Get an SBA 7(a) or 504 loan approved

Every SBA program — 7(a) and 504 alike — sits behind the same eligibility gate, and the gate is binary: each rule passes or fails, and a single fail blocks the file no matter how strong the credit. This step produces a dated verdict on every rule and names the one or two items to fix before a lender ever sees your name.

Work the six rules in order, writing pass or fail next to each:

1. For-profit status — sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, or corporation operating for profit; nonprofits and pure holding companies fail.
2. US location and operations — the business must be located in the US and do its work in the US.
3. Size standard — find your primary NAICS code on last year’s return, look up its standard in the SBA size standards table, and compare your three-year average annual receipts or headcount.
4. Right to work — every owner with 20% or more must be a US citizen or hold permanent resident status or a work-authorized visa.
5. Repayment ability — cash flow must cover the proposed payment; underwriters test this at roughly 1.15–1.25x debt service coverage.
6. Character — no delinquent federal debt (taxes, student loans, child support), no default on a prior federal loan, no bankruptcy in the last three years, no federal conviction.

Check every 20%+ owner against the SAM.gov excluded parties list, and confirm the business type is not on the SBA’s ineligible list (gambling, lending, life insurance, dealing in non-US goods or services) — a disqualifier people discover late. Then write the verdict sheet: one line per rule, pass or fail, the date, and the single most important fix. This sheet becomes the opening page of the package.