Term loans for the buyout, the book of clients, and the way out of stacked advances.
Billable Capital places term loans for professional-service firms from $50,000 to $5,000,000 over 6 to 60 months, with a 650 minimum FICO, 24 months in business, and $40,000 a month in deposits. Files up to $500,000 are underwritten in-house; above that we package the file and place it with our bank lending partners. Decision in 3 to 7 business days.
What are the criteria?
Term loan — criteria
- Amount
- $50,000 – $5,000,000
- Term
- 6 – 60 months
- Minimum credit score
- 650
- Minimum time in business
- 24 months
- Minimum monthly deposits
- $40,000
- Documents
- Application, 6 months of business bank statements, 2 years of business tax returns, YTD P&L and balance sheet, debt schedule. For a buyout or acquisition: the purchase or redemption agreement.
- Repayment
- Fixed monthly or bi-weekly ACH, fully amortizing
- Collateral
- UCC-1 blanket lien. Personal guarantee from the owner(s) required.
- Prepayment
- No prepayment penalty on in-house files up to $500,000. Partner-placed files vary — disclosed in the term sheet.
- Decision
- 3 – 7 business days
- Path
- In-house to $500,000; placed with bank lending partners above
What jobs does a term loan do for a firm?
A partner buyout
One partner retires or leaves and wants a number by a date. The remaining partners don’t have the cash and shouldn’t drain the operating account to find it. SBA 7(a) explicitly allows this use too, and costs less if you can wait. Term loan vs SBA for a buyout →
Term loan · 36 to 60 months · fixed monthlyBuying a book of clients or a practice
A retiring sole practitioner’s tax clients, a boutique agency’s retainers, a one-office firm across town. Match the term to how long those clients will keep paying — 36 to 60 months, not 9.
Term loan · 36 to 60 monthsA second office
Lease deposit, fit-out, furniture, the first three months of rent and the two hires who open it, before the new office bills enough to carry itself.
Term loan · 36 to 60 monthsConsolidating stacked advances
This is the one we get called about most. Three or four daily positions with overlapping debits will take a profitable firm down. A 36-month term loan at a single monthly payment is almost always the fix, and the earlier you call, the more room we have.
Term loan · typically 36 monthsAdvance or term loan — which one?
Same money, two very different shapes. The advance buys speed. The term loan buys a payment you can live with.
| Working capital advance | Term loan | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount | $10K – $2M | $50K – $5M |
| Speed | 24 hours | 3–7 business days |
| Payment frequency | Daily or weekly | Monthly or bi-weekly |
| Cost | Highest of the five products | Mid-range |
| Paperwork | 3 bank statements | Statements, returns, P&L, debt schedule |
| Best when | Payroll is Friday | You can wait a week and want the lower payment |
Who underwrites a firm’s term loan?
Up to $500,000 — in-house
Billable Capital underwrites and funds these directly. You deal with the desk that makes the decision, and there is no prepayment penalty.
Decision in 3 to 7 business days on a complete file.
Above $500,000 — bank partners
We package the file — statements, returns, P&L, balance sheet, debt schedule, the buyout or purchase agreement — and place it with our bank lending partners. The partner is identified to you in writing before you sign.
Prepayment terms on partner-placed files vary and are disclosed in the term sheet.
What does a term loan cost a firm per month?
A three-partner firm with 4 years in business, a 680 FICO and $90,000 a month in deposits replaces three daily-debit advances with one monthly payment. At $250,000 it stays in-house, so there is no prepayment penalty.
Illustrative only. Your actual amount, cost and term are set by underwriting your file. Nothing on this page is an offer.
Representative file — $250,000 over 36 months
- Amount
- $250,000
- Term
- 36 months, fixed monthly
- Rate
- 14% APR — illustrative
- Monthly payment
- $8,544
- Total interest
- $57,599 over the full term
- Prepayment penalty
- None on in-house files up to $500,000
- Status
- An illustration, not an offer
What a firm needs to qualify.
Every number below is a real criterion. If you clear these, apply. If you don’t, call us and we’ll tell you what would change it.
| Minimum monthly revenue | $15,000 in business bank deposits |
|---|---|
| Minimum time in business | 6 months |
| Minimum credit score | None for working capital or receivables funding. 600+ for a line of credit. 650+ for a term loan. 680+ for SBA. |
| Funding range | $10,000 to $2,000,000 for working capital. Up to $5,000,000 for term loans, SBA, and receivables facilities. |
| Time to a real offer | About 4 business hours on a complete file. |
| Time to funding | 24 hours. Same day if a clean file is signed before 11:00 AM ET. |
| Documents required | Application plus your 3 most recent months of business bank statements. 4 months if your billing is seasonal (tax season, contingency fees, year-end retainers). |
| Contract length | 2 pages. |
| Repayment | Fixed daily or weekly ACH from your operating account. No split funding. No holdback percentage. No lockbox on your operating account. |
| Prepayment discount | Up to 30% off the remaining cost of funding when a working capital advance is paid off within the first 30, 60, or 90 days. |
| Retainers & client billing | Counted. Retainer deposits, recurring client payments and lump-sum settlements all count toward your approval. Client trust (IOLTA) accounts are not underwritten as revenue — send the operating account. |
| Billing system requirement | None. Any practice-management, time-and-billing or invoicing system, or none at all. Underwriting is from bank statements. |
| Firm types approved | Law firms including contingency-fee practices, accounting and CPA firms, bookkeeping and tax preparers, management and IT consultancies, marketing, advertising, PR and creative agencies, architecture, engineering, surveying and environmental firms, HR consultants and recruiters. |
| Not required | Collateral for working capital. A business plan. Tax returns under $500,000. A minimum headcount or number of partners. A specific billing system. An audited financial statement. |
| Open to | U.S. businesses with a U.S. business bank account. All 50 states. |
Four minutes. Three bank statements. No credit impact to apply.
Term loan questions, answered.
Can I use a term loan to buy out a partner?
Yes. A partner buyout is one of the two most common uses of this product at a firm, alongside buying a book of clients. The loan funds the departing partner’s number on a date, and the firm repays it monthly out of the billing that partner’s clients keep generating. SBA 7(a) also allows partner buyouts and costs less if you can wait 30 to 45 days. Read the comparison.
Can I use a term loan to pay off merchant cash advances?
Yes. Consolidating stacked advances into a single amortizing term loan is a common use. Three or four daily positions with overlapping debits will take a profitable firm down; a 36-month term loan replaces them with one monthly payment. Call before you take a fourth position — the earlier you call, the more room there is to work with.
What does the bank partner need that Billable Capital doesn’t?
On in-house files up to $500,000 we work from six months of bank statements, two years of business tax returns, a YTD P&L and balance sheet, and a debt schedule. Above $500,000 a bank partner will typically also want personal tax returns, a personal financial statement, entity and partnership documents, the office lease, and interim financials.
Is there a prepayment penalty on a term loan?
Not on in-house Billable Capital term loans up to $500,000. Partner-placed term loans and SBA loans follow the partner’s and the SBA’s prepayment terms, which are disclosed in the term sheet before you sign.
Can a firm with 18 months in business get a term loan?
Not at the 650 FICO and 24-month minimum this product carries. Working capital is your path until you cross 24 months — no minimum credit score, 6 months in business, $15,000 a month in deposits.
What is the monthly payment on a $250,000 term loan?
At an illustrative 14% APR over 36 months, a $250,000 term loan is $8,544 a month, with $57,599 in total interest over the full term and no prepayment penalty on in-house files up to $500,000. Your rate is set by underwriting; this is an illustration, not an offer.
A single monthly payment beats four daily debits.
$50,000 to $5,000,000 over 6 to 60 months. Decision in 3 to 7 business days. If you are carrying stacked advances, call before you take another position.