Business plan checklist: 25 things lenders and judges actually check

Why it is checked: A lender decides whether to keep reading here. A judge forms the score here and looks for reasons to change it.

Pass test: A stranger can say back to you what the business does, who pays, and what you are asking for after one page.

Why it is checked: "Everyone" is the most common reason a plan is set aside. Evidence turns a claim into a fact.

Pass test: You name who, where, and their situation, and you cite at least one of: interviews, pre-orders, a waitlist, current sales, or a comparable business.

Why it is checked: Reviewers have read hundreds of "gaps in the market". They believe a quoted customer.

Pass test: At least one sentence that a real customer said or would say about the problem, and what it costs them today.

Why it is checked: The same plan from two people gets two different answers. Experience, access, or an unfair advantage changes the odds.

Pass test: Two or three lines of directly relevant experience, and the gaps named honestly with who fills them.

Why it is checked: A national industry figure copied from a report is a red flag; a local, sourced number is a green one.

Pass test: A number of reachable customers or dollars, and the source (Statistics Canada, municipal data, an association, your own count).

Why it is checked: "We have no competitors" tells the reader you have not looked. Doing nothing is always a competitor.

Pass test: At least three named alternatives, what each charges, and what the customer gives up with each.

Why it is checked: Differentiation written for a reviewer ("quality service") is invisible. Differentiation written for a customer is a sales tool.

Pass test: One sentence, no adjectives, that explains why a customer switches to you.

Why it is checked: The price connects the market section to the financials. Reviewers check that it is neither invented nor below cost.

Pass test: Price per unit, cost per unit, gross margin, how the price was set, and how it compares to the named competitors.

Why it is checked: Lenders fund line items. A round number with no quotes is a plan that has not priced anything.

Pass test: Every item over a few hundred dollars has a dated quote in the appendix, and the total matches the funding request.

Why it is checked: This is the page that shows whether the business survives to the point where it works. Lenders expect it; without it, many won't go further.

Pass test: Monthly cash in, cash out, and closing balance for twelve months, with the lowest point visible and covered by the funding request.

Why it is checked: Year one shows survival; years two and three show whether it was worth it.

Pass test: Annual revenue, cost of sales, gross margin, fixed costs and net profit for three years, with growth drivers named.

Why it is checked: It converts the whole plan into one checkable number a reader can compare with the marketing section.

Pass test: "We need n sales a month to break even and reach that in month m", and the marketing plan plausibly produces n.

Why it is checked: Reviewers do not expect the numbers to be right. They expect to be able to see how you got them.

Pass test: A single page a reader can use to rebuild your spreadsheet.

Why it is checked: Banks (including on CSBFP loans) usually, and Starter Company Plus always (25% of the grant), expect the owner to have money or equipment in. Judges read it as commitment.

Pass test: Cash, equipment or unpaid work valued and listed alongside the funding request.

Why it is checked: It tells the reader whether they are looking at a business or an idea.

Pass test: Sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation named; Ontario Business Registry, CRA Business Number and HST status each marked done or with a date.

Why it is checked: An Ontario reader who sees no mention of insurance or WSIB assumes you have not checked, and usually they are right.

Pass test: Each one listed as required or not required for your business type, with cost and status.

Why it is checked: A business that depends on one supplier, one platform or one client has a risk the reader wants to see you have noticed.

Pass test: Main suppliers named with lead times, and any single point of failure called out with a fallback.

Why it is checked: Nobody has every skill. Pretending otherwise costs credibility; naming an advisor, bookkeeper or mentor earns it.

Pass test: Each missing skill paired with a named person or service, and the cost of that service in the cash flow.

Why it is checked: "About $20,000" reads as a guess. "$18,450" reads as a total.

Pass test: The funding request equals the startup cost table plus the lowest cash-flow point, to the dollar.

Why it is checked: Reviewers cross-check these three. When they disagree, the plan looks assembled rather than planned.

Pass test: Every dollar requested appears in the cost table or the cash flow, and no item appears in one and not the others.

Why it is checked: A lender wants to see the payment leaving the forecast every month with room to spare; a grant panel wants program rules met; a judge wants to see fundability.

Pass test: The monthly repayment (or the investor's return) is a line in the cash flow, and the balance stays positive after it.

Why it is checked: One figure that cannot be traced makes every other figure suspect.

Pass test: Every number in the plan is either a fact with a source or an estimate labelled as one, with the basis stated.

Why it is checked: The price in section four, the volume in section five and the revenue in section eight must multiply. Reviewers check.

Pass test: Price times volume equals revenue; marketing budget in section five equals the marketing line in the cash flow; team costs match.

Why it is checked: Not because readers are fussy. Because a plan that has been proofread suggests a business that will be run carefully.

Pass test: Table of contents, page numbers, spell-checked, consistent headings, and a total under fifteen pages before the appendix.

Why it is checked: If the plan mentions a quote, a lease, a licence or a letter of intent, the reader turns to the back to find it.

Pass test: Quotes, registration, insurance, letters, résumés and the full spreadsheets are attached and referenced by page.