The short version
A commercial finance broker structures a business or property loan and places it with the lender most likely to approve it, from a panel that can run past 130 lenders. Your bank has one product shelf. A broker wins most of the time on price, structure and access, but not always. This guide covers both sides, what a broker costs, and when to skip the broker altogether.
What is a commercial finance broker?
A commercial finance broker is a licensed go-between. They structure business-purpose lending (business loans, asset finance, commercial property, working capital, trade finance) and send it to the one lender that best suits that deal. A bank manager can only offer their own bank's products. A comparison website sends your details to lots of lenders at once and calls it matching.
A broker works the other way from a lead form. The deal gets worked out before any lender sees a credit application.
1. Understand the deal
The broker maps out the purpose (equipment purchase, property purchase, working capital, trade cycle), the size, the timing and the exit plan. Purpose decides the right product. Timing decides which lenders are open right now. The exit decides the right term.
2. Structure the facility
Before anything is submitted, the broker designs the deal. That covers the facility type (chattel mortgage, secured term loan, revolving line, debtor finance), the security (the asset, real property, a personal guarantee, or none), the LVR, the term and how repayments work. That could be P&I, interest-only, or a seasonal structure for a business with uneven cash flow. Banks tend to fit you into their standard product. A broker builds the loan around the business.
3. Select the right lender
One lender gets the credit application. It's picked because it's shown it wants this type of deal, this industry, this structure and this kind of borrower right now. It doesn't go to five lenders at once.
4. Manage the process to settlement
The broker handles lender questions, valuations, legal requirements and signing documents, right through to settlement. The commission, paid by the lender at settlement, covers all four steps.
Broker vs bank: the practical difference
| Your bank | A commercial finance broker | |
|---|---|---|
| Lender panel | Its own products only | 130+ lenders: major banks, second-tier banks, non-banks, private credit |
| Product fit | Fits your deal into its standard product | Structures the deal, then picks the lender that fits it |
| Credit file impact | One application, one enquiry | One targeted application to the lender most likely to say yes |
| Access | Only its own book | Includes lenders that don't take direct applications |
| Cost to you | No fee, but no competition either | Usually no fee; paid by the lender on settlement, disclosed upfront |
| Best for | Simple deals with a lender you already use | Anything complex, large, or where it's unclear which lender will want it |
Aurelius Capital writes loans with the major Australian banks and their commercial arms, second-tier banks (Macquarie, BOQ, Judo, Heartland and others), specialist non-bank lenders and private credit. That range helps in three ways.
Pricing. When several lenders are really competing for the same deal, pricing moves. Your own bank has little reason to sharpen its offer if it assumes you'll come to it anyway. That matters more now than it did two years ago. The RBA has held the cash rate at 4.35% through most of 2026, so lenders are competing harder on margin, not the base rate, to win business.
Product fit. Not every lender suits every deal. Some second-tier banks are built for SME relationship lending with flexible policy. Non-bank lenders often move faster and price harder on asset finance and equipment finance. Private credit fills the gap when a deal needs speed, can handle complexity, or needs a lender open to construction risk. Knowing which lender suits which deal is a big part of a broker's job. Our guide to the six categories of business lender in Australia covers it.
Access. Some lenders don't take direct applications. Certain non-bank and private credit lenders only deal through brokers. If you go direct, you can't use them.
In the six months to September 2024, brokers settled $22.68 billion in commercial loans across Australia, up 31.2% on the year before. 31.54% of mortgage brokers now also write commercial loans. Business owners are turning to brokers to reach lenders and products a branch can't offer.
Lender appetite and your credit file
This is the most overlooked reason to use a broker. Every formal credit application puts an enquiry on your file. One or two enquiries in twelve months is fine. Several in a short time get noticed, and some lenders will decline on that alone before they've read your financials.
Say you call three banks, apply to two and get one decline. You've done real damage to your credit file before the right lender has even seen the deal.
A broker applies to one lender at a time, picked because that lender is likely to approve. That's based on current knowledge of what lenders want: which banks are open to construction risk right now, which non-banks are pricing hard on transport assets this quarter, which private lenders are lending at a given LVR. Brokers build that knowledge from steady deal flow and direct contact with credit teams. It means a broker can tell you, before applying, whether the deal will fly and with whom.
Why the shape of the facility matters
Banks don't always tell you when a structure isn't the best fit. Their job is to approve the product they sell, not to design the right one from scratch.
Take a transport business buying a $600K prime mover. Its bank might offer a standard chattel mortgage over 60 months. A broker might set it up over 84 months instead, with a balloon matched to the truck's residual value, through a specialist asset lender that likes heavy transport, at a sharper rate than the bank's standard offer. Both loans work. One suits this business better at this point in its cash cycle.
Structure matters just as much in commercial property. A commercial mortgage at 70% LVR P&I with a major bank, compared with a non-bank interest-only facility at 75% LVR, changes your cash flow, tax position and ability to service debt while you grow. For asset purchases, choosing between a chattel mortgage vs operating lease affects ownership, tax treatment and your balance sheet, as well as the monthly repayment.
How commercial finance brokers get paid
Brokers doing business-purpose lending are paid by the lender, not the borrower:
- Upfront commission: usually 0.5% to 1.5% of the loan amount, paid by the lender on settlement.
- Trail commission: an ongoing 0.1% to 0.3% a year on the balance owing. It's common in some product types, not all.
Both have to be disclosed in writing before you commit. On complex deals (structured finance, private credit, development funding) some brokers also charge you a structured finance fee, disclosed upfront. The broker's cost sits inside the lender's pricing, which is why pricing through brokers stays competitive. The full breakdown is in how commercial finance brokers get paid.
Business-purpose lending sits outside the NCCP framework that covers consumer credit. Reputable brokers still work under an Australian Credit Licence, or as a credit representative of one, and are still covered by AFCA's dispute resolution scheme. Aurelius Capital operates as credit representative 560751 of Viking Money Pty Ltd, ACL 471435 (Viking Aggregation Pty Ltd).
When going direct to a bank still makes sense
Going direct is the right call in three cases:
- You're extending a facility with the same lender and the pricing is already competitive.
- The deal is simple: an equipment loan under $200K on a standard asset, a clean borrower profile and a lender you already use.
- You already have a credit-approved term sheet you're happy with.
The rule of thumb: go direct when you know the lender, know the pricing and the structure is standard. Use a broker when any of those is unclear, or when the deal is complex, large or you're unsure which lender will want it.
Commercial finance broker vs mortgage broker
A mortgage broker generally arranges home loans for personal use, which fall under the NCCP framework's responsible lending rules. A commercial finance broker arranges business-purpose lending: equipment finance, working capital, commercial mortgages, development funding, SMSF lending. Business-purpose deals sit outside NCCP, so there's more room to build the loan around the business instead of fitting it into a standard consumer product. That's why a broker's structuring skill matters more here. See our guide to bank vs non-bank commercial finance for how that plays out across lender types.
The bottom line
Most of the time a broker beats a bank on range, structure and access. A bank wins when the deal is simple and your existing relationship is already priced well. Work out which one you're in before you pick up the phone.
Sources
- MFAA Industry Intelligence Service 19, April to September 2024
- Aussie, What experts predict for the RBA's August 2026 interest rate decision
If you've got a deal in mind and want a broker's view on which lenders will want it, how to structure it and likely pricing, the application form is below. Most enquiries get a reply within four business hours.