Most lenders want two years of tax returns and notices of assessment plus current business financials, and they assess your net profit after expenses rather than turnover.

Where recent returns understate current trading, alt-doc or low-doc lending assesses you on BAS lodgements, business bank statements or an accountant's declaration instead. Rates sit slightly above full-doc lending but the outcome is often far better than waiting two years for the returns to catch up.

Logan has a heavy concentration of sole traders, subcontractors and owner-drivers, particularly across the Slacks Creek, Berrinba and Crestmead industrial areas, so this comes up constantly.

One year of returns is enough at some lenders where you have a longer trading history in the same field. See our guide to low doc home loans in Logan.

Add-backs are expenses deducted in your financials that a lender will add back to profit, because they are not genuine ongoing cash costs. Common ones include depreciation, one-off purchases, additional superannuation contributions above the compulsory rate, interest on debts being repaid, and a portion of certain motor vehicle costs.

They matter because a business showing modest taxable profit can present a much stronger servicing position once add-backs are applied properly.

Lenders differ on which they accept and how far they will go. Depreciation is almost universally added back, while director loan repayments and some vehicle costs are treated inconsistently.

Getting this right is largely presentation, and it is the main reason self-employed files benefit from being packaged rather than lodged raw. We work through the financials with your accountant's figures before submission.

Often yes, though the field narrows. Some lenders accept one full year of trading with a strong prior history in the same industry, and alt-doc products assessed on BAS or bank statements can work from a shorter period again.

What lenders look for is continuity rather than duration. A tradesperson who worked as an employee for a decade and then started their own business under the same trade presents very differently to someone entering a new field.

Under twelve months is genuinely hard. If a purchase is not urgent, waiting to complete a first full financial year usually produces a better rate and a cleaner approval than pushing an application through early.

We will tell you plainly whether your file is ready or whether a few more months materially improves it. Talk to Cube.

It needs to be disclosed, and hiding it does not work because it surfaces in the financials or the ATO portal. What matters is whether there is a formal payment arrangement in place and whether it has been maintained.

A documented arrangement being met on time is workable at a number of lenders. An undocumented or defaulted debt is a different matter and will usually need resolving before a residential application proceeds.

Since the ATO began reporting certain business tax debts to credit bureaus, the consequences of leaving it unaddressed reach further than they once did.

There are lenders who work with this position and lenders who will not consider it, so the outcome depends heavily on where the application goes. We will give you a straight read on where you sit before anything is lodged. Call 1800 774 756.