What stacking looks like on a statement
A merchant cash advance is repaid by debits from the merchant's account, usually a fixed amount every business day or every week. The Federal Reserve describes stacking as providing a cash advance to a business that already has one, and the FTC notes that stacked advances can encumber the same receipts. Each funder collects separately, so a stacked account shows two or more series of recurring debits running side by side.
| Descriptor | Amount | Rhythm | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| KESTREL RIDGE CAP MERCH DEBIT | −$289.00 | Every business day | MCA, Kestrel Ridge Capital |
| OMBREL FUNDING PAYMENT 0082 | −$1,150.00 | Every week | MCA, Ombrel Funding |
| ONLINE TRANSFER FROM CHK 5520 | $5,400.00 | Once | Transfer from the merchant's other account |
The funder names are illustrative. On a real statement the name comes from the Company Name field of the funder's ACH batch, which Nacha's file format limits to 16 characters, so longer names arrive shortened or abbreviated. A funder can also collect under its processing name, and the same funder can appear under more than one descriptor.
How to find every position, step by step
- List every debit that repeats at the same amount, or within a narrow range, across the statements.
- Check the rhythm of each series. A daily pull lands one business day after the last; a weekly one six to eight days later.
- Match each series to its funder from the descriptor. Look past truncation: a shortened funder name is still the funder.
- Find the funding deposit: a credit from the same funder before the first pull. It dates the advance and shows its size.
- Compare each series' last pull with the statement's end date. A series still pulling at the end is open; one that stopped earlier may have been paid off, renewed or moved to another account, so ask.
- Keep MCAs apart from bank loans, leases, BNPL, factoring and debt collection, and leave credit card payments out.
- Look for pulls that came back. A funder debit returned as an NSF or reversal for the same amount a few days later wasn't paid.
Reading the cadence
The gap between pulls tells you the cadence, and the cadence turns one payment into a monthly figure. Underly needs at least three pulls before it names a cadence, counts business days for daily pulls with bank holidays allowed for, and uses these windows for the rest:
| Cadence | Gap between pulls | Payments a month |
|---|---|---|
| Daily | 1 business day | 21.7 |
| Weekly | 6 to 8 days | 4.33 |
| Biweekly | 13 to 16 days | 2.17 |
| Monthly | 27 to 34 days | 1 |
When the gaps don't fit one window, treat the cadence as unknown rather than forcing it. A series that switches rhythm mid-file can mean a modified or renewed advance.
Working out the monthly burden
Multiply each position's payment by its payments a month and add the positions together. In the example above, $289 a business day is about $6,271 a month and $1,150 a week is about $4,980, so the merchant is already paying about $11,250 a month before a new advance.
Set that total against the merchant's true revenue to see how much room is left before a new advance.