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The processing statement, and what a funder pulls off it
Your card processing statement shows volume, batches, chargebacks and fees. Here is what an underwriter reads on it and why it can raise or cut your offer.
A merchant processing statement is the monthly report your card processor sends showing how much you ran through the terminal, how many batches you settled, what you were charged, and what came back as a chargeback. For a business that takes cards, it is the second most important document in a funding file after the bank statements, and sometimes the first.
The reason is direct. Card revenue is verifiable at the source and it arrives on a predictable rhythm. A funder looking at a restaurant or a retail store can see the daily settlements landing, which is why the merchant cash advance product was built around card volume in the first place. Your bank statements show what arrived. The processing statement shows what was earned before the processor took its cut.
Who asks for it and when
It is requested at submission, alongside bank statements, whenever card volume is a meaningful share of revenue. That means restaurants, retail, salons, auto repair, gas stations, and ecommerce. Three to four months is the standard ask, matching the same months as your bank statements.
It becomes mandatory rather than helpful in one specific case: a percentage of sales advance repaid through split funding, where the funder takes its holdback directly out of your card settlements before the rest reaches your bank. That structure cannot be set up without knowing your processor, your merchant ID, and your volume, and all three live on this statement.
What an underwriter reads on it
- Gross processing volume by month. The headline number, and the one that sizes a card based offer. Funders look at three or four months together, not one, because a single strong month is noise and three consistent months are a pattern.
- Batch count and consistency. A restaurant open six days a week should show roughly twenty five to twenty six batches a month. Eleven batches in a month raises a question: reduced hours, a terminal problem, or volume moving to another processor you have not disclosed.
- Average ticket. Volume divided by transaction count. It is checked against what is normal for your business type, and a sudden jump gets attention because unusually large tickets are one of the classic patterns in card fraud.
- Chargeback count and ratio. Chargebacks as a percentage of transactions. Under about one percent is normal for most businesses. Above that, processors begin imposing monitoring and reserves, and funders start pricing for the possibility that your processing relationship itself is at risk. See how chargebacks are treated.
- Refunds and voids. A high refund rate against volume can indicate service problems or, in the underwriter's mind, revenue that is not as real as the gross number suggests.
- Reserves and holds. If the processor is holding a reserve, the funder wants to know why. Reserves are usually imposed for elevated risk, and the reason behind it matters more than the amount.
- Processor name and merchant ID. Practical rather than analytical. Some processors support split funding easily, some make it painful, and a few make it effectively impossible, which can decide the structure of your entire deal.
The stack explains the gap owners ask about most. If you processed $100,000 in a month, your bank did not receive $100,000. Processing fees, chargebacks, and any reserve come out first, and the deposits an underwriter sees in your bank statements are the net figure. When a funder compares the two documents, they expect a consistent relationship between them, roughly two to four percent of volume in fees for most card mixes. A far wider gap is worth explaining before you are asked.
There is a second use for this document that owners overlook. It is the one piece of paper that can raise an offer rather than defend it. If your bank deposits look modest because your processing fees are heavy, or because a portion of settlements funds a different account, the processing statement is what proves the underlying business is larger than the deposits suggest. Send it even when nobody asked.
How to pull a clean set
- 01Log into the processor portal, not the terminal
Every major processor provides monthly statement PDFs in the merchant portal. A daily summary printed from the terminal is not a statement and will not be accepted.
- 02Download the same months as your bank statements
If you are sending April, May, and June bank statements, send April, May, and June processing statements. Mismatched periods make the comparison impossible and guarantee a follow up request.
- 03Include every merchant ID and every location
Multiple locations usually mean multiple merchant IDs, and sometimes multiple processors. Sending one of three shrinks the volume the funder can credit you for, which shrinks the offer.
- 04Send all pages, including the fee detail
The summary page carries the volume, but the fee detail, chargeback section, and adjustment section are where the questions get answered. Missing pages produce the same delay they produce on bank statements.
- 05Add a note if something looks unusual
A month with a chargeback spike, a closed location, or a processor switch is explainable in one sentence written up front and is a two day investigation when it is not.
Clean versus a statement that raises questions
| What they check | Reads clean | Raises a question |
|---|---|---|
| Volume against bank deposits | Deposits land at roughly 96 to 98 percent of volume | A gap far larger than the fee load explains |
| Batch count per month | Consistent with your operating days | Missing days or a sharp drop with no explanation |
| Chargeback ratio | Well under one percent | Above one percent, or trending up across three months |
| Average ticket | Stable and normal for the business type | A sudden jump, or tickets far above the industry pattern |
| Processor continuity | Same processor across all months submitted | A switch mid period, which breaks the volume history |
| Merchant name on the statement | Matches the legal entity or a disclosed trade name | A name nobody in the file recognizes |
The mistakes that cost real money
- Sending one merchant ID when you have four. Every location you leave out is volume you do not get credit for. This is the single most common way owners get offered less than they should have been.
- Sending a summary email from your sales rep. A one line note stating your monthly volume is not a statement. Underwriters need the processor issued document with the fee and chargeback detail.
- Ignoring a chargeback problem. If your ratio is climbing, deal with it before applying. A processor that imposes a reserve or terminates you mid deal can end a funding that had already been approved.
- Assuming card volume equals revenue. Cash sales, checks, and invoiced work do not appear here. If half your revenue is not card based, make sure the bank statements are carrying that story and read how deposits are analyzed.
- Forgetting that the processing statement can help you. If your bank deposits look thin because of high processing fees, the processing statement is the document that proves the underlying volume is stronger than the deposits suggest. Send it even when it was not requested.
What we do with this
Exp Capital Solutions is a broker, not a lender. We do not underwrite your card volume and we do not set holdback percentages. What we do is read the processing statements against the bank statements before submission, catch the gaps and the missing merchant IDs that quietly shrink offers, and match your file to funding partners whose split funding setup actually works with your processor. If your card mix means a fixed payment structure serves you better than a percentage of sales deal, we will say so, even when it pays us less.