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Many self-employed borrowers own multiple businesses. Lenders offering self-employed mortgages can work with this complexity, combining income across entities to maximize qualifying income.

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How Multiple Businesses Are Handled

Lenders evaluate each business separately, then combine the results:
  1. Verify each business meets self-employment requirements (typically 2 years)
  2. Collect bank statements for each business account
  3. Apply appropriate expense factors to each business
  4. Sum the qualifying income from all sources

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Example Calculation

BusinessExpense FactorAnnual DepositsQualifying Income
Consulting LLC25%$200,000$150,000
Retail store50%$300,000$150,000
Combined$300,000

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Documentation for Each Business

  • 12 or 24 months of bank statements
  • Business license or formation documents
  • Proof of ownership percentage
  • CPA letter (optional, but helpful)

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Key Considerations

Ownership percentage — Partial owners may only receive credit for their share of income. A 50% owner gets 50% of qualifying income. Intercompany transfers — Money moving between your businesses gets flagged and excluded. Keep clean records distinguishing revenue from transfers. Business tenure — If one business is newer than two years, that income may not count even if your other businesses qualify. More paperwork — Multiple entities means multiplied documentation. Get all businesses properly documented before applying. For 1099 programs, lenders combine 1099 totals across businesses rather than applying expense factors to deposits.