P&L Only Mortgages
Your accountant already wrote the document that qualifies you.
A profit-and-loss statement prepared by your CPA or licensed tax preparer can carry a mortgage file on its own — no bank statements, no tax returns, no 1099s. It is the quietest of the self-employed routes and the least advertised, and for a business whose deposits are messy, seasonal, or spread across accounts, it is often the cleanest story anyone can tell. The strongest published version reaches 85% of the home’s value — with no bank statements at all.*
Who this is built for
Businesses whose deposits do not tell the story
Money moving between your own accounts, a payment processor settling in batches, revenue split across entities — a deposit-based read can badly understate a healthy business. A P&L states the result directly.
Compare against bank statementsRun your deposits anywayOwners with a preparer who already does this work
If a CPA or licensed tax preparer already produces year-end statements for you, the qualifying document mostly exists. That is a genuinely short path from conversation to file.
Build your document checklistAnyone whose returns are written to minimize
The same write-offs that lower your tax bill lower the income a lender counts. This route reads the business result, not the number your return was shaped to produce.
1099 and alt-doc incomeCompare against conventionalNewly self-employed, on the right program
One route on this page reaches a borrower with a single year of self-employment — rare on any shelf, and the reason it is worth asking rather than assuming.
What you would qualify forNot sure whether the P&L route beats the deposit route for your business? That is the ten-minute conversation, and the answer is usually obvious once someone looks.
Talk it throughTwo months of bank statements is the cheapest leverage you will ever buy
The ceiling on a P&L file is set by which program reads it — not by the document.
The same preparer-built statement is worth ten points more on one program than on another. That is the whole game on this page:
The practical read: shop the document before you add to it. A no-statement P&L finances 85% of a home on one program on my shelf and stops at 75% on another — same paperwork, ten points apart. Two months of business statements are worth printing when you need the last rung to 90%, or when the property is an investment, which the pure routes do not reach at all. And if the returns actually support the income, a conventional loan will usually cost less than any of it.
| The same document, two ceilings | Seventy-five, or eighty-five | One program caps a no-statement P&L at 75% from a 700 score; another pays 85% from 720, to $2 million, on the same document and no statements at all. |
| P&L plus two months of statements | Ninety, at the top | One route runs to 90% on a primary residence from a 720 score and still reaches 85% at 680 — and opens investment property, which the pure routes do not. |
| A CPA P&L on an alt-doc ladder | The widest credit range | The alt-doc ladder takes the same document down to a 640 score, at reduced leverage — the route that keeps a weaker file in the conversation. |
Program figures come from four separately published program matrices — each shown as its own table on this page, never combined — and change without notice. Statements produced by the borrower rather than a credentialed preparer are not accepted on these routes. Not all applicants will qualify.
How it actually works
One document does the work — and what sits alongside it decides how far the file reaches.
Your preparer builds the statement
A CPA, enrolled agent or licensed tax preparer produces a profit-and-loss statement covering the required period, with their credentials and attestation on it. Self-prepared statements do not qualify.
The lender reads the result, not the deposits
Qualifying income comes off the P&L’s bottom line, which is why a business with awkward banking is not penalized for how the money happens to move.
Two months of statements change the math
The pure route — P&L and nothing else — is the most restrictive. Adding two months of business statements as corroboration opens a materially deeper grid on more than one program.
Everything else runs normally
Credit, reserves, the property and the appraisal are underwritten the way any file is. The P&L replaces the income documentation, not the underwriting.
What the three routes reach
The same document, four published answers — each tab is a single program’s own grid, and figures from different programs never combine:
On this program, P&L Only is its own documentation column — parallel to full doc, bank statements and 1099s, not dependent on any of them. Owner-occupied:
| The loan | Maximum financing | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| To $1 million | 85% | From a 720 score — no bank statements, no returns |
| $1 million to $1.5 million | 85% | From 720 — 80% at 700, 75% at 680 |
| $1.5 million to $2 million | 85% | From 720 — the same ceiling, three loan bands deep |
| Cash-out on the same document | 80% | From 720, to $2 million |
This is the rung that decides how the rest of this page should be read. Eighty-five percent of value, held from a 720 score all the way through a two-million-dollar loan, on a preparer’s statement and no bank statements at all. It is the highest no-statement P&L figure on my shelf — which means the ceiling on this route is set by which program reads the document, not by the document. And the pure route does not end at strong credit: elsewhere on the shelf a no-statement P&L holds 80% from a 660 score, to $3 million.†
From a single program’s published matrix effective 06/09/2026 — owner-occupied grid, P&L Only documentation column; purchase and rate-and-term figures except where cash-out is stated. Figures from different programs never combine. Maximum loan-to-value, credit score and loan amount are separate limits shown only in combinations that appear together in the source. Not all applicants will qualify.
This route sits lower at the top — but prints something nothing else on this page does:
| The file | Maximum financing | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| P&L only, to $1 million | 75% | From a 700 credit score — no bank statements at all |
| P&L only, $1 million to $2 million | 75% | From 700; two months of business statements are required above $1 million |
| One year self-employed | 75% | From 700, to $2 million, purchase and rate-and-term — uncommon on any shelf |
Read the third row twice. Most alt-doc programs want two full years of self-employment before they will look at you; this one prints a one-year lane at the same leverage as everything else on its overlay. If you went out on your own last year and assumed that closed the door, it did not necessarily.
From a single program’s published matrix, effective 08/13/2026 — its self-employed P&L documentation overlay, P&L documentation overlay. Maximum financing, credit minimums and loan-size bands are separate limits shown only in the combinations that appear together in the source. Never combine maximums from different rows or different lenders. Not all applicants will qualify.
Run the same document with two months of business statements alongside it, and this program’s grid opens up:
| The file | Maximum financing | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Primary residence — purchase | 90% | From a 720 score; 89.99% effective |
| Primary residence — purchase | 85% | From a 680 score |
| Primary residence — cash-out | 80% | From a 680 score |
| Investment property — purchase | 85% | From a 720 score; 75% from 700 |
What the two months actually buy: the last rung to 90% on a primary residence, and investment property, which neither pure route on this page reaches at all. Measured against the strongest no-statement grid here, though, the difference is five points rather than fifteen — worth knowing before you spend a week collecting paper you may not need.
From a separate program’s expanded-prime matrix, effective 08/04/2026, on its P&L-with-statements route. Shown separately because figures from different programs never combine. Credit-event seasoning, reserves and residual-income requirements apply and vary by band. Not all applicants will qualify.
A CPA-prepared P&L also runs on a published alt-doc ladder — the one that keeps a weaker credit file in the conversation. Primary residence, to $1 million:
| Credit score | Purchase or rate-and-term | Cash-out |
|---|---|---|
| 720 and above | 85% | 80% |
| 700 – 719 | 80% | 80% |
| 680 – 699 | 80% | 75% |
| 660 – 679 | 75% | 75% |
| 640 – 659 | 70% | 70% |
| 640 – 659, to $2 million | 70% | 70% |
| 700 and above, to $2.5 million | 80% | 80% |
The bottom rung is the point of this table. A 640 score with a preparer-built P&L still finances 70% of a primary residence — which is not a consolation prize, it is a real loan on a real house. And the ladder runs further than the table shows: that 640 rung holds its 70% out to two million dollars, and the 80% at a 700 score reaches two and a half.
From a separate program’s alt-doc matrix, Rev 06/16/2026, primary residence, balances to $1 million except where noted. The same matrix carries both the CPA-P&L-only and P&L-plus-two-months routes. Figures from different programs never combine. Not all applicants will qualify.
Deposits tell your story better? The bank-statement page is here →
* Strongest published P&L-only rung on my current shelf: a single program’s matrix effective 06/09/2026 — 85% financing, purchase or rate-and-term, to $2,000,000, owner-occupied, from a 720 credit score, with no bank statements required. Figures from different programs never combine; programs change without notice. Not all applicants will qualify.
† From a separate program’s published matrix effective 07/27/2026: 80% financing to $3,000,000 from a 660 credit score on a P&L alone — purchase figures; refinances hold 75%. Its own overlays apply; figures from different programs never combine.
What you actually hand over
The profit-and-loss statement
Prepared by a CPA, enrolled agent or licensed tax preparer, covering the period the program requires, signed with their credentials and contact details. A statement you produced yourself does not qualify on these routes.
Two months of business statements, usually
Required on the deeper grids, and required even on the pure route above $1 million. Print them early — they are the cheapest leverage on this page.
Proof the business is real and yours
A business license, a preparer’s letter, or an equivalent third-party document confirming the business exists and what share of it you own.
The ordinary rest
Identification, the contract or current mortgage statement, insurance, and whatever assets the closing needs. Credit and property are underwritten normally.
Want the exact list for your file before you ever apply? Build your document checklist — the list changes with your answers, printable and yours to keep.
Where it wins — and when it is not the right loan
Told straight, because this page is useless otherwise.
Transfers between your own accounts, processor batches, revenue split across entities — none of it has to be explained deposit by deposit, because the statement reports the result instead.
If your preparer does year-end work for you, the thing that qualifies the file is largely written. Few routes on this site start that far along.
The same preparer’s statement finances 75% of a home on one program and 85% on another, with no extra paperwork in between. Shopping the document is the highest-return move on this page.
Most alt-doc programs want two years. One route here prints a one-year lane at full overlay leverage, which is worth asking about rather than assuming against.
Then a conventional loan will almost always cost less. Alt-doc pricing exists to solve a documentation problem — if you do not have one, do not pay for the solution.
These routes require a credentialed preparer’s work product. A spreadsheet you built, however accurate, is not the document the programs accept.
Then the bank-statement route may qualify you for more, because it reads what actually arrived rather than a stated result. Run both before choosing.
The strongest no-statement rung wants a 720 score, and the pure routes step down from there. Below the mid-600s the ladder still exists, but the financing steps down — sometimes far enough that a different program is the better answer.
Ask your preparer for one document
If a CPA or licensed tax preparer already handles your books, the qualifying paperwork is mostly done. Send it over and I will tell you which of the three routes your file actually reaches — or run the numbers yourself first.
Questions people actually ask
Open the full Q&A — the statement, the preparer, and the fine points ▾
+Can my bookkeeper prepare the statement?
Generally no — these programs want a CPA, an enrolled agent, or a licensed tax preparer, because the credential is part of what the lender is relying on. A bookkeeper who is also a licensed preparer may qualify; one who is not, will not. Worth confirming before you order the document.
+Do I still need tax returns?
No — that is the point of the route. The P&L stands in for returns and for bank statements on the pure routes, the strongest of which reaches 85% of value with no statements at all. On the deeper grid two months of business statements ride alongside it, but returns stay out of the file either way.
+How long does the statement have to cover?
It depends on the program — commonly twelve months, sometimes a full prior year plus year-to-date. Your preparer will produce whichever the chosen lender asks for, so the sequence is to pick the route first, then order the document.
+Is the rate worse than a conventional loan?
Alt-doc programs generally price above agency financing, which is exactly why the honest first question is whether your returns would support the loan anyway. When they would, conventional usually wins. When they would not, the comparison is against the other alt-doc routes, not against a loan you cannot get.
+I have been self-employed under two years. Am I out?
Not automatically. One route on this page prints a one-year self-employed lane at the same leverage as its main overlay, which is uncommon enough that most people assume it does not exist. Bring the details and we will check rather than guess.
+Can I use this on an investment property?
On the deeper route, yes — one route’s grid reaches 85% on an investment purchase from a 720 score. The purest P&L-only overlay is a primary-residence product. If the property is a rental, DSCR is also worth running side by side.
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Loan programs, explained honestly
The programs described are offered through third-party lenders, are subject to lender approval and full underwriting, and change without notice. Figures reflect four separately published program matrices — an owner-occupied matrix effective 06/09/2026, a self-employed program matrix effective 08/13/2026, an expanded-prime matrix effective 08/04/2026, and an alt-doc matrix Rev 06/16/2026 — each shown in its own table and cited beside it. Figures from different programs are never combined, and maximums from different rows are never combined. Profit-and-loss statements must be prepared by a CPA, enrolled agent or licensed tax preparer; borrower-prepared statements are not eligible. Credit-score minimums, loan-size bands, reserve and residual-income requirements are separate limits shown only in the combinations that appear together in the source. Not all applicants or properties will qualify. This is not a commitment to lend. Equal Housing Opportunity.