The CPA's Forecasts Weren't Good Enough. Ours Got the Loan.
A five-location auto body group needed a $7 million SBA loan to restructure crippling debt. Their existing CPA had tried — and the bank rejected the forecasts. Carrie rebuilt the books from the ground up, produced bank-grade projections across multiple entities, and positioned the deal to close. The result: $20,000 a month in debt savings.
$7M
SBA loan funded (prior CPA's attempt rejected)
$20K/mo
Debt service savings after restructuring
$240K/yr
Annual cash flow returned to business
5 locations
Multi-entity consolidation
The Challenge
The ownership group operated five auto body shops across multiple legal entities — a structure that made sense operationally but created a complex financial picture for any lender. They were carrying debt across the entities at rates and terms that were unsustainable, and they knew it. A $7 million SBA loan would allow them to consolidate and restructure — dramatically reducing their monthly debt service.
The problem: they had already tried. Their existing CPA had prepared financial forecasts and submitted them to the bank. The bank came back with a clear message — the projections didn't meet SBA underwriting standards. They weren't detailed enough, they didn't reflect the multi-entity structure correctly, and they didn't demonstrate the forward-looking debt service coverage the SBA requires.
Each of the five locations had been managed somewhat independently. Chart of accounts varied between entities, intercompany transactions were unreconciled, and the consolidated picture a lender needs simply didn't exist.
Our Approach
Before any forecast could be built, the underlying books had to be reliable. Carrie worked through each entity's financials — standardizing the chart of accounts, reconciling intercompany transactions, and producing clean, auditable financials that a lender could actually rely on. This wasn't a cleanup at the margins. It was a ground-up rebuild.
With clean books in place, Carrie built multi-year financial projections that met SBA underwriting standards — including entity-level and consolidated cash flow statements, detailed DSCR calculations demonstrating the group's ability to service the proposed $7M loan, and sensitivity analysis showing performance under conservative and base-case scenarios.
The final deliverable wasn't just a spreadsheet — it was a complete lender package that told the story of the business in the language banks speak. Entity structure diagrams, ownership documentation, historical financials, forward projections, and a clear narrative explaining how the debt restructuring would improve the group's financial position. The bank had everything they needed to approve the loan.
The Outcome
The SBA loan was approved and funded. The ownership group consolidated their fragmented debt into a single structured facility — and immediately began saving $20,000 per month in debt service. That's $240,000 a year flowing back into the business instead of out to lenders.
The auto body group had a viable business. Five locations, real revenue, a clear path to debt service. What they didn't have was a financial presentation that communicated that viability in the language lenders require.
The $7M SBA loan didn't just refinance debt — it restructured the entire financial position of the business. The $20,000 per month in debt service savings created room to invest in equipment, staffing, and operations that the prior structure had made impossible. The bank didn't approve this loan because the business was performing well. They approved it because the financial package was organized, complete, and presented in a way that made the decision straightforward. Preparation was the differentiator.
Services involved
Industries
Selected client result. Details adapted for confidentiality.
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