Quick answer
Lenders usually don't count large one-off deposits, such as grants, insurance payouts, asset sales, ATO refunds, loans or your own savings, as turnover for a cash flow or unsecured loan. They strip them out and size the loan on regular trading income. One-offs aren't a problem in themselves, but an unexplained one raises questions, so label each with a short note and supporting paperwork.
Key points
- Cash flow lenders size loans on regular trading, so one-off deposits are usually set aside.
- Unexplained large deposits slow an application more than the deposit itself ever would.
- A one-line note plus the paperwork (grant letter, sale contract, insurer's notice) settles most questions.
- Some one-offs, like a big contract payment, can count if they reflect real trading.
- Money parked from a one-off can still help, because it shows up as a healthier buffer.
Usually not. For a cash flow or unsecured loan, lenders set aside large one-off deposits such as grants, insurance payouts, asset sales, ATO refunds, loans and your own savings, and size the loan on regular trading income. A one-off isn’t a problem in itself. An unexplained one is, so label each with a sentence and the paperwork behind it.
Lenders reading your statements are looking for a pattern: what comes in week after week, and what goes out. A sudden $80k deposit breaks the pattern, and the first question anyone asks is “what was that?”. Answer it before they ask and the deposit becomes a footnote. Leave it unexplained and it can hold up the whole application.
Why do one-off deposits matter to a lender?
A cash flow loan is repaid from regular income. If a lender counted a one-off as turnover, the business would look bigger than it is, the loan would be sized too large, and repayments would strain the account once that money was gone. So lenders separate what repeats from what doesn’t.
There’s a second reason. Large unexplained credits can be anything: a loan from another lender, a related business propping this one up, money moved in to make the statements look better. Most are perfectly innocent. But until the lender knows which, they can’t rely on the statements, and they have to stop and ask.
Which one-off deposits do lenders usually exclude?
Here’s how the common one-offs are usually treated when sizing an unsecured or cash flow loan. Individual lenders vary, so use this as the general shape.
| Deposit | Counted as turnover? | What to provide |
|---|---|---|
| Government grant | Usually no | Grant letter or agreement, and what it’s for |
| Insurance payout | Usually no | Insurer’s settlement notice and the claim it relates to |
| Sale of a vehicle or equipment | No | Sale contract or invoice |
| ATO refund (GST or income tax) | No | Notice of assessment or BAS showing the refund |
| Loan from another lender | No, and it’s a new commitment | Loan contract and repayment schedule |
| Loan from family or a director | No | A short note, and whether and how it’s being repaid |
| Owner’s savings or capital | No | A short note on where it came from |
| Unusually large customer payment | Often yes, possibly smoothed | Invoice and a note on whether similar work repeats |
The ATO’s page on what income to exclude lists money you’ve borrowed and money you contribute as the owner among the amounts a business doesn’t count as assessable income. Lenders take a similar view when they work out trading turnover, even though their purpose is different.
What about grants and insurance money?
These two cause the most confusion, because they can be large and they often arrive when a business is under pressure.
Grants. For tax, the ATO’s small business newsroom says grants are generally treated as assessable income, with some exceptions for non-assessable non-exempt payments. For a loan, the question is different: will it happen again? Usually not, so it’s set aside from turnover. If your business receives regular government funding as part of its trading, that’s another matter; our guide on government-funded revenue and business loans covers it.
Insurance payouts. An insurance settlement replaces something you lost: stock, equipment or income during a shutdown. Lenders treat it as a one-off and may also look at the dip in trading around the claim. Include the insurer’s notice and a one-line explanation of what happened, so the drop and the payout make sense together.
Can a one-off deposit ever help your application?
Yes, in two ways.
First, the balance it leaves behind. If you sold an old ute and the money is still sitting in the business account, your end-of-day balances look healthier. Lenders like a buffer, and an explained one is a genuine plus.
Second, the context it gives. A large customer payment for a one-off project can show what the business is capable of, even if a lender doesn’t treat it as typical. A grant for a specific expansion can show the business is backed for growth. Explained properly, a one-off often reads as a sign of a business that’s going somewhere.
Have a big credit on your statements and wondering how it’ll read? Ask us in a 60-second enquiry. A real person will tell you what to include before anything is sent to a lender.
How should you explain a one-off deposit?
Keep it short and factual. A lender doesn’t need a story, just enough to file the deposit in the right place. For each one, give the date, the amount, what it was and the document that proves it.
A few examples of the kind of note that works:
- “12 March, $18k: sale of 2016 work ute. Sale invoice attached.”
- “2 June, $25k: state small business grant for new equipment. Grant letter attached; equipment bought 20 June.”
- “15 August, $40k: loan from my father, interest-free, repaid when able. Short letter from him attached.”
- “1 September, $60k: final payment on a commercial fit-out contract, larger than our usual jobs. Invoice attached.”
The ATO’s guidance on banking records lists the kinds of records that support what’s in your account, from deposit details to loan agreements. Keeping those to hand makes the explanation easy.
Does the type of loan change how one-offs are treated?
Somewhat. For an unsecured business loan, where the amount rests almost entirely on your statements, one-offs are stripped out carefully and the regular pattern carries the decision. For a low doc business loan, where bank statements may stand in for full financials, the same applies, and a clear note matters even more because there’s less other paperwork to explain the numbers.
Property-secured lending is less sensitive to one-offs, because the property carries more of the decision. Even so, a lender will still ask about large credits, especially anything that looks like borrowing from somewhere else.
Timing also matters. A one-off that landed ten months ago and sits quietly in the middle of a year of steady trading draws little attention. One that arrived last week, right before you applied, draws a lot. If a big deposit is recent, explain it in your very first message rather than waiting for the lender to spot it.
What shouldn’t you do?
A few habits make one-offs harder to deal with:
- Don’t move money in just before applying to lift the balance. Lenders spot short-term deposits that leave again soon after.
- Don’t shuffle the money out to hide it. A large credit followed by a large debit to an account the lender can’t see raises two questions instead of one.
- Don’t include it in your turnover figure. Our guide on what turnover to put on a loan form explains why.
- Don’t wait to be asked. The note takes two minutes; the back-and-forth takes days.
A worked example
Illustrative. A small printing business applies for $45k unsecured to cover a large job’s paper stock and extra shifts. Its last nine months of statements show steady deposits of around $60k a month, plus three unusual credits: a $30k insurance payout after a machine breakdown, a $12k sale of a superseded press, and a $20k transfer from the owner’s personal savings during the breakdown.
Without explanation, the lender’s software flags all three, and the application goes into a queue for manual review. With a three-line note and the insurer’s letter, the sale invoice and a brief owner statement attached, the lender excludes all three from turnover, sees the dip in deposits during the breakdown month and the recovery since, and assesses the loan on the regular $60k a month. The owner’s savings, now partly still in the account, read as a buffer rather than a mystery.
One-offs explained? Let’s see where that leaves you
Unusual deposits are part of running a real business, and they rarely stand in the way once they’re explained. We’d much rather hear about them up front than discover them later. Unsecured and cash-flow options typically run from $5k to $500k, sized on your regular trading income.
Expect to spend about a minute on the enquiry, with no credit check when you first enquire. Your information isn’t shopped around to every lender on the market. A person on our team looks over what you send, one-offs and all, and gives you a call to talk through options. Please be accurate about your regular turnover and mention any large one-off deposits, so we can match the right option first time.
Frequently asked questions
Will a lender count a government grant as income?
Usually not for sizing a cash flow loan, because it isn't repeat trading income. That's separate from tax: the ATO says grants are generally assessable income, though some are non-assessable non-exempt. For the loan, explain what the grant was for and include the letter.
I sold a vehicle and the money went into the business account. Does that hurt?
No, but it won't count as turnover. Label it as an asset sale and include the sale paperwork. If the money is still sitting in the account, it may help by showing a stronger balance, but lenders won't treat it as ongoing income.
What about a large payment from a customer?
That often does count, because it's genuine trading income. If it's unusually large, explain what the job was and whether similar work is likely to repeat. A lender may smooth it across the year rather than treating it as typical.
Why does a lender care where my own savings came from?
Mostly to separate it from trading income, and partly as standard checks on where funds come from. A brief note, such as 'owner contribution from personal savings', is usually all that's needed.
Should I move a one-off deposit out of the business account before applying?
No. Moving money around before applying makes statements harder to read and can look like you're dressing them up. Leave it where it is and explain it.