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Overview

Business loan underwriting is the process lenders use to evaluate a borrower’s creditworthiness and ability to repay a loan. This assessment requires comprehensive financial data including income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and various financial ratios. By integrating with accounting platforms through Alloy Automation, lenders can automate the collection of this critical financial information, reducing manual data entry, accelerating approval timelines, and making more informed lending decisions.

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Components of Underwriting Data

  • Financial Statements which provide a complete picture of business health. The three core statements are the Balance Sheet (assets, liabilities, and equity at a point in time), Income Statement or Profit & Loss (revenue and expenses over a period), and Cash Flow Statement (cash movements from operating, investing, and financing activities).
  • Accounts Receivable and Payable Aging Reports to assess liquidity and payment patterns. AR aging shows how quickly customers pay invoices, while AP aging reveals how the business manages vendor payments. Both provide insight into cash flow management and working capital health.
  • Historical Financial Data spanning multiple periods, typically 12-24 months, to identify trends in revenue, profitability, and cash flow. Year-over-year and month-over-month comparisons help underwriters assess business stability and growth trajectory.
  • Key Financial Ratios calculated from the raw financial data, including debt-to-income ratio, debt-to-equity ratio, operating cash flow ratio, and various profitability metrics. These ratios help underwriters quickly evaluate risk and creditworthiness.

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Business Loan Underwriting vs. Other Financial Workflows

Different financial workflows serve distinct purposes:
  • Underwriting Integrations focus on reading comprehensive financial data to assess creditworthiness and repayment capacity. These are typically read-only operations that extract balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, and aging reports for risk analysis.
  • Accounting Automation like invoice syncing or expense management involves bidirectional data flow, creating and updating transactions, invoices, and bills in real-time to keep books synchronized between platforms.
  • Financial Reconciliation uses Journal Entries to balance books and correct discrepancies, focusing on debits, credits, and general ledger accounts rather than comprehensive financial statement analysis.
Underwriting integrations are primarily read-focused because the goal is data extraction for analysis rather than transaction management. This typically means simpler workflows without needing to manage complex entity relationships like customers, items, or inventory. However, some lenders may optionally write back loan records or disbursement transactions to the borrower’s accounting system after approval.

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Building Your First Integration

Select the appropriate drop-down below based on which Alloy Automation product you’ll be building with.

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1. Choose Accounting Platforms to Integrate

Popular accounting and ERP platforms for business loan underwriting include QuickBooks, Xero, Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, and Microsoft Dynamics Business Central. Each platform provides APIs to access financial statements, reports, and transaction data needed for comprehensive underwriting analysis.You can build dedicated underwriting integrations or add underwriting capabilities to existing accounting integrations. Consider which platforms your target borrowers use most frequently.

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2. Capture Configuration During Installation

During installation, you may want to capture preferences that streamline ongoing data retrieval:
  • Date Range Preferences - How many months of historical data to pull (typically 12-24 months)
  • Report Formats - Which specific financial reports the lender prefers
  • Update Frequency - For ongoing monitoring, how often to refresh financial data
  • Approval Thresholds - If implementing automated decisioning, what metrics trigger approvals
Creating on-install workflows to set these preferences ensures consistent data collection and reduces configuration overhead for each underwriting request.

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3. Trigger Underwriting Data Pulls from Your Platform

New loan applications can trigger underwriting workflows via Custom Events. We recommend using Alloy Custom Events to initiate real-time financial data pulls when borrowers submit applications or when periodic monitoring is required.Below is an example Custom Event triggering an underwriting workflow:
{
  "event": "New Loan Application",
  "userId": "6877f0a8d3a743bca19fbbf9",
  "data": {
    "applicationId": "APP-2025-00142",
    "applicantName": "Acme Manufacturing LLC",
    "applicantEmail": "finance@acmemanufacturing.com",
    "loanAmount": 250000,
    "loanPurpose": "equipment_purchase",
    "requestedTerm": 60,
    "submittedAt": "2025-10-21T14:30:00Z",
    "historicalMonths": 12
  }
}
For ongoing monitoring of existing borrowers, you can use a recurring Custom Event:
{
  "event": "Quarterly Financial Review",
  "userId": "6877f0a8d3a743bca19fbbf9",
  "data": {
    "loanId": "LOAN-2024-00089",
    "borrowerName": "Acme Manufacturing LLC",
    "reviewType": "quarterly_monitoring",
    "lastReviewDate": "2025-07-21T00:00:00Z",
    "reviewDate": "2025-10-21T00:00:00Z"
  }
}
Custom Event Schemas are flexible and you can structure them to match your business needs. Some key data points to consider include the application or loan identifier, borrower information, and any date range parameters for historical data retrieval.

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4. Build Workflows to Extract Financial Data

Create workflows that respond to your Custom Events and extract the necessary financial data from the borrower’s accounting system. The core workflow pattern includes:
  1. Receiving the Custom Event with application details
  2. Retrieving financial statements (Balance Sheet, P&L, Cash Flow Statement)
  3. Pulling AR and AP aging reports for liquidity analysis
  4. Optionally retrieving transaction-level data or bank statements
  5. Sending the compiled financial data back to your platform via HTTP request
  • Trigger: Custom Event “New Loan Application”
  • Action: QuickBooks - Get Balance Sheet
    • Start Date: Calculate based on event.data.historicalMonths (12 months ago)
    • End Date: Current date
    • Accounting Method: Accrual or Cash (based on your requirements)
  • Action: QuickBooks - Get Profit and Loss
    • Start Date: 12 months ago
    • End Date: Current date
    • Accounting Method: Accrual or Cash
  • Action: QuickBooks - Get Cash Flow Statement
    • Start Date: 12 months ago
    • End Date: Current date
  • Action: QuickBooks - Get AR Aging Report
  • Action: QuickBooks - Get AP Aging Report
  • Action: HTTP Request to your platform API
  • Trigger: Custom Event “New Loan Application”
  • Action: Xero - Get Balance Sheet
    • Date: Current date
    • Periods: 12 (for 12 months of data)
  • Action: Xero - Get Profit and Loss
    • From Date: 12 months ago
    • To Date: Current date
  • Action: Xero - Get Report (AR Aging)
    • Report ID: AgedReceivablesByContact
  • Action: Xero - Get Report (AP Aging)
    • Report ID: AgedPayablesByContact
  • Action: HTTP Request to your platform API
    • Send compiled financial data

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5. Implement Ongoing Monitoring Workflows (Optional)

For existing borrowers, you may want to periodically refresh financial data to monitor business health and identify when borrowers qualify for additional credit or when risk levels change.Create scheduled workflows that run monthly or quarterly:
  • Trigger: Scheduler (runs on 1st of each month)
  • Action: Get list of active loans requiring monitoring from your platform API
  • Action: Loop through each borrower
    • Pull updated financial statements
    • Calculate key ratios
    • Compare against thresholds
    • Flag accounts for review or notify borrowers of new opportunities
  • Action: HTTP Request to send monitoring results back to your platform
Alternatively, you can trigger monitoring reviews via Custom Events on specific dates or after certain business events.

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6. Understanding Financial Data Response Formats

When you pull financial statements from accounting systems, each platform returns data in different formats. Understanding these structures helps you parse and compile the data effectively before sending it to your platform.
The following examples are simplified representations based on typical API responses. Actual responses from these platforms will contain additional fields, metadata, and may vary based on your specific account configuration and API version. Always refer to the official API documentation for complete response schemas.
QuickBooks Balance Sheet Response Example
{
  "Header": {
    "Time": "2025-10-21T10:30:00-07:00",
    "ReportName": "BalanceSheet",
    "DateMacro": "This Fiscal Year-to-date",
    "StartPeriod": "2025-01-01",
    "EndPeriod": "2025-10-21"
  },
  "Columns": {
    "Column": [
      {
        "ColTitle": "Total",
        "ColType": "Money"
      }
    ]
  },
  "Rows": {
    "Row": [
      {
        "Header": {
          "ColData": [{"value": "ASSETS"}]
        },
        "Rows": {
          "Row": [
            {
              "Header": {
                "ColData": [{"value": "Current Assets"}]
              },
              "Rows": {
                "Row": [
                  {
                    "ColData": [
                      {"value": "Cash"},
                      {"value": "125000.00", "id": "35"}
                    ],
                    "type": "Data"
                  },
                  {
                    "ColData": [
                      {"value": "Accounts Receivable"},
                      {"value": "48500.00", "id": "84"}
                    ],
                    "type": "Data"
                  }
                ]
              },
              "Summary": {
                "ColData": [
                  {"value": "Total Current Assets"},
                  {"value": "173500.00"}
                ]
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}
Xero Balance Sheet Response Example
{
  "Reports": [
    {
      "ReportID": "BalanceSheet",
      "ReportName": "Balance Sheet",
      "ReportDate": "21 October 2025",
      "UpdatedDateUTC": "2025-10-21T17:30:00Z",
      "Rows": [
        {
          "RowType": "Header",
          "Cells": [
            {"Value": ""},
            {"Value": "21 Oct 2025"},
            {"Value": "21 Oct 2024"}
          ]
        },
        {
          "RowType": "Section",
          "Title": "Assets",
          "Rows": [
            {
              "RowType": "Row",
              "Cells": [
                {"Value": "Current Assets"},
                {"Value": ""},
                {"Value": ""}
              ]
            },
            {
              "RowType": "Row",
              "Cells": [
                {"Value": "Cash and Cash Equivalents"},
                {"Value": "125000.00"},
                {"Value": "98000.00"}
              ]
            },
            {
              "RowType": "Row",
              "Cells": [
                {"Value": "Accounts Receivable"},
                {"Value": "48500.00"},
                {"Value": "42000.00"}
              ]
            },
            {
              "RowType": "SummaryRow",
              "Cells": [
                {"Value": "Total Current Assets"},
                {"Value": "173500.00"},
                {"Value": "140000.00"}
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
QuickBooks Profit and Loss Response Example
{
  "Header": {
    "Time": "2025-10-21T10:30:00-07:00",
    "ReportName": "ProfitAndLoss",
    "StartPeriod": "2024-10-01",
    "EndPeriod": "2025-10-21"
  },
  "Rows": {
    "Row": [
      {
        "Header": {
          "ColData": [{"value": "REVENUE"}]
        },
        "Rows": {
          "Row": [
            {
              "ColData": [
                {"value": "Sales"},
                {"value": "850000.00", "id": "79"}
              ],
              "type": "Data"
            }
          ]
        },
        "Summary": {
          "ColData": [
            {"value": "Total Revenue"},
            {"value": "850000.00"}
          ]
        }
      },
      {
        "Header": {
          "ColData": [{"value": "EXPENSES"}]
        },
        "Rows": {
          "Row": [
            {
              "ColData": [
                {"value": "Cost of Goods Sold"},
                {"value": "425000.00", "id": "80"}
              ],
              "type": "Data"
            },
            {
              "ColData": [
                {"value": "Operating Expenses"},
                {"value": "225000.00", "id": "81"}
              ],
              "type": "Data"
            }
          ]
        },
        "Summary": {
          "ColData": [
            {"value": "Total Expenses"},
            {"value": "650000.00"}
          ]
        }
      },
      {
        "Summary": {
          "ColData": [
            {"value": "NET INCOME"},
            {"value": "200000.00"}
          ]
        },
        "type": "Section",
        "group": "NetIncome"
      }
    ]
  }
}
NetSuite Financial Data Retrieval Example (via SuiteQL)Unlike QuickBooks and Xero, NetSuite does not provide direct REST API endpoints for complete financial statement reports. Instead, you must use SuiteQL queries to retrieve account balances and construct financial statements from transaction-level data.Example SuiteQL query for account balances by period:
{
  "q": "SELECT Account.AcctNumber, Account.FullName, Account.AcctType, AccountBalance.balance, AccountBalance.subsidiary, AccountBalance.postingperiod FROM Account JOIN AccountBalance ON Account.id = AccountBalance.account WHERE AccountBalance.postingperiod = '123'"
}
Response format:
{
  "links": [],
  "count": 5,
  "hasMore": false,
  "items": [
    {
      "acctnumber": "1000",
      "fullname": "Cash - Operating",
      "accttype": "Bank",
      "balance": "125000.00",
      "subsidiary": "1",
      "postingperiod": "123"
    },
    {
      "acctnumber": "1200",
      "fullname": "Accounts Receivable",
      "accttype": "Accounts Receivable",
      "balance": "48500.00",
      "subsidiary": "1",
      "postingperiod": "123"
    }
  ]
}
For more complex financial statements like P&L, you’ll need to query TransactionAccountingLine and join with Transaction, Account, and AccountingPeriod tables. Alternatively, NetSuite’s SOAP API provides the getPostingTransactionSummary endpoint for aggregated balance data.
QuickBooks AR Aging Report Example
{
  "Header": {
    "Time": "2025-10-21T10:30:00-07:00",
    "ReportName": "AgedReceivables",
    "ReportBasis": "Accrual"
  },
  "Rows": {
    "Row": [
      {
        "Header": {
          "ColData": [{"value": "Customer Name"}]
        },
        "Rows": {
          "Row": [
            {
              "ColData": [
                {"value": "Acme Corp", "id": "123"},
                {"value": "5000.00"},
                {"value": "3000.00"},
                {"value": "1500.00"},
                {"value": "500.00"},
                {"value": "0.00"},
                {"value": "10000.00"}
              ],
              "type": "Data"
            },
            {
              "ColData": [
                {"value": "Beta Industries", "id": "124"},
                {"value": "8500.00"},
                {"value": "0.00"},
                {"value": "0.00"},
                {"value": "0.00"},
                {"value": "0.00"},
                {"value": "8500.00"}
              ],
              "type": "Data"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "Columns": {
    "Column": [
      {"ColTitle": "Current", "ColType": "Money"},
      {"ColTitle": "1-30", "ColType": "Money"},
      {"ColTitle": "31-60", "ColType": "Money"},
      {"ColTitle": "61-90", "ColType": "Money"},
      {"ColTitle": "91 and over", "ColType": "Money"},
      {"ColTitle": "Total", "ColType": "Money"}
    ]
  }
}
Key Parsing Considerations:
  • QuickBooks uses nested Row structures with Header, Rows, and Summary sections. You’ll need to recursively parse the hierarchy to extract account values.
  • Xero provides a flatter structure with RowType indicators (“Header”, “Row”, “Section”, “SummaryRow”) and comparative periods in parallel columns.
  • NetSuite returns more structured JSON with clear account objects including account IDs, types, and separate debit/credit amounts.
  • Sage Intacct returns XML by default (can request JSON) with dimension tracking embedded in account details.
  • Business Central returns data in OData format with navigation properties linking related entities.
Best Practice: Create a standardized internal format for financial data and build transformation functions for each platform’s response structure. This allows your underwriting engine to process data consistently regardless of the source accounting system.

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7. Deploy the Integration

Once your integration is built and tested, deploy it to your customers. Alloy Automation provides multiple deployment methods detailed in our documentation.

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Video Walkthrough Library (Coming Soon)

We’ve created video walkthroughs for the most common and complex integration scenarios. Choose a walkthrough below to build alongside our experts. We regularly add new videos, so check back for updates!

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Calculate Key Underwriting Metrics (In Your Platform)

After extracting financial data via Alloy workflows, your platform should calculate the critical underwriting metrics: Liquidity Metrics:
  • Operating Cash Flow Ratio = Operating Cash Flow / Current Liabilities (target: ≥1.25)
  • Current Ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities (target: ≥1.0)
  • Quick Ratio = (Current Assets - Inventory) / Current Liabilities
Leverage Metrics:
  • Debt-to-Equity Ratio = Total Debt / Total Equity (target: ≤2.0)
  • Debt-to-Income Ratio = Monthly Debt Payments / Monthly Income (target: ≤35%)
  • Interest Coverage Ratio = EBIT / Interest Expense
Profitability Metrics:
  • Gross Profit Margin = (Revenue - COGS) / Revenue
  • Net Profit Margin = Net Income / Revenue
  • Return on Assets (ROA) = Net Income / Total Assets
These calculations inform the Five C’s of credit: Character (credit history), Capacity (ability to repay), Capital (net worth and equity), Collateral (assets for security), and Conditions (loan purpose and market factors).

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Optional: Write Loan Data Back to Accounting System

While underwriting is primarily a read operation, some lenders choose to write loan information back to the borrower’s accounting system after approval: Use cases for write-back:
  • Create a loan or liability account representing the approved loan
  • Record the loan disbursement transaction when funds are distributed
  • Track ongoing loan payments and interest expense
  • Maintain accurate financial records in the borrower’s books
If your customers need this functionality, build additional workflows that:
  • Trigger on loan approval or disbursement events
  • Create appropriate accounts in the Chart of Accounts if needed
  • Post journal entries or transactions reflecting the loan activity

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Connector-Specific Walkthroughs

QuickBooks is the most widely used small business accounting software, making it essential for business loan underwriting integrations.Key Actions for UnderwritingGet Balance Sheet:
  • Start Date - Beginning of reporting period
  • End Date - End of reporting period
  • Accounting Method - “Accrual” or “Cash” basis
  • Summarize Column By - Time period grouping (e.g., “Month”, “Quarter”)
Get Profit and Loss:
  • Start Date - Beginning of reporting period
  • End Date - End of reporting period
  • Accounting Method - “Accrual” or “Cash” basis
  • Summarize Column By - Time period grouping
Get Cash Flow Statement:
  • Start Date - Beginning of reporting period
  • End Date - End of reporting period
  • Accounting Method - “Accrual” or “Cash” basis
Get AR Aging Report:
  • Returns aged receivables by customer
  • Shows outstanding invoice amounts by age buckets (Current, 1-30 days, 31-60 days, etc.)
Get AP Aging Report:
  • Returns aged payables by vendor
  • Shows outstanding bill amounts by age buckets
Best Practices:
  • Request 12-24 months of historical data by setting appropriate start dates
  • Use accrual basis for most underwriting scenarios as it provides a more accurate picture of financial health
  • Pull multiple period summaries (monthly or quarterly) to identify trends
  • QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop have different API capabilities - ensure you’re using the correct connector
  • Rate limits apply - batch requests appropriately for multiple borrowers
Xero is popular with small to medium businesses globally and offers robust reporting APIs for financial data extraction.Key Actions for UnderwritingGet Balance Sheet:
  • Date - Report date (typically current date)
  • Periods - Number of historical periods to include (e.g., 12 for monthly data)
  • Time Frame - Period type (“MONTH”, “QUARTER”, “YEAR”)
Get Profit and Loss:
  • From Date - Start of reporting period
  • To Date - End of reporting period
  • Periods - Number of periods for comparison
  • Time Frame - Period type
Get Report:
  • Report ID - Specific report identifier
    • “AgedReceivablesByContact” for AR aging
    • “AgedPayablesByContact” for AP aging
    • “BalanceSheet” for balance sheet
    • “ProfitAndLoss” for P&L
    • “CashSummary” for cash flow summary
Get Bank Statements:
  • Optionally retrieve bank transaction data for additional cash flow analysis
Best Practices:
  • Xero’s “Periods” parameter makes it easy to retrieve comparative historical data
  • Use the generic “Get Report” action for accessing specialized reports
  • Xero returns data in structured formats that are easy to parse
  • Consider pulling the Trial Balance for detailed account-level information
  • Xero has good multi-currency support if dealing with international borrowers
NetSuite is a comprehensive cloud ERP used by mid-market and enterprise businesses, offering detailed financial reporting capabilities.Key Actions for UnderwritingGet Financial Statement:
  • Statement Type - “balance_sheet”, “income_statement”, “cash_flow”
  • Start Date - Beginning of reporting period
  • End Date - End of reporting period
  • Accounting Book - Specify which accounting book to use (for multi-book setups)
  • Subsidiary - For multi-entity organizations, specify which entity
Search Records:
  • Use saved searches to retrieve custom financial reports
  • Can be configured to return AR aging, AP aging, or other analytical reports
Get Consolidated Exchange Rate:
  • For businesses with multi-currency operations
Best Practices:
  • NetSuite’s flexibility means financial data structures vary significantly by implementation
  • Work with borrowers to identify which saved searches or custom reports contain the needed data
  • NetSuite implementations often have multiple subsidiaries - ensure you’re pulling data from the correct entity
  • Consider using NetSuite’s “Accounting Book” feature to access the appropriate set of books
  • NetSuite rate limits are token-based - monitor consumption for high-volume underwriting
Sage Intacct is a cloud financial management platform popular with growing businesses and known for strong reporting capabilities.Key Actions for UnderwritingGet Balance Sheet:
  • Report Date - End date for the report
  • Report Periods - Number of comparison periods
  • Report Period Type - “Month”, “Quarter”, “Year”
Get Income Statement:
  • Start Date - Beginning of reporting period
  • End Date - End of reporting period
  • Report Periods - Number of comparison periods
Get Cash Flow Statement:
  • Start Date - Beginning of reporting period
  • End Date - End of reporting period
Run Report:
  • Report Name - Saved report name for custom financial reports
  • Can be used to retrieve AR aging, AP aging, or other specialized reports
Best Practices:
  • Sage Intacct has powerful dimension and location tracking - specify appropriate dimensions if needed
  • Many Intacct customers have custom reports configured - leverage these via “Run Report” action
  • Intacct supports multiple entities and currencies well for complex organizations
  • Consider pulling data at both consolidated and entity level depending on underwriting needs
  • Intacct’s APIs are well-documented and consistent
Business Central is Microsoft’s cloud ERP solution for small to medium businesses, offering comprehensive financial management.Key Actions for UnderwritingGet Balance Sheet:
  • Date Filter - Reporting date or date range
  • Account Type Filter - Filter by account types if needed
  • Date Formula - For relative date calculations (e.g., “-12M” for 12 months ago)
Get Income Statement:
  • Date Filter - Reporting period
  • Account Schedule Name - Specify which income statement format to use
Get Trial Balance:
  • Detailed account-level balances that can be used to construct financial statements
  • Date Filter - Reporting date
  • G/L Account Filter - Filter by specific accounts if needed
Get Customer Ledger Entries:
  • For AR aging analysis
  • Date Filter - Filter by posting date
  • Customer No. - Optionally filter by specific customers
Get Vendor Ledger Entries:
  • For AP aging analysis
  • Date Filter - Filter by posting date
  • Vendor No. - Optionally filter by specific vendors
Best Practices:
  • Business Central has flexible “Account Schedules” that define financial statement layouts - work with borrowers to identify which schedules to use
  • Use the Trial Balance as a comprehensive data source that can be transformed into various reports
  • Business Central’s date filter syntax is powerful - use relative dates for consistency
  • Consider pulling both summary financial statements and detailed ledger entries for complete analysis
  • Business Central often has multi-company setups - ensure you’re accessing the correct company

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Common Patterns and Use Cases

Instant Application Decisioning
When a borrower submits a loan application, immediately pull their financial data, calculate key ratios, and provide instant pre-qualification or denial based on your underwriting criteria. Store the complete financial snapshot for underwriter review. Portfolio Risk Monitoring
For existing loan portfolios, run monthly or quarterly financial data refreshes to monitor borrower health. Flag accounts showing declining cash flow, increasing debt ratios, or other warning signs for proactive account management. Pre-Qualification Marketing
Periodically pull financial data for existing customers or prospects to identify those who now qualify for loans or increased credit limits. Trigger automated marketing campaigns offering pre-approved loan amounts. Seasonal Business Assessment
For businesses with seasonal revenue patterns, pull multi-year historical data to understand seasonal trends. Adjust underwriting models to account for predictable fluctuations in cash flow and revenue. Multi-Entity Consolidation
For borrowers with multiple business entities or subsidiaries, pull financial data from each entity and consolidate for complete financial picture. Assess both individual entity health and consolidated group performance. Trend Analysis and Benchmarking
Extract 24+ months of financial data to identify growth trends, margin improvements, or deteriorating metrics. Compare borrower metrics against industry benchmarks to assess relative performance.

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Additional Resources

  • Custom Events Documentation: Learn how to trigger workflows from your platform
  • Installation Workflows: Best practices for capturing configuration during setup
  • Scheduler Connector: For periodic financial data refreshes and monitoring
  • Deployment Guide
Next Steps:
Now that you understand business loan underwriting integrations, explore our companion blueprints on Journal Entries for Financial Reconciliation for post-approval bookkeeping and File Uploads and Transfers for document management in the loan application process.