Westpac Business Loans: Policy and Evidence 2026

A Westpac business loan funds a business purpose over an agreed term, while a business overdraft covers cash shortfalls through a revolving limit. Choose the facility from the use of funds and the cash available to repay it. Your client’s entity, trading history and security then determine the application route.

A property purchase, a stock order and a new business can need different evidence even when the requested amount is the same. Keep the repayment source separate from the asset offered as security.

Match the Business Purpose to the Facility

Match a one-off investment to a term loan and a recurring gap between payments and receipts to a revolving facility. Record the requested amount, the client’s own contribution and when each expense falls due. Identify whether repayments come from trading income, rent or another documented source.

As at October 2026, Westpac’s business loan range includes secured and unsecured borrowing. Its general business loan can fund business acquisitions, capital investment and refinancing. The product chosen must accept the specific purpose.

Facility	Funding pattern	Evidence that decides the fit
Secured business term loan	Borrow for an agreed period, with an agreed repayment structure	Purpose, repayment capacity and acceptable security
Unsecured Business Loan	Fixed-rate term borrowing from $5,000 to $250,000, over one to five years	Established trading and the product’s eligibility requirements
Business Overdraft	Draw and repay within an approved limit through a business transaction account	Size and duration of cash gaps, receipts that reduce the balance and limit conditions
Bank Bill Business Loan	Term borrowing from $250,000 with market-linked rate rollover periods	Cash flow, security and capacity to manage rate changes
Startup loan	Borrow $10,000 to $50,000 for an eligible business operating for less than two years	Business plan, cash-flow forecast and startup eligibility

Westpac’s Unsecured Business Loan excludes starting a business, refinancing other lending, property development and buying residential property. It requires at least 12 months of trading, annual turnover above $75,000 and goods and services tax (GST) registration. An Australian Business Number (ABN) or Australian Company Number (ACN) must be valid.

The unsecured product also requires business lending with Westpac below $1.5 million and excludes franchisees, charities and self-managed superannuation funds. It rules out additional business borrowing taken in the previous 30 days. Tax payments, loan repayments and employee entitlements must be up to date.

The separate startup loan requires both business operation and ABN registration for less than two years. It requires a business plan and Westpac’s cash-flow template or an accountant-certified forecast. Funds go into a Westpac Business One Transaction Account.

Startup applicants must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident and meet the applicable credit criteria. An individual applicant must be at least 18. Corporate borrowers can still need director guarantees.

A Westpac line of credit enquiry can lead to a Business Overdraft. Westpac lists secured and unsecured options, including an unsecured limit up to $250,000. Interest applies to the amount used, while a line fee applies to the total limit.

An overdraft’s flexible repayments don’t establish that the limit is permanent. Show when customer receipts will reduce each drawdown, and include the facility’s review terms in the proposal.

For equipment purchases, use the Westpac equipment finance guide. For funding against unpaid invoices, use the Westpac invoice finance guide.

Borrower, Trading and Repayment Evidence

Build the borrower file around the legal entity taking the debt and the income that will repay it. Record registration details, ownership percentages and related entities. Identify directors, trustees and proposed guarantors before matching their documents to the application.

As at October 2026, Westpac’s commercial broker submission guidance lists these documents for its guided business lending pathway.

• Application and business finance consent documents.
• Latest 12 months of Australian Taxation Office (ATO) business statements, including the Integrated Client Account and a payment plan where applicable.
• One year’s individual tax return and notice of assessment for self-employed applicants.
• Latest annual accountant-prepared financial statements or business tax return, or the eligible business activity statements (BAS) assessment route.

Its situational requests include trust deeds, purchase contracts and rental evidence. It lists three months of statements for external loans being refinanced. New-to-bank applicants also need identification and three months of business transaction statements.

Westpac’s SIMPLE+ pathway has its own eligibility and documentation rules. As at October 2026, its small-business broker page requires at least 12 months of trading and no losses over that period after justified adjustments. It also limits borrowing structures to four business entities and guarantors from four households, with tax obligations and payment arrangements up to date.

SIMPLE+ supports business lending up to $5 million, subject to lower product limits. It excludes consumer lending, construction lending, sector-policy lending and specialised lending. A startup must be assessed under its own route, without importing SIMPLE+‘s trading-history test.

Westpac’s SIMPLE+ support pack, as at October 2026, requires financials no older than 18 months for its calculator. It distinguishes standard SIMPLE+ from Business Docs Only, which has narrower eligibility and different documents. Keep the chosen pathway’s checklist attached to the file.

Reconcile Profit With Cash Available

Profit doesn’t show when a customer pays an invoice or when stock must be bought. Match financial-statement revenue to BAS on the same tax basis. Then explain the timing differences against business bank statements.

List all existing loan repayments and tax payment arrangements in the forecast. Include owner drawings, wages and the proposed repayments. Show why any one-off adjustment won’t recur, with supporting evidence, before relying on it.

In a hypothetical case, a wholesaler has $18,000 available before debt repayments in a normal month. Existing repayments use $7,000 and the proposed loan uses $6,000, leaving $5,000. During a quiet month, available cash falls to $10,000, leaving a $3,000 shortfall after those same repayments.

Annual profit alone hides that shortfall. The proposal needs a documented cash reserve, a different repayment structure or a smaller borrowing requirement. Use the business loan cash-flow forecast guide to set out monthly receipts and payments, including the weakest trading months.

Security and Commercial Property

Assess security against the business facility’s rules and keep it separate from the repayment assessment. Record the asset owner, existing mortgages and the security being requested. Identify each proposed guarantee and the debts it would cover.

As at October 2026, Westpac’s Bank Bill Business Loan accepts cash, commercial property or residential property as security. Other business assets need an agreed security assessment. Westpac’s SIMPLE+ support pack also identifies non-specialised commercial property, standard residential property and a General Security Agreement where applicable.

An unsecured loan doesn’t require specific asset security. Westpac’s Unsecured Business Loan still allows director guarantees for corporate borrowers, as at October 2026. Explain the guarantee separately from any mortgage over property.

Where property supports the loan, assemble its address, title details and purchase contract or existing ownership evidence. Arrange the valuation through the lender’s required process. Record the proposed use and any tenancy, because an owner-occupied workshop and a leased investment property have different repayment sources.

Property Income and Lease Evidence

A Westpac commercial property loan proposal needs to explain whether the property houses the client’s business or earns investment rent. For owner occupation, show the trading business’s capacity to pay the debt. For an investment, reconcile rent with outgoings and the lease.

As at October 2026, Westpac’s commercial broker page describes Lease Doc for qualifying non-trading companies or company trustees investing in commercial property or residential complexes. It links the loan term to lease expiry, with different treatment of lease options by loan size. Lease Doc eligibility must be applied to that property transaction.

Collect signed leases and show expiry dates, options and tenant obligations. Explain vacancies and incentives that reduce actual receipts. For reimbursement of director or intercompany funding used to buy commercial property, Westpac lists an external accountant’s purpose-confirmation letter among its investment documents.

Use the commercial property loan guide for wider lease and property assessment. Residential home-loan policy belongs in the Westpac lender policy guide, even when a home is offered as business-loan security.

Structure Repayments and Review Conditions

Match the repayment schedule to the cash-flow forecast and state how principal will be repaid by maturity. Interest-only payments leave principal outstanding. A seasonal business needs enough cash for its low months as well as its annual repayment total.

As at October 2026, Westpac’s general business loan has interest-only or principal, interest and fees repayment options. Variable-rate borrowing allows extra repayments and redraw. During a fixed-rate period, you can’t make or redraw extra repayments, and an early payout can incur fees.

Westpac’s Bank Bill Business Loan allows rate rollover periods from 30 to 180 days. Its product page explains that a rollover resets the rate and doesn’t require reassessing financials each time. Distinguish the rate reset from any credit review required by the loan agreement.

For an overdraft, forecast the highest balance and when it falls. Westpac requires a valid business transaction account for its Business Overdraft, as at October 2026. Ask for a limit that matches the supported cash gap, and model fees on the total limit as well as interest on drawings.

Read the proposed finance offer before treating its repayment structure as agreed. Capture each fee, payment date and the cost of an early payout or change. Record any review date, required financial reporting and covenant, which is a contractual condition the borrower must meet.

Westpac’s Bank Bill Business Loan lists establishment, line and service fees, plus possible event-based fees in the offer. A fixed-rate offer needs its early repayment terms read alongside the planned exit. For a change to repayment type, Westpac’s general business loan requires an application to swap structures.

If the client expects a sale or refinance to repay principal, include the amount and timing needed. Test delayed receipts and higher variable-rate payments in the forecast. A proposed refinance isn’t a committed repayment source.

Prepare the Broker Submission

Use Westpac’s business broker channel with the accreditation and application form for the facility you are submitting. As at October 2026, Westpac’s business broker accreditation process requires aggregator support and Westpac panel access for the accreditation sought. The aggregator signs off and lodges the application with supporting documents.

Successful business broker applicants receive business finance accreditation and contact from a business development manager (BDM). Equipment finance has a separate accreditation process and DriveOnline access. Residential accreditation alone doesn’t demonstrate completion of the business finance process.

Westpac’s commercial broker page, as at October 2026, directs business loans and overdrafts to the WBC Broker Application Form - Business Finance. Customer consent is captured digitally through BizEdge. Mixed business and residential lending uses the separate dynamic application form with wet-signature consent.

Prepare the submission in this order.

1. Record the business purpose and facility requested. Include the client’s contribution and the repayment source.
2. Map the borrower and guarantor structure. Match registration and ownership details to the application.
3. Select the documentation pathway. Use its checklist and Westpac’s applicable calculator without treating a calculator result as approval.
4. Reconcile the evidence. Explain differences between financials, tax records and bank cash movement, then attach the proposed repayment forecast.
5. Submit through the business BDM route with the required form and consent. Retain the version submitted and the lender’s response.

Use a separate status for evidence received and for a lender decision still needed.

Submission status	What to record
Confirmed facts	Purpose, amount, entity structure, current debts and the evidence supporting each
Outstanding client documents	Missing lease, current financials, ownership evidence or statements, with an owner and due date
Written lender response required	Case-specific security acceptance, guarantee scope, pathway exceptions or the requested repayment variation

Before lodging, every amount in the proposal must trace to a document or a labelled forecast assumption. Close any discrepancy that changes repayment capacity. Where the transaction needs an exception, include the specific question and written lender response with the submission.