Credit assessment
I look at your financials the way an adjudicator will: cash flow coverage, leverage, collateral position, customer concentration and quality of earnings. You hear where the file is weak from me before you hear it from a lender.
Debt financing advisory
Debt financing advisory for Alberta businesses
Most owners approach one lender, usually their existing bank, and take the terms they’re offered. That’s a reasonable instinct but an expensive one. A single lender has one credit box, one appetite, and no competitive pressure to sharpen pricing or loosen covenants.
I run a structured process instead. I build the credit story, take it to the lenders most likely to want it, and negotiate the terms against each other. You stay focused on the business.
When owners call
The earlier the call, the more options exist.
Especially if the file has moved to special loans, or a forbearance agreement is being discussed. On those, the timeline matters more than almost anything else. I've taken a company out of a special loans group and back into a normal banking relationship.
01
A lender has moved the file to special loans or asked for a forbearance agreement
02
A covenant has been breached, or is about to be
03
The bank has declined a request, or approved it at terms that don't work
04
An existing facility is maturing and the renewal terms have moved
05
Growth has outrun the operating line and working capital is tight
06
Equipment or a facility needs financing and the quotes vary wildly
How the process works
A structured process from assessment to funding.
Preparation determines which lenders are approached, how the request is understood and how much room remains to negotiate.
Fix what’s fixable
Some weaknesses are presentation problems. Some are real and need to be addressed or explained. Either way, you go to market with the story already handled instead of improvising on a call.
Build the package
A financial model with a defensible forecast, a request memorandum and the supporting schedules underwriting will ask for. This is the part most owners underestimate, and the part that most determines the answer.
Approach the market
I go to the lenders whose credit appetite actually fits your situation, in parallel, not one at a time.
Negotiate
Pricing matters less than owners expect. Covenant headroom, amortization, security, personal guarantees and cash sweep provisions matter more. I negotiate all of it.
Close and monitor
I manage due diligence through to funding, and stay available afterward for covenant reporting and lender relationship management.
“Our operating line hadn't moved in years, even though the business had grown tenfold. Most lenders still wanted an unlimited personal guarantee, which I didn't think a business our size should need.”
“Cuong ran a proper process. Eight lenders, five written proposals, all compared side by side. We came out with all the money we asked for at the best rate of the group, our inventory finally counting toward what we could borrow, and no personal guarantees.”
The Alberta lending landscape
Different capital solves different problems.
There are more sources of capital than most owners realize, and they behave very differently. The right answer is often a structure combining two sources rather than the best single quote.
Chartered banks
The lowest-cost capital, with defined credit parameters and less tolerance for a difficult year.
ATB Financial and Servus Credit Union
Alberta-based institutions with distinct credit mandates and an ability to consider situations that may not fit a national bank’s credit box.
BDC
Longer amortizations and the ability to lend against goodwill and intangibles, frequently behind or alongside a bank.
Asset-based lenders
Financing against receivables, inventory and equipment rather than cash flow; useful when EBITDA is temporarily impaired.
Private credit and mezzanine
More expensive capital that can offer greater flexibility around amortization, covenants and structure.
Canada Small Business Financing Program
Government-guaranteed financing delivered through participating banks and credit unions.
How I stay independent
Advice without a lending product attached.
I will not accept any fee, commission or referral payment from any lender, broker or vendor in connection with your transaction. My only compensation is what you pay me. My advice on how much debt the business should carry, and from whom, is therefore not influenced by who is paying me.
I also decline work regularly. If your situation is a straightforward equipment loan your bank will approve on Tuesday, you don’t need me and I’ll say so.
Relevant engagement
Unlocking a constrained operating line.
A growing manufacturer ran a competitive refinancing that expanded borrowing capacity, added inventory to the borrowing base and removed personal guarantees.
Read the engagement →+150%Operating-line capacity
5Written proposals
Frequently asked questions
What owners usually want to know first.
What size of financing do you work on?+
Most engagements involve facilities between $1 million and $10 million. Below that, the fee rarely justifies the process for either of us. Above it, I’ve run larger mandates and am happy to discuss.
How long does it take?+
For a clean file with current financials, generally four to eight weeks from engagement to term sheet, then another four to six weeks to funding. Distressed or complex situations take longer. The biggest variable is how quickly we can assemble accurate historical financials. Companies with tidy books move considerably faster.
What does it cost?+
Engagements are either a mandate or a scoped project. A mandate is a work fee through the process plus a fee payable on closing, priced to the size and complexity of the deal. A scoped project is a fixed fee, priced to what's being built. You get a written proposal before you commit to anything, and the first conversation is free.
What if I don't actually need you?+
Then I'll tell you. An owner came to me about an operating line for working capital. I reviewed the numbers and told him he didn't need an advisor. The coverage was there, the collateral supported it, and his existing bank would approve it if he asked directly. He asked, and it went through. If your file is straightforward and your lender is already comfortable, a process costs you money and buys you nothing. Where the fee earns itself is when the answer isn't obvious, when more than one lender needs to be involved, or when the terms matter enough that somebody should be negotiating them.
My bank already said no. Is it too late?+
No — that’s a common starting point. A decline usually reflects that lender’s credit box, not your creditworthiness. It does mean we need to understand precisely why, because that shapes where the file goes next.
Will I have to give a personal guarantee?+
Most lenders in this size range will typically require a personal guarantee; however, with the right story and numbers, exceptions have been made. What’s typically more flexible and easier for the bank to negotiate is the amount of the guarantee, release conditions and whether its joint and several among shareholders. This is where negotiations and having multiple lenders at the table can really help.
Do you work outside Edmonton?+
Yes, throughout Alberta. If you’re in the Edmonton metro area I’d rather meet in person. Elsewhere, I work virtually and travel when the engagement warrants it.
Start a confidential conversation
Talk to me about the file.
If you’re weighing a financing decision, a first conversation costs nothing and is confidential.