Working capital grants by commercial banks represent the most important source for financing current assets. A firm seeking small business grants is required to submit an appropriate application form. There are different types of application forms for different categories of grants. The information furnished in the application covers, inter alia, the following: the name and address of the borrower and his establishment; the details of the borrowers business; and the nature and amount of security offered.

The application form has to be supported by various ancillary statements like the financial statements and financial projections of the firm. The application is then processed by the financial institution giving grant. This primarily involves an examination of the factors like ability, integrity and experience of the borrower in the particular business. General prospects of the borrowers business, purpose of grant, and requirement of the borrower and its reasonableness is also taken into perspective.

Once the application is duly processed, it is put up for sanction to the appropriate authority. If the sanction is given by the appropriate authority along with the sanction of grant, the bank specifies the terms and conditions applicable to the grant. These usually cover the amount of loan or the maximum limit of the grant, the nature of the grant, the period for which the grant will be valid, the rate of interest applicable to the grant, the primary security to be charged, the insurance of the security, the details of collateral security, if any, to be provided, and the margin to be maintained.

It is a common banking practice to incorporate important terms and conditions on a stamped security document to be executed by the borrower. This helps the bank to create the required charge on the security offered and also obligates the borrower to observe the stipulated terms and conditions.