Many CFOs remain sceptical about using brokers for business finance, and not without reason. Some brokers offer little more than access to a narrow panel of lenders and generic advice that adds limited strategic value. With online comparison sites and calculators readily available, finance teams may also feel they can source appropriate funding themselves.

It’s not always obvious when external input will lead to a better funding outcome. These six questions will help you assess both your internal capability and the value a broker could bring, so you can choose the most effective route forward.

1. How many lenders and products will you review?

Online tools and lender aggregators only show a limited part of the funding market. Many niche products are only available through a broker.

Brokers who only work with a handful of lenders may be doing so due to commission arrangements, which can limit what they recommend.

A good broker works with a wide range of lenders, at least a hundred, offering access to hundreds of different products. This breadth matters. It creates more opportunities to find funding options that match your needs, particularly when these are time-sensitive or complex.

You need to be clear on how your broker or team go from a whole (or limited) market view to a longlist. Usually this is based on some general criteria like loan amount, term, and which lenders work with businesses like yours

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2. How will you tailor the funding to my business needs and preferences?

You should be working with someone who can understand what matters most to you when it comes to borrowing. We’ve worked with plenty of clients where the most valuable feature of a loan is how quickly it lands in their account. For others, having the flexibility to repay the loan early is more important than overall cost.

While there’s usually funding that can meet most personal and business needs, it’s important to recognise that some may come with trade-offs, such as reduced flexibility or higher charges. That’s why it’s important to work with someone who can filter lending products based on your priorities and walk you through the pros and cons, so you can make a well-informed decision.

A broker should always think creatively. For example, a VAT loan is a relatively low-cost form of short-term borrowing. When one of our clients was looking for quick access to cash, we noticed a VAT payment was due and we were able to get them a cheap option for short-term funding.

3. What will you do to increase the chances of my application being successful?

Lenders assess applications based on data and context. That includes how the financials are presented, the clarity of forecasts, and the way risk factors are addressed. Presentation matters, and it takes time and experience to get right.

Your application should reflect how credit teams make decisions and how to manage their perception of risk, which a good broker will be familiar with.  This can improve your borrowing capacity, reduce the required security, and give you more favourable terms overall.

In one case, a marketing agency was offered £100,000 by a lender. We restructured their proposal, included future plans and clarified the repayment profile. That resulted in an approval of £150,000 from the same lender.

4. What will you do to reduce the operational burden on me during the process?

Coordinating a funding application takes a lot of effort. It requires gathering and submitting documents, responding to underwriter questions, and keeping everything on track across multiple stakeholders.

When putting this question to your finance team, consider whether they have enough knowledge to handle the process independently, without having to come back to you repeatedly for input. They also need the bandwidth to manage the process without pulling focus from other critical work, especially anything that could escalate to your desk if it starts to slip.

A broker should easily be able to manage the entire process. They’ll act as your single point of contact, keep communication flowing, and make sure timelines are met. This relieves the operational burden and ensures consistency across all interactions with lenders. For many CFOs, this end-to-end support is as valuable as the financial outcome itself.

5. How will we present this to my leadership team?

Good funding decisions reflect well on the CFO. A strong broker helps you assess the full range of options, understand the risks involved, and communicate those decisions with clarity to your CEO and board.

You should be equipped with a clear breakdown of the costs and obligations, along with a rationale for why the selected structure is the right fit. This helps position you as a CFO who can navigate funding decisions with commercial insight and technical rigour.

When the board sees that you’ve explored the full market and brought back a solution that balances cost, speed, and flexibility, it strengthens their confidence in your leadership.

6. Will you show me how much you’ll get paid if we work together?

An internal team doing funding research will be on payroll and, naturally, unbiased in their approach. With brokers, it’s worth asking this question alongside “How many lenders and products do you review?” because some may focus only on lenders with the best commission structures.

Asking about a broker’s fees gives you a clearer picture of the value of the relationship, what’s driving their recommendations, and what level of service you should expect.

Brokers make money in a combination of ways. One is commission from the lender, which comes out of the arrangement fee you’re charged when taking out a borrowing product. If the lender doesn’t pay commission, a broker might charge you a separate fee instead. Alternatively, the broker might receive a percentage share of the profits a lender makes from your business.

There should be zero bias in the work a broker does for you. You can remind them that you know this by asking them to estimate and share the fees they stand to make from the options they bring to you. While most brokers will disclose their fees before you sign anything, getting that information earlier gives you far better transparency and helps you judge their advice properly.

Conclusion

In the case of a straightforward fixed-term loan for a low-risk issue, where your business has a solid credit history and some capacity in the team, a CFO or finance team will be able to source the funding they need with reasonable ease.  

But things are rarely that simple, and even when they are there’s a risk of missing better options or making decisions based on incomplete information (see our article Five Things Online Calculators Get Wrong About Your Business Loan Quote).  

If you’re a CFO who’s sceptical of the value a broker brings, exploit the fact that most brokers will be happy to explore your options without a charge or any commitment. And by asking them our six questions, you’ll have an even better idea of whether a particular broker is worth working with.

At the end of the day, a broker should help you make better decisions, reduce risk, and support your leadership. Anything less than this and you’re right to look elsewhere.

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