# Time in business MCA requirements > Most MCA funders require minimum 4-6 months in business with a registered EIN and active business bank account. Top-tier funders (Credibly, OnDeck) require 12+ months. Newer businesses pay higher factors and get smaller advances; under 3 months almost always denied. Time in business (TIB) is the second most important MCA qualification factor after revenue. Every funder has a minimum TIB threshold, and the merchant's TIB determines both whether they can fund at all and what tier of pricing they receive. **How "time in business" is measured.** Funders measure TIB from one of three dates (varies by funder): - **Date of EIN issuance** by the IRS — most common. - **Date of state business registration** (LLC formation, S-corp election). - **Date the business bank account was opened** — proxy for "operating" rather than "registered." The funder typically uses the EARLIEST of these dates when it benefits them (lower TIB = higher risk = higher factor) and the LATEST when it benefits the merchant (showing more TIB to qualify for better tier). Always ask the underwriter which date they're using. **Minimum TIB thresholds (2026).** **Top-tier (A-paper) funders:** - **Credibly**: 12+ months TIB minimum. - **OnDeck**: 12+ months TIB minimum. - **Funding Circle**: 24+ months. - **Reliant Funding**: 12+ months. - **Forward Financing**: 9+ months. **Mid-tier (B-paper) funders:** - **Rapid Finance**: 6+ months. - **Kapitus**: 6+ months. - **National Funding**: 6+ months. - **Fora Financial**: 6+ months. - **Mulligan Funding**: 6+ months. - **Headway Capital**: 6+ months. **Bottom-tier (C and D-paper) funders:** - **Pearl Capital**: 4+ months. - **Bitty Advance**: 3+ months (one of the lowest TIB thresholds in the industry). - **Yellowstone Capital**: 4+ months. - **Most small ISO-fronted funders**: 4-6 months. **Under 3 months TIB**: almost universally denied. The few funders who will look at this are predatory — factor 1.55+, term 3-4 months, advance $5K-$15K only. Not worth it; wait the additional 60-90 days. **Why TIB matters so much to underwriting.** - **Historical revenue verification**: funder needs at least 4-6 months of bank statements to verify revenue patterns. Less than 4 months of statements = insufficient data. - **Stability proxy**: businesses fail at highest rate in first 12 months (~25% closure rate). 12+ months TIB significantly reduces default probability. - **Pattern detection**: NSFs, deposit consistency, expense ratios all require 90+ days of data to assess accurately. - **Industry validation**: short-TIB businesses haven't been through a full seasonal cycle. A restaurant's January-February test isn't reflected in summer-opening bank statements. **The TIB-to-pricing ladder.** A merchant doing $30K/month gross revenue, all else equal: - **24+ months TIB**: A-paper eligible. Factor 1.18-1.28 if other factors clean. - **12-23 months TIB**: B-paper most likely. Factor 1.28-1.38. - **6-11 months TIB**: C-paper most likely. Factor 1.38-1.45. - **4-5 months TIB**: D-paper or denial. Factor 1.45+ if approved. - **Under 4 months TIB**: declined by most funders. **Same TIB merchant comparison.** A 7-month-old restaurant doing $25K/month revenue: - Best case: $15-20K advance at 1.40-1.45 factor, 6-month term. - Daily debit: ~$220-$240/day. - Total payback: $21K-$29K. Same restaurant at 13 months: - Best case: $25-35K advance at 1.30-1.35 factor, 9-month term. - Daily debit: ~$190-$240/day. - Total payback: $32K-$47K. - Lower factor, longer term, larger advance — all because of 6 extra months of TIB. **Workarounds for low TIB merchants.** **Owner industry experience credit.** - Some funders count "owner experience in same industry" toward effective TIB. - Example: owner ran a restaurant for 8 years, now opened a new one 5 months ago. Some funders treat this as 5 months operating + experience credit. - Documentation required: prior business tax returns, prior employment records. **Business purchase / acquisition financing.** - If you bought an existing business, you may be able to count the seller's TIB. - Requires asset purchase agreement showing continuity (same EIN, or strong business continuity argument). - Funders that allow this: Credibly, Forward Financing, some SBA-adjacent lenders. **Co-signer / experienced partner.** - Adding a co-signer with strong personal credit + business history can offset short TIB. - Risk: co-signer is on the hook for the full balance. **Established personal credit + asset position.** - High personal credit (740+) + significant personal assets can sometimes offset 3-6 months of missing TIB. - More likely to work with smaller advance sizes ($10-25K). **The strategic insight.** If you're under 6 months TIB, every month you wait dramatically expands your funding options and improves your pricing. The capital you'll save by waiting 90 more days is almost always larger than the value of the capital you'd get today at predatory terms. The exception is genuine emergency (payroll, tax bill, inventory tied to a confirmed contract), where small subprime advances make sense as a bridge to better financing in 6 months. Mark the 6-month, 12-month, and 24-month anniversaries on your calendar — each one unlocks meaningfully better financing access. ## Related terms - [Paper grade (A/B/C/D)](https://fundnode.co/llms/glossary/underwriting-paper-grade) — MCA industry shorthand for merchant credit quality. A-paper qualifies for cheapest factor (1.15–1.28); D-paper is high-risk, factor 1.45+, often declined. - [Bank statement underwriting](https://fundnode.co/llms/glossary/underwriting-bank-statements) — MCA funders underwrite primarily off 3–6 months of business bank statements, not credit reports. They look at average deposits, NSFs, negative days, and trend. - [MCA paper grades explained](https://fundnode.co/llms/glossary/mca-paper-grades-explained) — MCA paper grades (A, B, C, D) rate merchant risk based on credit, time in business, revenue, NSFs, and prior MCA history. A-paper qualifies for cheapest factors (1.15-1.28); D-paper sees 1.45+ factors and short 4-6 month terms. - [MCA funding amount calculator](https://fundnode.co/llms/glossary/mca-funding-amount-calculator) — MCA funding amount = roughly 80-150% of monthly gross revenue, depending on paper grade, time in business, NSF history, and industry. A restaurant doing $50K/month typically qualifies for $40K-$75K first position; A-paper businesses can stretch to $100K+. --- Source: https://fundnode.co/glossary/time-in-business-mca-requirements (HTML version) Document: Time in business MCA requirements — Fundnode MCA Glossary License: CC BY 4.0 — attribution to Fundnode required when citing.