Hope is not a lending strategy.
Nick and his team prepare finance applications the way lenders actually read them. Arranged by our broking arm across 40+ lenders, or built for your own broker or bank to lodge.
Nick ClunesFounderAlready running the business? Start here instead.
Fixed fees from $295, no hidden costs
Xero Certified Professional
Documents from 3 business days
30 days of follow-up support
Capacity figures from a client matter, shared with consent. Outcomes depend on individual circumstances and lender criteria.
Clients who have trusted us with their modelling
Where are you?
Three ways owners come to us.
Buying a business, growing the one you have, or turning strong profit into wealth outside it. Start where you are.
“I want to buy a business.”
Buy it with your eyes open, and your finance ready.
First-time and repeat buyers. We read the deal the way a credit team would, test the earnings the price is built on, and build the file that gets it funded.
See the buyer's path“I own a business and want to grow it.”
Growth takes capital. Capital takes preparation.
Established owners expanding, opening a second site, buying equipment or a competitor. We model what the numbers support and build the case for the facility.
See the growth path“My business makes good money. I want to build wealth outside it.”
Your business makes the money. What is the money making?
Strong-profit owners with lazy cash and no asset strategy. This is the commercial-property-outside-the-business play, and where our biggest client stories live.
See the wealth path“I invest in commercial property and the finance is the hard part.”
The asset stacks up. Now the file has to.
Investors buying, refinancing or growing a portfolio. The deal is rarely lost on the property. It is lost on the file, the facility and the covenants the year after settlement.
See the property path
Who you deal with
Nick and his team. Not a call centre.
A former personal and business banker, a broker since 2018, Nick leads every engagement personally: he scopes your matter, reviews every finding and takes your debrief call. His team builds the file behind him, so every conclusion carries his judgment and his name.
$200M+
Arranged across development, construction and private lending
8+ years
In commercial and acquisition finance
Top 10
Broker recognition
Gold Club Elite 2025 · Commercial Broker of the Year finalist 2025 · Multiple MFAA award nominations
Figures relate to finance arranged by Nicholas Clunes through his broking businesses, Andorra Private and The Lending Lab.
Book a call with NickClient stories
Real files. Real numbers.
Fourteen matters on the site, each with its own page: what the client walked in with, what the analysis found, and what the lender decided. A few to start with.
Veterinary · 2025
The vet practice capped at $3.0m
Capacity rebuilt to $6.5m.
Read the storyIndustrial property, metro Brisbane · 2024
Declined twice. Then $1.5m of equity in nine months.
Over $1.5m of equity uplift in nine months.
Read the storyIndustrial property, Melbourne · 2024
$1m of equity on day one.
$1m of equity before the first rent cheque, on a projected 32.2% IRR.
Read the storyWhat we do
Finance first. Then the diligence behind a good buy.
Finance documents and business plans are the work most owners come for, and the natural on-ramp to a lending conversation. Due diligence stays on the menu for when you are buying. All fixed-fee, all start with a call.
Lender-ready finance documents
Serviceability models, funding requests, information memorandums and business plans, built the way a commercial credit team expects to read them. Priced per document, no surprises.
Flat fees from $850, turnarounds from 3 business days.
Finance documents and pricingBusiness plans and forecasts
The plan and the three-way forecast a lender actually asks for, written by the desk that gets these approved, from your real accounts rather than a template. For template money, a credit-literate custom plan.
From $850, turnarounds from 5 business days.
Business plans and pricingFinancial due diligence
Part of buying a business well. We rebuild the earnings picture from bank statements, BAS lodgements and the general ledger, so before you sign you know what the business really earns once you are the one running it.
Fixed fees from $2,500, priced by transaction value.
Due diligence services and pricingFrom a recent engagement
What one vendor P&L looked like after reconciliation
| Finding | Detail |
|---|---|
| Revenue growth, three years | +27% |
| Non-rent operating cost growth, same period | +34% |
| Expenses identified but not disclosed in the vendor P&L | ≈ $115,000 |
| Depreciation recognised on a depreciating asset base | Nil in 2 of 5 years |
| Site management cost in the vendor's model (absentee owner, 1,800 km away) | Not provided |
Revenue growth, three years
- Detail
- +27%
Non-rent operating cost growth, same period
- Detail
- +34%
Expenses identified but not disclosed in the vendor P&L
- Detail
- ≈ $115,000
Depreciation recognised on a depreciating asset base
- Detail
- Nil in 2 of 5 years
Site management cost in the vendor's model (absentee owner, 1,800 km away)
- Detail
- Not provided
Details anonymised and materially altered. Pattern representative of actual findings.
What it meant
Revenue really was growing. That part of the story was true.
Costs were growing faster, and the margin was shrinking every year.
None of it showed in the adjusted figures the price had been built on.
With the undisclosed expenses and the missing management cost back in, the real earnings sat well below the number the vendor was selling.
The number you did not test is the number you are paying for.
A vendor P&L that overstates earnings by $115,000 does not cost you $115,000. Businesses this size commonly change hands on about three times earnings, so it costs you around $345,000 at settlement. Then it costs you the $115,000 again, every year you own it.
Never bought one before?
Start with what you can actually afford.
Most people look for six to eighteen months, and half of that is spent on businesses they were never going to be able to fund. Work out your range first. It is free, it takes two minutes, and it tells you whether your deposit or the earnings are what is holding you back.
The numbers work that sits between your accountant and your bank.
Independent analysis for businesses buying, borrowing and growing. Every fee on the site, and we are paid the same whether the answer is yes or no.
13 of 14
Matters on this site that went on to funding
Fourteen matters are set out on our case studies page, spanning 2023 to 2026. Thirteen went on to funding, whether we arranged it or the client's own bank did. One did not proceed, on our advice. Outcomes depend on individual circumstances and lender criteria.
Check it against the fourteenThe Owner's Journey
We are not in this for one transaction.
From your first acquisition to owning the premises, through the hard years and out to retirement, Nick and his team stay at the table. In the good times and the bad, whether we arrange the finance or your own bank funds the file we build.
- 1
Become an owner
You want to buy a business.
- We prepare
- The First Look, financial due diligence, the Bank-Ready Pack.
- The finance
- Acquisition finance, arranged by The Lending Lab or funded by your own bank.
- 2
Trade better
New or established, learning to run on the numbers.
- We prepare
- Business plan, three-way forecast, the Annual Partner Refresh, The Sounding Board.
- The finance
- Working capital and equipment finance when you need it.
- 3
Grow
Expansion, a second site, buying a competitor.
- We prepare
- Growth Scenario Model, Debt Capacity Assessment, The Owner's Desk keeping capacity current.
- The finance
- Growth and acquisition facilities, arranged or prepared for your bank.
- 4
Build wealth outside
Strong trading, cash building, rent money going nowhere.
- We prepare
- Debt capacity and structure planning; finance documents for your own bank.
- The finance
- Commercial property outside the business, arranged by us or funded by your bank.
- 5
The hard times
ATO debt, a cash crunch, a decline, distress.
- We prepare
- Submission Rescue, covenant review, restructure file preparation.
- The finance
- Refinance, ATO debt clearance, and support through an SBR alongside your practitioner.
- 6
Exit and retirement
Sale readiness and succession.
- We prepare
- Exit-ready financials, an information memorandum for sale, vendor due diligence.
- The finance
- Buyer finance introductions; the property portfolio becomes the retirement income.
Not buying anything?
Already running the business? Start here.
Your accountant knows the history. We work out what a credit team will do with it, and what the business can carry next. Four questions, four places to start.
How much can we borrow?
The facility you have in mind, modelled into your real financials, with the covenant maths and the stress tests.
Can we afford to grow?
Another business, new equipment or a second site, run through best, mid and worst case over a multi-year horizon.
We were declined.
Usually the case failed, not the deal. We find why, then rebuild the earnings case from evidence.
The bank wants a plan.
Lender-grade plans and three-way forecasts built from your actual accounts, not a template.
The work itself
What a lender sees from us.
A page from a real serviceability workbook prepared for a live matter, client names removed. The facility, the covers, and a verdict a credit team can read in ten seconds. Every number in it traces back to a source document.
How it works
Four steps. It starts with a call.
- 1
Book a call
A short call with Nick about the deal. Bring whatever numbers you have. You will get a straight read on whether the work is worth doing.
- 2
Fixed fee confirmed
We confirm the right service level and a fixed fee in writing within two business days of seeing the financials. No charge, no obligation.
- 3
Work performed
On engagement we issue the standard information request and begin. You are notified immediately if records are materially incomplete.
- 4
Report and debrief
You receive the written report and workbook, a debrief call, and follow-up questions answered for 30 days after delivery.
Pricing
Every fee, up front
No 'contact us for pricing'. Lender submission packs are flat-priced per document. Due diligence is priced by transaction value. The full schedule is on the pricing page.
The Model
Test whether the deal services before you go near a lender.
$1,850
5 business days
Bank-Ready Pack
The model plus the written case. Ready to hand to a lender.
$2,850
7 business days
Full Submission Pack
Everything a lender, investor or partner needs to say yes.
$5,800
12 business days
Rebuilding a declined submission is $950. Financial due diligence runs from $2,500, priced by transaction value. All fees exclude GST.
Clients of The Lending Lab receive a large discount on all Andorra products. Our fees stay fixed and non-contingent, and you are free to use any broker: the discount is for being a Lending Lab client, not for arranging finance through us.
Want a straight read on your deal?
Book a free call with Nick. Bring the numbers you have, and we will tell you the right service level and the fixed fee. No obligation.
A note on independence
Andorra Advisory Group provides the analysis and the documents. We do not arrange finance. Finance applications are handled separately by The Lending Lab Pty Ltd, and we tell you in writing when a referral relationship exists. Our fee is fixed and payable regardless of what our analysis concludes. And if you would prefer the analysis done by a firm with no referral relationship to any broker, we will tell you so and refer you.