A company that needs R$5 million to grow can receive three offers with the same advertised rate and very different cash outcomes. The right facility depends on how the money will be used, when it comes back, which collateral is available, and how the lender views the business.
Answer in one minute
Before seeking credit, first define how much you need, for what, when the funds are used, and how the company will repay. Then compare working-capital lines, investment facilities, receivables advances, and secured structures. Prepare financial information and a map of existing debt before talking to banks, credit unions, or funds. Approval and terms depend on each lender’s policy.
1. Start with the cash problem, not the product name
“We need working capital” can describe very different situations. A manufacturer may pay for inputs today and collect from a large buyer in 90 days. Another may have recurring operating losses and seek cash to cover fixed costs. The first faces a timing gap that receivables financing may address; the second needs to understand why cash is leaking before adding more installments.
Build a simple map: minimum and maximum funding need; specific use of proceeds; disbursement dates; the inflow that will repay the facility; required tenor; free assets or receivables; current debt balances. If the money funds a machine that only generates revenue over five years, a facility that matures in six months creates refinancing risk. If the issue is collecting an invoice in 90 days, a five-year loan may cost more and tie up collateral longer than necessary.
| Real need | Structure to investigate | Decisive question |
|---|---|---|
| Cash between purchase and collection | Working capital or receivables advance | Are the receivables eligible, documented, and unencumbered? |
| Equipment or production expansion | Investment financing | Does the tenor match the asset’s cash generation? |
| Contract with a strong buyer | Facility based on the contract or the receivable | Does the contract allow assignment, and does the payer confirm the obligation? |
| Concentrated maturities | Rescheduling or refinancing | Does the new all-in cost improve cash without raising the balance too much? |
This table is an initial filter, not a product promise. Apparently similar deals are treated differently when there is customer concentration, restricted collateral, a delinquency history, or a gap between accounting figures and bank cash flow.
2. Which lender can underwrite your transaction?
Banks and credit unions
They are starting points for working-capital and investment lines, especially when they already know the company’s cash flows. An existing relationship helps with data gathering, but it does not remove repayment analysis, concentration limits, or collateral requirements. Compare more than one offer using the same tenor, amortization, and net proceeds basis.
Facilities funded by BNDES
O BNDES Crédito Pequenas e Médias Empresas states eligibility for companies with revenue up to R$300 million and a limit of up to R$20 million per year under the presented line. Origination runs through an accredited financial agent, which decides whether to offer the product and whether to approve the proposal. Meeting the revenue threshold does not mean automatic credit. Tenors, cost sources, and terms can change: check the official page and the onlending bank at the time of the deal.
Credit funds and FIDCs
They may consider transactions with specific tenor, collateral, or structural features. An FIDC invests in credit rights according to its policy and Brazil’s CVM regulatory framework. For management, the useful question is whether there is a verifiable receivables book, identifiable buyers, clean documentation, and economics that justify the deal. A fund is not a universal path for companies declined by banks.
Receivables advance
It can work when the company has customer receivables and needs cash before maturity. Compare net proceeds, advance period, discount, fees, liability if the receivable is not paid, and whether the buyer must confirm the receivable. See the deeper analysis in “FIDC or receivables-backed credit: when it makes sense.”
3. Collateral helps, but it must be available and make sense
Real estate, equipment, receivables, investments, inventory, and personal guarantees may enter the discussion, depending on the facility and lender policy. Appraised value is not the same as the value a lender will accept: it considers liquidity, documentation, prior liens, legal risk, and enforcement cost. Collateral already pledged may not be free for another offer.
O BNDES FGI can complement collateral on eligible facilities through authorized banks. There is a guarantee cost, limits, and counter-guarantee requirements that vary by product. The official page also notes cases where controller guarantees and real collateral may be required. Ask for a full simulation, with all charges, before concluding that a guaranteed facility costs less.
Build a collateral inventory before requesting offers. For each asset, record the owner, estimated value, title or registration, liens, the balance of any facility using it, and available documents. That prevents pledging the same collateral twice or discovering a restriction late in the process.
4. How lenders assess repayment capacity
A company can generate high revenue and still produce little free cash to service debt. Lenders want to understand margin, working-capital needs, recurring investment, taxes, seasonality, distributions to owners, and installments already contracted. The analysis also considers balance-sheet quality and business predictability.
An initial test is to project, month by month, operating cash after necessary expenses and maintenance investment and compare it with total debt service, including the new facility. Do not treat EBITDA as available cash: inventory, collection timing, and taxes can consume cash even with positive EBITDA.
Illustrative example: the same need, two tenors
A manufacturer needs R$6 million to expand production. It estimates R$2 million of additional annual cash before new debt service starting in year two. A facility with heavy first-year amortization can squeeze cash before the expansion produces results. A longer tenor or grace period may improve timing fit, but it can raise cumulative financing cost. The decision depends on a monthly cash schedule, not only the advertised rate.
In the lender presentation, show a base case and a stress case: delayed key customers, margin compression, or higher financing cost. State what management would do in each case. That is more useful than a linear growth projection with no assumptions.
5. The minimum package for a productive conversation
Exact documents vary by lender and product. For a mid-market facility, start with these six dated, labeled folders:
- Company and authority: Corporate registration, updated articles, group org chart, officers, and signing authority.
- Request: amount, purpose, use-of-proceeds schedule, intended tenor, and repayment source.
- Financial: balance sheet, income statement, recent trial balances, cash flow, revenue, and projection assumptions.
- Debt: lender, contract, balance, index, rate, installments, maturity, collateral, and any covenants.
- Supporting assets: commercial contracts, receivables book, invoices, evidence of performance, debtor information, and real collateral when applicable.
- Compliance: certificates, tax information, and material contingencies the lender requests.
Check that periods line up. If the income statement closes in December and cash flow in August, explain the gap. If two group companies appear in sales, identify which entity will borrow and which generates cash. If there is a material restriction or dispute, do not hide it: describe amount, status, and potential impact.
6. Compare offers by cash in and cash out
Ask each lender for a spreadsheet with net proceeds, rates, index, fees, taxes, collateral costs, installment calendar, early-repayment terms, and ongoing obligations. Regulatory all-in cost disclosures have specific application rules; for a mid-sized company, it is worth requesting an equivalent economic comparison of all cash flows, even when the institution is not required to present CET in the same format used for micro and small businesses.
One offer may have a lower nominal rate and require more collateral, front-loaded amortization, or fees at funding. Another may cost more in interest but give breathing room for a project that only generates cash later. Place both on the same timeline and calculate the implied rate on actual cash flows. Your accountant or financial advisor can help with that math.
7. Five mistakes that often delay or weaken a deal
- Asking for an amount before calculating the need: too much raises cost; too little creates another fundraising round.
- Chasing only the lowest rate: tenor, amortization, collateral, and covenants change the decision.
- Sending contradictory documents: unexplained gaps increase diligence.
- Offering pledged collateral: check liens and priorities before negotiating.
- Approaching every lender with the same thesis: product fit, ticket size, sector, and collateral vary.
8. Choose the product from the company’s financial cycle
Product names vary from bank to bank. A more reliable way to compare alternatives is to identify which asset or cash flow supports repayment. In a company that sells on credit, working-capital need grows when customer terms exceed supplier terms. In a manufacturer with new equipment, return comes from future production. In a company that won a large contract, there are mobilization costs before the first billings.
Recurring working capital versus a temporary peak
If the need returns every month, a one-off advance may relieve this week and reappear next month. Project the cash conversion cycle: inventory days, collection days, and supplier payment days. A commercial change, such as accepting orders from customers that pay in 120 days, can create a permanent financing need. Size the credit facility to that pattern while the company negotiates prices and terms that reflect the cost of capital.
If the peak is seasonal, a structure that rises before production and declines after collection may fit better. Show the lender the monthly series of sales, inventory, and collections for at least two comparable cycles when available. Instead of only saying “December is strong,” show when the company buys inputs, invoices, and collects.
Investment and expansion
Split the project budget into equipment, works, commissioning, initial inventory, and contingency. The same plan may need two sources: a longer-tenor facility for the asset and another for the incremental working capital created by growth. Financing only the machine and forgetting that operations must buy inputs before collecting from new customers is a common planning error.
Present a timeline with installation start, testing, production start, capacity ramp, and cash generation. The lender may disagree with the sales forecast, but it can underwrite an explicit hypothesis. Also include delay effects: if production starts three months later, can the company still meet the installments?
Receivables and contracts
Not all revenue is equally financeable as a receivable. A book of delivered and accepted sales is different from expected future orders. The buyer may have rights to returns, set-off, deductions, or disputes. That is why lenders ask for delivery evidence, acceptance, payment history, and assignment rules. In deals with few customers, concentration also matters: losing one key debtor can impair a large share of the book.
Before seeking an FIDC or an advance structure, reconcile the ERP receivables book with invoices, contracts, evidence, and collection statements. Identify what has already been assigned or encumbered. Do not claim “R$10 million in receivables” if part is already pledged to a bank or subject to commercial disputes.
9. Three mid-market situations and a first analytical hypothesis
Case A: a manufacturer sells well but collects late
A manufacturer generates R$60 million in annual revenue and delivers to retail chains that pay in 75 days. It pays suppliers in 30 days, holds inventory for 40 days, and wants R$4 million to support new orders. The core problem is the gap between cash out and cash in. Analysis should quantify the monthly working-capital need, test margin after the cost of advancing receivables, and examine buyer quality. A receivables-based facility may fit, but the lender will need to validate delivery, documentation, concentration, and existing assignments.
Case B: a services firm needs to execute a contract
A services company won an R$18 million contract with milestone payments. It needs to hire staff and suppliers before the first billing. The pitch should show the contractual schedule, billing triggers, deduction risk, and available cash if the client pays late. A short-term line only fits if the first collection, with a safety margin, arrives before material amortization. Contract value alone does not prove repayment capacity.
Case C: legacy debt consumes expansion cash
A distributor has three loans maturing over the next 12 months and needs to finance a distribution center. Raising new money without modeling current installments can make things worse. The first job is to build a maturity map and compare rescheduling, refinancing, and separate financing for the new investment. The relevant outcome is cash available each month after all installments, not the isolated rate on the new offer.
These case figures are illustrative. They show how a well-framed question changes the product under review and the information package sent to lenders.
10. How to run a capital raise without losing process control
Week 1, diagnosis: consolidate the economic group and identify the borrowing entity. Define the need, likely product, repayment sources, existing debt, and free collateral. For a company with several subsidiaries, describe which units generate revenue and which can or cannot provide guarantees. That prevents a lender from underwriting an entity without the project’s cash flow.
Week 2, preparation: close a dated version of the financial package. Reconcile revenue, receivables, bank statements, cash balances, and the debt schedule. Log open questions instead of filling gaps with unsupported estimates. Prepare a short presentation covering the business, opportunity, ask, and material risks.
Following weeks, outreach and diligence: select lenders whose size, sector, ticket, and product fit the case. Track who received each document, on which date, and under which company authorization. Keep a Q&A log and answer once from the same source so different versions do not circulate. Real timing varies with complexity, collateral, and lender-team bandwidth.
Negotiation: gather offers into one table. Confirm conditions precedent to funding: certificates, collateral registration, corporate approvals, signatures, and receivable documentation. An approved offer can still miss the desired funding date if those conditions are discovered late.
11. The cost of a facility includes more than interest
A simplified example shows why the advertised rate is not enough. The company requests R$5 million. One offer funds R$4.85 million after upfront costs and charges monthly installments. Another funds R$5 million but requires extra collateral and banking concentration. Even if the first quotes a lower interest rate, comparison depends on cash actually received, every future outflow, and the value of keeping collateral free for other needs.
Ask for the full schedule with dates and amounts. Add origination fees, appraisal and collateral registration, insurance when required, applicable taxes, and guarantee costs. On indexed contracts, test different index paths without presenting any path as certainty. Evaluate extraordinary amortization options and any early-repayment penalty or cost.
There is also operating cost: producing monthly reports, maintaining contractual financial ratios, reserving receivables, or limiting new debt. Those obligations may be reasonable, but they must fit the company’s routine and strategy. A facility that requires information unavailable every month can create avoidable default.
Ask three people to review the same offer: finance models the cash flows; legal reviews collateral and obligations; operations validates whether the sales, delivery, and collection assumptions are executable. The final decision should combine all three readings.
12. Questions worth asking before you sign
- What net amount will hit the account, and on which date?
- What is the full calendar of interest, amortization, and additional costs?
- Which events can accelerate maturity or change terms?
- Which asset or receivable will be pledged, for how long, and in what priority?
- Can you prepay? How is cost recalculated?
- What happens if a customer delays, disputes, or sets off an assigned receivable?
- What information must the company deliver during the contract?
- Who is liable under personal guarantees, and which corporate approvals are required?
- Which conditions remain between approval and funding?
- Will the lender accept a smaller or staged structure if the project ramps gradually?
Keep the answers in the final document package. A verbal negotiation does not replace the contract. If a clause changes the economics, rerun the comparison before signing.
A 30-minute checklist to start today
Write one page with the desired amount, use of proceeds, the month each disbursement will be used, expected cash generation, and debts already maturing in that period. List free assets and receivables. Finally, separate three questions for any offer: how much comes in net, how much goes out each month, and what happens if I need to repay early?
If the answer still depends on spreadsheets, contracts, and data scattered across several people, organize that material before shopping quotes. Presentation quality does not replace lender underwriting, but it reduces back-and-forth and lets you compare real alternatives.
Explore ALOS and find a path for your capital
ALOS helps mid-sized companies monitor their debt, identify opportunities to improve cost and tenor, and prepare for new capital needs. When there is a live transaction, we organize financial information and documents, assess fit with suitable lenders, and support the application. Each lender decides its own policy, pricing, and approval.
If your company is seeking a facility between R$1 million and R$50 million, share the amount, purpose, and desired timing. Our first conversation identifies missing information and whether there is a suitable underwriting path.
Explore our solutions Talk to ALOSDo not send balance sheets or sensitive documents in the first message. We will agree on an appropriate channel for information exchange.Sources and criteria
Product and collateral information reviewed on 09/30/2026. Rules, costs, and eligibility must be confirmed with the responsible institution. Company cases and figures in this guide are illustrative.
- BNDES: Crédito Pequenas e Médias Empresas, conditions and the role of financial agents.
- BNDES: FGI, informações a empresas, eligibility, costs, and counter-guarantees.
- CVM: Resolução 175, Anexo Normativo II, the regulatory framework for FIDCs.
- Banco Central: Resolução CMN 4.881, scope of the obligation to disclose CET.