To get a business loan in North Carolina, first settle the public record: an active entity with the NC Secretary of State, NCDOR tax accounts, a current Pitt County business property listing and any city or licensing requirements. Then organize statements and compare offers on total cost. Ivyview Lenders, a small-business funding broker in Greenville, North Carolina, connects owners with lending partners, who decide.
| Entity records | NC Secretary of State, Business Registration Division, (919) 814-5400 |
|---|---|
| State tax accounts | NC Department of Revenue: online application or paper form by mail |
| Pitt County business property listing | January 1 to January 31 each year; Business Personal Property line 252-902-3409 |
| Free advising in Greenville | NC SBTDC, 300 East First Street, (252) 737-1385, by appointment |
| SBA office covering Pitt County | Wilmington branch of the SBA North Carolina District Office |
| Who decides | The lending partner makes the credit decision and sets rates and terms |
Who you deal with, and what a partner checks
Not every business needs every item below; the table shows where each piece of the record lives.
| Office | What it handles | What a partner may want to see |
|---|---|---|
| NC Secretary of State | Formation records and annual reports for LLCs and corporations | That the entity is active and the names match |
| NC Department of Revenue | State tax accounts such as sales and use tax and withholding | Registration, and that state taxes are current |
| Pitt County Tax Administration | The yearly business personal property listing | That county property taxes are listed and paid |
| City or town government | Requirements tied to your location and type of business | Whatever applies to your address |
| State licensing board, if any | Licenses for regulated trades and professions | A current license for licensed work |
1. NC Secretary of State: is the business on record and active?
LLCs and corporations are created by filing with the Business Registration Division of the NC Secretary of State, which also receives their annual reports. The division says it “acts in an administrative capacity only and cannot give legal advice,” so the question of which entity type to choose belongs with an attorney or accountant.
What a partner looks for here is consistency. Pull your own record from the Secretary of State's business search and check three things before you apply:
- The legal name on file matches the name on your business bank account and on the application, character for character.
- The people who will sign are the people the record shows as members, managers or officers.
- The entity shows as current, with annual reports filed. A lapsed record is easier to fix before an application than during one.
2. NC Department of Revenue: are the tax accounts set up?
NCDOR's Register a Business page lets you “use the online application or submit the form by mail to obtain your account ID number.” Which accounts you need, such as sales and use tax or withholding, depends on what you sell and whether you have employees.
Owners still search for a “Greenville NC privilege license.” At the state level, NCDOR's privilege license page says that effective July 1, 2024, professional privilege licenses are no longer required, though licenses are still required for loan agencies, pawnbrokers and check casher companies. Local requirements are a separate question, covered in step 4.
Partners commonly ask whether any taxes are past due, because a tax debt competes with a lender for the same cash and assets.
3. Pitt County Tax Administration: is business property listed?
Pitt County states that “all businesses, including sole proprietors, partnerships, corporations, and nonprofits, must list their business personal property each year,” between January 1 and January 31. Its business personal property page lists equipment, machinery, computers, furniture, fixtures, supplies and leased or rented equipment, and says a 10% penalty is added for each year a listing is not filed by the deadline. The Business Personal Property line is 252-902-3409.
This matters for financing in two ways. A missed listing can leave an unpaid county bill that a partner may ask about. And if you finance or lease equipment this year, keep the invoice and agreement with your listing records; because the county's list includes leased or rented equipment, ask the tax office how equipment you lease rather than own should be reported. Our equipment financing page explains loans and leases.
4. Your city or town, and any licensing board
If the business operates inside Greenville city limits, ask the City of Greenville what applies to your address and type of business before you sign a lease or start a build-out. Requirements depend on the location and the use, so confirm them with the city directly.
If you are in another Pitt County town, such as Winterville, Ayden or Farmville, ask that town. Outside town limits, ask Pitt County.
Some work needs a state license whatever the location. For example, general contracting in North Carolina is licensed by the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors; check the board for whether your project needs a licensed contractor. Partners funding licensed work may ask for the license; see contractor and construction financing for more.
Then: the records a partner reviews
Once the public record is clean, the review turns to the business's own records. Each one answers a different question:
- Business bank statements: how money actually moves in and out, and which payments are already committed.
- Business tax returns: the income the business has reported.
- A current profit and loss statement and balance sheet: how this year compares with the last return.
- A debt schedule: every loan, lease, line and advance in one table. Build one with our template.
- Formation documents and owner IDs: who owns the business and who may sign.
What lenders look for explains how partners read each of these, including the debt service coverage ratio.
Match the funding to the job
The purpose of the money usually narrows the choice more than the amount does:
- A recurring gap between paying costs and getting paid: a line of credit or working capital financing.
- A one-time project with a clear cost, such as an expansion: a term loan.
- A specific machine, vehicle or piece of medical or kitchen equipment: equipment financing.
- Stock bought ahead of sales: inventory financing.
- Bridging a few weeks when most revenue arrives as card sales: a merchant cash advance. It is not a loan, and its total payback belongs next to loan options before you choose.
Reading the offer: North Carolina points to know
This section is general information, not legal advice. Ask your attorney about any agreement before you sign it.
Interest rate limits. North Carolina's interest statute, G.S. 24-1.1, allows “any rate agreed upon by the parties where the principal amount is more than twenty-five thousand dollars.” For smaller loans the statute points to a maximum rate the Commissioner of Banks announces monthly. On larger commercial loans, then, the contract rather than a statutory cap largely sets the cost, which is one more reason to weigh offers by the total you will repay.
Loan brokers. North Carolina regulates loan brokers under G.S. 66-106 to 66-112. For brokers it covers, the law requires a written contract and bars collecting an advance fee before the loan closes, apart from reasonable third-party costs such as appraisals, surveys, title examinations and credit reports. If anyone asks you for money up front to arrange funding, ask in writing what it pays for.
Confessions of judgment. Some funding agreements include a clause in which the business agrees in advance to a court judgment if it defaults. Whether and how such a clause can be used in North Carolina is a question for your attorney.
A loan payment calculator turns an offer's rate and term into a total. A merchant cash advance is priced with a factor rate instead; read how an MCA compares with a line of credit.
Free help in Greenville and eastern North Carolina
- NC SBTDC, Greenville office: 300 East First Street, (252) 737-1385, by appointment. It serves Pitt and eleven other eastern counties and lists help to “access sources of capital and financing.”
- Pitt Community College Small Business Center: free resources and guidance for Pitt County entrepreneurs, (252) 493-7541.
- SBA: there is no SBA office in Greenville. The North Carolina District Office has offices in Charlotte and Wilmington, and the Wilmington office at 402 North Front Street, which works by appointment, lists Pitt County among the counties it serves.
- Pitt County Economic Development: 111 S Washington St, 252-902-2079.
Ivyview Lenders is not affiliated with any of these offices. For state programs and nonprofit lenders, see eastern North Carolina funding resources.
Where Ivyview Lenders fits
Our office is at 623 S Pitt St in Greenville. We are a broker: not a lender, and we don't make or arrange SBA loans. Our part is to understand the need, sort out which funding types suit it and present the request to partners who offer those types. Approval, amount and cost are decided by a partner after its review, so we don't predict them.
See how the process works or start a request.
By Ivyview Lenders · Updated