Funding & Finances
The money side of a small business: how to fund it, SBA-backed loans, building business credit, business bank accounts and cards, the truth about grants, bookkeeping and cash-flow basics, accepting payments, and how to actually pay yourself. Most business loans require a personal guarantee, so an LLC alone won’t shield you — and loan terms and figures vary by lender, so confirm the specifics.
All Funding & Finances guides
- SBA Loans Explained: 7(a), 504, and Microloans
An SBA loan is a bank loan the government partially guarantees, not a grant. How 7(a), 504, and microloans differ, and how to apply.
- How to Build Business Credit
How to build business credit separate from your own: entity, EIN, bank account, D-U-N-S, trade lines — and why lenders still check you first.
- SBA Disaster Loans and Help After a Disaster
SBA disaster loans are the rare case where the SBA lends directly. What's covered, how to apply, and deadlines to watch.
- Accepting Payments and Choosing a Payment Processor
How small businesses get paid: cash, ACH, cards, and online checkout, plus PCI security, chargebacks, reserves, and sales tax duties.
- Business Bank Accounts and Business Credit Cards
Why a dedicated business bank account and card matter for liability, taxes, and bookkeeping, and what a bank will ask you for when you open one.
- Bookkeeping Basics for a New Business
Plain-English bookkeeping for new business owners: separate accounts, track every dollar, save receipts, and reconcile monthly.
- Small Business Grants: What Is Real and What Is a Scam
Most small businesses don't get free government grants. Learn where real grant money exists and how to spot a grant scam.
- Merchant Cash Advances and Predatory Business Lending
Merchant cash advances are structured as receivables purchases, not loans - which is how they sit outside usury caps and truth-in-lending disclosure. Here is what that means for your business.
- How to Pay Yourself From Your Business
How business owners actually take money out — owner's draw, guaranteed payments, S-corp salary, or dividends — and what taxes each triggers.
- Equipment Financing and Leasing for Small Business
Loan vs. lease for business equipment: what lenders want, why a lease's substance (not its label) decides your taxes.
- How to Fund a Small Business: Your Options
A plain-English map of small business funding: savings, loans, SBA Lender Match, credit lines, investors, and grants - and what a personal guarantee means.
- Crowdfunding Your Business: The Legal Rules
Rewards, donation, and investment crowdfunding are legally different. What's taxable, what needs a charity registration, and what's a securities offering.
- Business Budgeting and Managing Cash Flow
Why profitable businesses still run out of cash, how to budget, time receivables and payables, and set aside money for taxes and emergencies.