing filings are a common reason for refusal. For the SBCIA State-owned body that makes low-cost funding and loan guarantees available to Irish SMEs, farmers and fishers through participating banks and non-bank finance providers.’s Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme, PTSB lists overdue CRO filings among the exclusions.

Lenders also want evidence that your company is tax compliant. A tax clearance certificate is Revenue’s confirmation that a company’s tax affairs are in order, and Revenue may issue one even where arrears are covered by an instalment arrangement. PTSB, for example, asks for confirmation that the tax liabilities of the borrowers and beneficial owners are fully up to date.

The Central Credit Register does not give a credit score. Instead, lenders look at the actual repayment record held on the Central Credit Register (CCR). Lenders report loans of €500 or more, and must check the CCR for applications of €2,000 or more. For a company loan, lenders usually check the company and often its directors, especially where a director gives a personal guaranteeA legally binding promise by a director or other individual to repay a company's debt if the company cannot..

• Each time a lender accesses a report, a footprintThe record left on a Central Credit Register report each time a lender accesses it, showing the date, the lender and the reason. is recorded, and it stays visible for five years after the lender last accessed the report.
• Companies can request one free CCR report a year, with a charge of €6.35 for further requests in the same year.
• Not every non-bank lender reports to the CCR, so lenders may also ask you directly about other borrowing.

Missed payments or restructured loans do not automatically mean refusal, but lenders will want an explanation. Our guide to business loans with a poor credit history explains the options.

It depends on the lender, the amount and the company. PTSB says security may be required where it considers it a reasonable request, and lists mortgages, assignments, liens, guarantees and indemnities as typical forms. Under the GSLSA State-backed SBCI scheme offering loans of €25,000 to €3 million over seven to 10 years through participating lenders, for long-term growth, resilience or climate action projects., loans are unsecured up to €500,000, subject to certain exceptions, and personal guarantees on larger loans are limited to 20% of the loan. Many non-bank lenders lend without security over property but ask directors for a personal guarantee; Linked Finance, for example, lists a personal guarantee for its products.

Our guide to secured vs unsecured business loans explains what each means for you.

Yes. Lenders set their own risk appetite by sector and may limit lending to sectors they see as higher risk or that do not fit a product. Card-sales funding suits retail and hospitality; supplier finance like Treyd’s requires trade in physical goods. Many lenders will not fund property development, speculative projects or refinancing for certain purposes, and the GSLS cannot be used to refinance existing term debt or to buy land or property, according to PTSB’s guide.

Every regulated lender must complete KYC and AML checks. Expect to verify the identity and address of the directors and of the people who ultimately own or control the company, known as beneficial owners. Lenders also check the company’s entry on the Register of Beneficial Ownership (RBO), so make sure it is up to date and correct. Some lenders will not lend to a company owned through a complex or overseas structure without further checks.

1. Is your company an LTD, DAC, PLC or ULC registered in Ireland, and how long has it been trading? Most lenders look for some trading history.
2. Are the latest accounts and annual return filed with the CRO, on time?
3. Can the company get tax clearance from Revenue today?
4. Do your management accounts show a profit, or at least positive cash flow, for the last 12 months?
5. Would the new repayments leave a DSCR comfortably above 1?
6. Have you checked the company’s Central Credit Register report, and do you have an explanation for any missed payments?
7. Is the RBO entry correct and up to date?
8. Do you know how much you need, what it is for and how it will be repaid?
9. Are the directors willing to give a personal guarantee if a lender asks for one?

If you answered no to several of these, fix them before you apply. A refused application leaves a CCR footprint and can make the next application harder. If a regulated lender has already refused, ask for its reasons in writing. The Central Bank’s SME Lending Regulations require regulated lenders to give them.

We arrange business-purpose finance only for limited companies registered in Ireland: LTD, DAC, PLC and ULC. The following cannot apply through us:

• Sole traders and partnerships.
• Consumers and personal borrowing.
• Charities and companies limited by guarantee (CLGs).
• Mortgages and personal loans for individuals (we do not arrange these).

Start-ups registered as limited companies in Ireland can apply. Most lenders look for some trading history, so options may be fewer for a new company. Local Enterprise Offices, Microfinance Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and your bank are other places to look.

The same broad criteria apply everywhere, but the weight each lender gives them differs:

• Banks usually want longer trading records and filed accounts, look closely at profit and security, and publish lower standard rates. Decisions can take longer for larger amounts.
• Non-bank lenders often rely more on recent bank data, card takings or invoices, accept shorter trading histories and ask for less property security, but frequently want a personal guarantee and charge more.
• Asset and invoice finance providers lend against the asset or the sales ledger, so the quality of the asset or of your customers can matter as much as your own accounts.
• State-backed schemes add their own eligibility rules on top of the lender’s criteria, such as SME status under the EU definition and limits on what the money can be used for.

Meeting one lender’s requirements does not mean you will meet another’s, and every lender makes its own decision on each application.

If your company meets these requirements and needs an unsecured or short-term business loan, working capital, a merchant cash advance, revenue-based finance, stock finance or trade finance, our panel may be able to help, and we can tell you which requirements are likely to matter most for your company before anything is submitted. No lender is obliged to approve an application. Welcome Finance is a commercial finance broker, not a lender, and is not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. We work only with companies registered in Ireland (LTD, DAC, PLC or ULC). We are paid commission by lenders and do not charge your company a fee. We never ask for payment upfront.