CPAs lose clients over capital in a specific way. The client needed money, asked you once, you said you do not do that, they found a Facebook ISO, the advance landed, the books got messier, and they blamed the person who sees the statements. Referring funding is not “becoming a lender.” Refusing to have a competent next step is how you get replaced by whoever answered the phone.
How to refer through Loanable is mechanical. Apply as a partner. Receive your unique partner link. Send that URL when a business-purpose need appears. Loanable matches 150+ lenders. You are not the lender. If it funds, 50/50 of Loanable profit hits via ACH on Monday with no minimum. You do not have to join underwriting calls unless you want to explain a tax add-back the owner will misstate.
A script that does not sound like a pitch
Try: “I do not fund businesses. I work with a marketplace that will take your application and match lenders. Here is my link. I am not quoting a rate and I cannot promise they approve you.” Then stop talking. CPAs who over-sell sound like they are chasing a residual. CPAs who under-explain sound like they dumped the client. The middle is an introduction with a tracked URL.
- Business purpose only — keep personal tax refund anticipation out of this
- Do not attach the client’s return to a random ISO email thread
- Do not let a producer sit in your lobby and pressure clients after a tax appointment
- If independence rules at your firm restrict paid referrals, get that answer in writing first
When you should not refer
Do not refer a client whose books you know are fiction. Do not refer a client who needs bankruptcy counsel. Do not refer a consumer mortgage. Loanable is a business funding marketplace. Sending the wrong purpose file is how you create a mess that lands back on your desk during the next close.
Documents you already have
You often already produce the P&L the owner will screenshot badly. You can tell them to upload complete bank statements, not a cropped mobile photo. You can tell them working capital may fund as soon as 24 hours if a lender wants the file, and that SBA or large facilities up to $50M will not. That is still accounting-adjacent advice. It is not brokering a specific credit box.
Independence, invoices, and opt-outs
If your firm’s independence or ethics policy forbids paid referrals, stop before you paste a URL. Get that in writing. If paid referrals are allowed, decide whether the ACH hits the firm or the partner, and tell clients only what your policy requires. Do not hide a residual in a way that would embarrass you in a peer review.
Give clients an easy no. “Here is a marketplace application if you want it; I am not your loan officer.” People who feel trapped will fire the CPA, not the ISO they found later. Loanable is not a lender. Your partner link is optional. The 50/50 split on funded files does not require you to chase them. Monday ACH with no minimum still pays the one file that did fund.
Keep the tax relationship. Add a competent funding path. Become a Loanable referral partner and send clients through your own partner link instead of a Google result you cannot see.