# What to have ready before you start

Five things on the desk before you open the form, and the whole application is one sitting rather than two evenings.

Updated: 2026-09-12

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Nothing in an application is difficult. The typing is about three minutes. What turns that into
two evenings is stopping halfway through to go and find something — the incorporation
certificate, last month's statement, the exact spelling of a co-owner's name.

Everything is saved as you type, so stopping costs you nothing. But it is worth five minutes of
gathering first.

## The five things

1. **Six months of bank statements** for the business's main operating account, as PDFs
   downloaded from your bank. Not screenshots, not a spreadsheet you export yourself — the file
   the bank generates. This is the one thing an underwriter cannot work without, and the one
   thing a repeat application always asks for again.
2. **Your incorporation paperwork.** In Canada: the articles of incorporation, federal or
   provincial, plus your CRA business number confirmation or a master business licence. In the
   United States: the articles of incorporation or certificate of formation your state issued,
   plus the IRS letter confirming your EIN.
3. **Photo ID** — a driver's licence, a passport or a provincial or state ID card. You hold it up
   to your phone or laptop camera once, and never again on any future application.
4. **The names of anyone who owns 25% or more** of the business, with an email and a rough
   ownership percentage for each. Every lender asks; asking you now is faster than chasing you
   for it next week.
5. **A number in your head.** How much you want, and one line on what it is for. Neither is
   binding and both can change later.

<Note title="You do not need a business plan">
Nobody reads one. The file is read from the bank statements — what actually goes through the
account, month by month — which is why six months of them matters more than anything you could
write about the business.
</Note>

## What you do not need to find

**Your accountant.** You can invite them instead. If the person who holds the banking login is
not you, put their email into the Team screen and they can fill in that part without you sitting
next to them. See [inviting someone to help](/help/inviting-someone-to-help).

**A free afternoon.** The form is eleven short steps and it saves after every pause. The
checklist on your applications page adds its steps up to about nine minutes of your time, most of
which is the statements. Doing three steps in a queue on your phone and the rest at your desk
tomorrow is a completely normal way to use it.

**A good credit score.** Applying never triggers a hard credit check, and nothing you do here
touches your score.

## On the web

Start at **Sign up** in the top right of sparkfinance.ca, or go straight to the sign-in page if
you already have an account. Making the account comes first, so that everything you type after
that is saved against a real record rather than living in a browser tab.

<Shot src="sign-up" alt="The Spark sign-up screen: a blue panel listing term loans, lines of credit, asset-based lending and equipment financing next to a short form asking for email, name, phone and a password." caption="The front door. The form on the right is the whole of signing up." />

## In the app

Open Spark and tap **Apply for funding**. It is the same account and the same application — if
you make the account on your phone you can carry on at your desk this afternoon, and the other
way round.

<Shot src="ios-welcome" phone alt="The Spark app welcome screen with the Spark mark, the tagline, and two buttons: Apply for funding and I already have an account." caption="The app's front door. Two doors and no third option." />