Hi Max,

Speaking from an Australian broker’s perspective, it really comes down to how underwriters interpret financials from different documentation sources. There is no “one size fits all”—it depends entirely on the business structure and accounting methods.

Generally, lenders use one of three methods to assess self-employed income:

1. Full Documentation
(Standard Assessment)
Most lenders assess the last two financial years, averaging the Net Profit (plus add-backs).
Recent Performance: More lenders are now open to assessing the most recent year in isolation. This helps businesses showing strong recent growth, though some lenders cap this at 15% year-on-year growth (otherwise, they revert to the two-year average).

Current Performance (BAS & Cashflow)
For businesses with strong cash flow, we can use Business Activity Statements (BAS) to assess income, supported by six months of business bank statements. This allows us to use current performance rather than historical tax returns.

Alt Doc / Self-Declared
For various reasons, some self-employed applicants won’t have the documents above. In these cases, they can “self-declare” their income, supported by an accountant’s declaration.
Note: This is typically more expensive due to the higher risk profile. It is usually the domain of non-banks and private lenders