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Business finance

Business finance for South African firms

A loan, an overdraft, an invoice facility and a grant are different contracts. A loan to a company is not automatically a consumer loan under the National Credit Act.

Reviewed 29 October 2026 by the WiT Money editorial team. This is general information, not a recommendation from a named adviser.

Key points

  • Debt must be repaid. A grant must not. Equity is ownership, not a loan.
  • The National Credit Act does not cover every loan to a company. Turnover and asset values matter.
  • A surety can reach the owner's house even when the loan is in the company's name.

Business finance is any money the firm uses that it does not already have. A term loan is repaid on a schedule. An overdraft flexes and is repayable on demand or on review. Invoice finance advances part of a customer invoice. Asset and equipment finance buy a specific thing. A merchant cash advance is repaid from card sales. A government programme, when one is open, has its own rules and is not a standing offer from this website.

Many consumer protections in the National Credit Act stop applying once the borrower is a juristic person above the thresholds in the Act. A small company, or a sole prop, can still be inside the Act. A surety signed by the owner is a personal promise. Ask the lender which regime the contract uses before you compare the rate with a personal loan.

What a lender actually reads

Bank statements, debtors, a tax clearance or a PIN from SARS, CIPC documents if there is a company, and sometimes a contract for the work you say you will do. A thin file is a reason for a decline or a surety. It is not fixed by a 'business credit score' sold in an advert.

Preparing the ask

State the amount, what it buys, how it will be repaid, and what happens if the customer pays late. A cash-flow sketch is a month-by-month list of money in and money out. It is not a forecast this site will bless. The business-loan calculator prices an instalment from figures you type. It is not an approval.

Questions readers ask

Is a start-up grant a loan?

Only if the documents say it must be repaid. Read them. A programme that was open last year may be closed now. This page does not list live programmes.

Related

Sources

Page updated 29 October 2026. A source date is the day WiT Money checked that page, not a promise the institution has not changed it since.