Seasonal business loans are funding arranged around the calendar of a business whose sales come in a busy season and drop off in a slow one. Most seasonal businesses use four kinds: a line of credit set up before the slow months and drawn when deposits thin out, revenue-based financing taken a few weeks before the busy season to pay for stock and staff, equipment financing timed so new machines arrive before the rush, and longer SBA-equivalent loans through our partners for bigger projects. Whichever you choose, size any set payment so your slowest month's deposits can carry it, and apply before the gap opens, while your bank statements still show the strong months.
How seasonal a business can be
Payroll counts show the swing well, because owners hire for the work they expect. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes these counts before seasonal adjustment, and three trades show how wide the gap can get.
- Tax preparation offices employed about 149,200 people in February 2024 and about 66,500 in August, so the February workforce was more than twice the size of the August one (BLS tax preparation services series).
- Golf courses and country clubs went from about 318,100 workers in January 2024 to about 572,900 in July, a rise of roughly 80% in six months (BLS golf courses and country clubs series).
- Skiing facilities employed about 90,600 people in January 2024 and about 21,700 in May, so the winter crew was more than four times the size of the spring one (BLS skiing facilities series).
The peak lands in a different month for each trade, but the pattern is the same. Money goes out for staff, stock and repairs before the season starts paying, and rent, insurance, utilities and loan payments keep their own schedule through the quiet months. In the Federal Reserve's 2025 Report on Employer Firms, 51% of small employer firms named uneven cash flow as a financial challenge, and 56% named paying operating expenses such as payroll, rent and inventory.
Stores and restaurants have their own calendars, which we cover with Census sales figures in our guides to retail financing for inventory and the slow months after the holidays and restaurant financing for payroll and slow seasons.
Four kinds of seasonal business financing
A line of credit set up before the slow season
A line of credit gives you a limit, up to $2,000,000 through our network, and you draw only what you need. You repay what you drew on a weekly or monthly schedule, and the room opens up again as you repay, so the same line can carry payroll in the quiet months and a supplier deposit before the next busy one. The time to set it up is near the end of your busy season, while the last four months of statements still show strong deposits. Draw it when deposits thin out, then pay the balance down once the season brings cash back in. You pay only on what you draw, and some programs discount an early payoff. Our line of credit page has the details, and our guide to working capital loans shows how to size the gap a line needs to cover.
Revenue-based financing before the busy season
Revenue-based financing, often called a merchant cash advance, buys part of your future sales for a lump sum paid now. Amounts run from $5,000 to $2,000,000, the decision rests mainly on four months of business bank statements, and most owners are funded within one to two business days of choosing an offer. The advance is sized on your usual revenue and repaid with a set daily or weekly payment until the agreed total is paid. For a seasonal business, the best moment for one is a few weeks before the busy season, when the money can pay for opening stock, new hires, marketing or repairs that will earn their cost back once customers arrive.
The payment stays the same in every month of the term, including any slow weeks the term runs through, so check it against your slowest month as well as checking the price. The cost is set at signing as a factor rate, so a $50,000 advance at an example factor rate of 1.30 means $65,000 paid back in total. Before you sign, read the reconciliation clause if the contract has one, and ask who decides on an adjustment, what you would have to send and how long a change takes. More on how these advances work is on our revenue-based financing page.
Equipment financing timed to the season
Equipment financing pays for machines, vehicles and fixtures, with the equipment itself as security, up to $500,000 through our network, and offers typically arrive in one to two business days. Order in the quiet months, so the new mowers, rental gear, ovens or trucks are delivered, installed and familiar to your crew before the first busy week. Payments are usually monthly over a term that matches the equipment's useful life, and they run through the slow months as well, so test them against your slowest month the same way. If you buy before your tax year ends, ask your tax preparer about the section 179 deduction, which under IRS Publication 946 lets a business elect to deduct the cost of qualifying property in the year it is placed in service, up to a limit. Our equipment financing page covers what qualifies.
SBA-equivalent loans through partners for longer needs
A building, a full renovation, a second location or the purchase of a competitor will earn for years, so it belongs on a longer term. Through our partners we offer SBA-equivalent loans, which are long-term loans with monthly payments where the partner sets the rate and term. They sit outside the SBA program and take weeks rather than days, with tax returns, a personal financial statement and a debt schedule in the file. A long term keeps the monthly payment small enough for the slowest month to carry. Start in your off-season, so the paperwork is done before the work has to begin. Our SBA and bank loans page explains what the file needs.
How to size a weekly payment against your slowest month
A set payment that is easy in July can be hard in March, so test any offer against the slowest month its term covers. Here is the test on an example summer business that takes revenue-based financing in mid-February to hire and stock up before it opens for the season in April. The figures are illustrative, not a quote.
- A usual month brings in $100,000 of deposits, about $23,077 a week.
- March, the slowest month the payments will cover, brings in $45,000, about $10,385 a week.
- Bills that come due in March whatever the sales, such as rent, insurance, utilities and year-round staff, total $36,000.
- That leaves $9,000 in March, about $2,077 a week, for any new payment.
- The advance is $60,000 at an example factor rate of 1.30, so $78,000 is paid back in total.
A payment sized on a usual month at 12% of a usual week's deposits would be about $2,770 a week. A payment sized on the slowest month has to fit inside the $2,077 a week that March leaves, so this example uses $1,950.
| Example | Sized on a usual month | Sized on the slowest month |
|---|---|---|
| Set weekly payment | $2,770 | $1,950 |
| Share of a usual week's deposits | 12.0% | 8.5% |
| Share of a March week's deposits | 26.7% | 18.8% |
| Left each March week after bills and the payment | $693 short | $127 spare |
| Number of weekly payments | About 28 | 40 |
| Total paid back | $78,000 | $78,000 |
The larger payment clears the advance in about 28 weeks, but every week in March it asks for $693 more than the month leaves, which adds up to about $3,000 that has to come from somewhere before April's deposits arrive. The smaller payment fits inside March and takes 8.5% of a usual week once the season is running. It runs 40 weeks instead of 28, and because the cost was fixed by the factor rate at signing, the total stays $78,000 in both cases. A funder may price a longer term differently, so compare the total payback on each version of the offer. If no offer goes long enough to fit your slowest month, take a smaller advance and cover the rest with a draw on a line of credit that you repay once the season pays.
Run the test with your own numbers. Take the slowest month the term will touch, subtract the bills that never stop, divide what is left by 4.33 to get a weekly figure, and keep the new payment under it, with something to spare.
When to apply for seasonal business loans
Apply before the gap opens. Revenue-based funders and many line of credit funders read your last four months of statements, so a file sent at the end of the busy season shows the business at its strongest, and a file sent deep in the slow season shows its weakest months. You also have time to compare offers instead of taking the first one that arrives. We wrote about the cost of waiting in why you shouldn't wait for busy season to arrange funding, so here is how the timing usually works for a business with one busy season.
- Set up a line of credit in the last weeks of the busy season, while the strong months are still on your statements, and leave it unused until the slow months need it.
- Order equipment and start any SBA-equivalent paperwork early in the off-season, since delivery dates and a weeks-long review both need time.
- Take revenue-based financing for opening stock and hiring four to eight weeks before the season starts, so the money is in place when suppliers and new staff need paying. Your last four months will be quiet ones by then, so send a full year of statements with the application.
What funders look at in a seasonal file
Every funder sets its own thresholds, and they vary widely. Revenue-based funders decide mostly from four months of business bank statements, reading monthly deposits and how steady they are, how often the balance runs low, and which debits already come out, especially daily payments to other funders. Four slow months can make a seasonal business look smaller than it is, and in earlier rounds of the Fed's Small Business Credit Survey, some owners who did not apply because they expected lenders to turn down businesses like theirs pointed to irregular cash flow, such as a seasonal business (2025 Report on Employer Firms).
A full year of statements answers that worry, because it shows the slow months next to the busy ones and lets a funder see the season come back. Two years are better still, since the funder can compare this March with last March instead of with July. These steps make a seasonal file easier to read.
- Have twelve months of business bank statements ready, even though four are enough to apply, and send them if a funder asks how the year looks.
- Write down your monthly deposit totals for the last one to two years, so the shape of your year fits on one page.
- Say what the money is for and when your season starts, along with anything that shows the season is coming, such as booked events, signed contracts or advance reservations.
- List any advances or loans you already carry, because a second advance taken in the slow season adds a second debit exactly when deposits are lowest.
The funders we work with generally look for about a year in business and about $20,000 a month in deposits. If you are not there yet, apply anyway, because some funders work with newer or smaller businesses and we will tell you what is realistic. Getting matched does not need a hard credit pull, since most funders prequalify from bank statements and a soft pull.
How to apply
The application is a short form plus four months of business bank statements, which you can upload or share by connecting your bank read-only. Tell us when your busy season starts and what the money is for, because an opening-stock order, payroll through the quiet months and a new piece of equipment each fit a different product. We send your file to the funders in our network that fit it and go through the offers with you before anything is signed. There is nothing to pay to apply or to see offers. To talk through your season first, call us at (818) 351-0225.
Questions about seasonal business loans
What is a seasonal business loan?
A seasonal business loan is funding arranged around a business whose sales follow the calendar, such as a line of credit drawn in the slow months, revenue-based financing taken before the busy season, equipment financing timed to the season, or a longer loan for a large project. The work is in matching the product to the gap and sizing its payment to the slowest month.
Can a seasonal business get a business loan?
Yes, a seasonal business can get a business loan or other funding, and a full year of bank statements that shows the season returning makes the file easier for a funder to read. Every funder sets its own thresholds, and we will tell you what is realistic for your file before you choose an offer.
Which type of seasonal business financing fits the slow months?
A line of credit usually fits the slow months best, because you draw only what payroll and rent need, repay once the season brings deposits back, and can draw again the following year. Revenue-based financing fits a specific need before the busy season, such as opening stock.
When should a seasonal business apply for funding?
A seasonal business should apply before the gap opens, ideally near the end of the busy season for a line of credit and four to eight weeks before the next season for stock and hiring. At the end of the season your statements still show strong deposits, and before the next one, a full year of statements shows the season coming back while there is still time to compare offers.
Do revenue-based financing payments change in the off-season?
No, revenue-based financing is repaid with a set daily or weekly payment that stays the same through the off-season, so it should be sized so that the slowest month's deposits can carry it. Some contracts include a reconciliation clause, so read it before you sign and ask who decides on an adjustment and how long it takes.
How many bank statements does a seasonal business need to apply?
Four months of business bank statements are enough to apply with us, and having twelve months ready helps, because a funder can then see the slow months next to the busy ones and confirm that the season comes back each year.
