What you need to know to actually buy the home you want
Running your own business? Then you already know getting a home loan isn’t just about how much you earn—it’s about how good your paperwork looks to a bank.
Spoiler: the system wasn’t built for people like you.
Good news? There’s more than one way to prove income—and more than one way to seriously increase your borrowing power. You just need to know your options (and have someone in your corner who knows how to use them).
First, here’s what you’re working with:
Most people get boxed into two categories:
Full Doc
Banks want the works—two years’ tax returns, financials, clean statements, maybe your blood type. If everything looks textbook, great. If not, your borrowing power can tank fast. Some lenders will average two years. Some take the lower year. Others use just the latest one (a win if your business has taken off).
Low Doc
If your returns aren’t ready or don’t show the full story, this is your fallback. Think BAS statements, bank statements, or an accountant’s letter. Rates can be higher. Fees can be ugly. But it gets the job done when the numbers are there—just not in ATO format.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting: the smarter income methods
🧠 The ‘Future Proof’ Method
Your last return isn’t ready. But your year-to-date numbers are strong. If you’ve got up-to-date profit in your accounting management software (such as Xero or MYOB), you can use those instead. If that’s not quite working but you can prove some increased profit expected by the end of the financial year, then some basic projections can help. This is gold for business owners whose income is growing.
❌ The ‘No Biz Docs’ Method
You’re a director pulling a salary, and the business financials are too messy, not finalised, or just plain unhelpful? No problem.
Some lenders will let us ignore the business entirely and just use your personal PAYG income—verified by any of your payslips, your income statement from myGov, or even just your last two ATO Notice of Assessments.
That’s it. No business docs. No questions about your business.
If your personal income stacks up, we can get the deal done without digging into your company at all.
🧾 Debt Deletion Trick
Got company, trust or business loans in your name? Some lenders let us ignore them if they’re actually paid by your company. It’s a massive boost to your serviceability, especially if you’ve got chunky commercial or equipment finance, or even investment properties in a company name.
Why most banks stuff this up
Most lenders only offer one or two of these income methods. If you go straight to them, they’ll run your numbers their way—and if it doesn’t fit, you’re out.
They won’t say:
“Oh, you could have qualified if we used your YTD figures, or just your director salary, or a no-doc policy.”
They’ll just say:
“Sorry, you don’t qualify.”
That’s why partnering with a broker who understands how to read your business—and how to match it to a lender’s playbook—makes all the difference.
👉 Watch how it works in this 90-second demo: self employed borrowing power calculation demo
Want more borrowing power? Here’s what helps:
- * Clean up debts or move them off your personal name
- * Get interim financials done if last year’s return is old news
- * Separate your business and personal banking
- * Choose a broker who specialises in self employed finance
Final word
Your borrowing power isn’t fixed. And it’s definitely not whatever the first bank tells you.
It’s about how your income is structured and presented, which method is used, and where is your application presented.
Want to see what your numbers are really capable of?
Let’s work it out properly—before you go house hunting with half your power.