What Is Stips (Stipulations)?

Stips sit at a specific point in the deal's path. Once a broker has an interested merchant, the deal moves through a defined sequence: application, usually bank statements and sometimes a signed app, submission to one or more funders, then funder underwriting requests stips, extra documents or actions the merchant still needs to complete, followed by an offer, and finally funding, assuming nothing derails it.

A landlord waiver, where a merchant's landlord agrees not to claim priority over the funder's interest in the business's assets, is one of the most commonly cited stip examples. Others range from a voided business check to confirm banking details, to proof of a required license, to updated bank statements if the ones on file have aged out.

Stips are also where deal timelines commonly slip. A merchant slow to produce a requested document, or a stip that turns out to be harder to satisfy than expected, is a routine reason a deal that looked close to funding stalls for days or longer.