One of the keys to securing an appropriate line of credit for your business is being clear about the problem you’re trying to solve, says Kelly Cook, senior vice president, Technology Banking Group at Bridge Bank.

“Are you trying to fill a cash flow gap between when you invoice for your product or service and when you actually get paid by the customer?” Cook says.

“Or are you trying to solve another problem in your business where you might be looking for additional cash to hire new salespeople or more operations team members. Those represent different types of cash needs that may require a term loan or even an equity investment.”

Clarity of purpose gives your bank or lender a solid starting point to help you find the right solution for your financing need. It also helps you avoid getting the wrong facility in place that could make it harder to obtain credit in the future.

“The more informed your bank or lender is with regard to the health of your business, your needs and your future plans, the better they can help you access additional borrowing capacity or financing to work out of a troubled situation,” Cook says.

Smart Business spoke with Cook about how to determine the appropriate line of credit for your business.

What are the best uses for a line of credit?

A typical line of credit is a working capital, revolving facility used to finance a short-term asset such as accounts receivable or inventory.

This differs from a longer term, more permanent type of financing like a term loan or equity that might be used to finance an asset with a longer life such as a new office or an increase in staffing. You want the type of financing to match the type of cash needed in the business.

What should you consider before pursuing a new line of credit?

First off, be sure that you clearly outline any existing debt or credit facilities for your prospective lender. Fully disclose any existing leverage, either through a bank loan, a finance company, or any other note or convertible note.

Your existing debt profile will have a strong influence on what a new lender can structure for your business. Depending on what you are trying to achieve, it may make sense to pay off the existing credit facility with a new one.

Where your business is in its life cycle is another factor which could affect the structure of your loan and the type of line of credit you can obtain. If your business is established and growing, you’re likely to get more favorable terms with a credit facility that provides flexibility as well as adequate borrowing availability.

If you don’t have a strong track record, it doesn’t mean financing is unavailable. It could just mean that you might start with a more restrictive structure or higher pricing for a period of time.

How important is a financial forecast in your ability to get a line of credit?

You and your senior leadership team should develop a forecast that represents your best estimate of how the business is going to perform going forward.

A lender is not only interested in where the company has been, it also wants to have a sense for what the future looks like.

Everyone understands that actual future performance will not exactly match the forecast, but the forecast should show performance that can support the line of credit being contemplated.

What is a line of credit collateral audit?

Lenders will often require a periodic collateral audit — a third-party checkup on how a loan’s collateral is performing and a profile of a business’s customer base.

For an accounts receivable line of credit, the audit will evaluate accounts receivable performance — validating that invoices are being issued against contracts or purchase orders, that they are being issued per contract terms and that payments are coming in per contract terms.

The audit will also measure customer profile information such as customer concentration.