How to read a Key Information Sheet

Before your company signs a loan agreement with us, we give you a Key Information Sheet (KIS) — a plain-English summary of the borrowing so you can see exactly what you are agreeing to. It is the single most useful document to read carefully before you commit. This article walks through its sections and what to check in each.

What the KIS is for

The KIS is the pre-contract summary: it sets out the key terms and costs of your loan in clear language, before you sign the binding Business Loan Agreement. Its purpose is to let you make an informed decision with the important numbers in front of you, rather than buried in contract clauses. For a broader overview of what it covers, see what the Key Information Sheet covers.

Read it in full, not just the headline figure. The whole point is that everything you need is on one sheet.

Who is borrowing, and from whom

Check the parties first. The borrower should be your company — the limited company or LLP — with its correct name and company number, because we lend to the business as a body corporate, not to you personally. Confirm the lender’s details are right too. Getting the parties correct matters: the company is the one taking on the debt.

The core financial figures

This is the heart of the sheet. Look for, and check, each of these:

• Amount borrowed — the sum advanced to the company. Confirm it is the amount you actually need and asked for.
• Term — how long you have to repay (ours fall within 14 to 84 days), and how many repayments there are.
• Total amount payable — every pound you will repay in total, principal plus interest. This is the number that tells you the full size of the commitment.
• Total cost of credit — the difference between what you borrow and what you repay; in other words, what the borrowing costs you in cash terms.
• Simple annualised rate — a reference rate shown without the compounding distortion of a consumer APR.

We deliberately show the total cost of credit rather than a consumer APR, because APR overstates the cost of very short-term borrowing — the reasoning is in daily interest vs APR. The honest comparison is the total cash cost, so anchor on the total amount payable and the total cost of credit.

The repayment schedule

The KIS sets out your repayment schedule: how much each repayment is, how often (weekly or fortnightly), and on what dates. Check that the amounts and dates are ones the company can genuinely meet, alongside its other commitments. If the dates clash with when money comes in, that is something to address before you sign, not after.

To understand how the interest behind these figures is built up, our worked example in how interest is calculated walks through an illustrative case step by step.

Costs, rights and what happens if things change

The sheet will also cover the practical terms: how repayments are collected, what happens if a payment is missed, and your rights — including that you can repay early and save interest with no early-repayment fee. It is worth checking how a missed payment is handled so there are no surprises, and noting that settling early reduces what you pay.

Before you sign

Treat the KIS as your decision document. Read every section, make sure the parties and amounts are correct, confirm the total amount payable is one the company can afford, and check the repayment dates against your cash flow. If anything is unclear or looks wrong, ask us before signing — never sign a document you do not fully understand. Once you are satisfied, the Business Loan Agreement will carry the same figures through into the binding contract. To see what we currently offer before you even get to a KIS, visit our business loans page.