CMA data for a cash credit renewal: what changes when it is not a fresh sanction

Short answer: a renewal is judged on a comparison you did not have to make at the original sanction — what you projected last year against what actually happened. The new projection matters, but it is read in the light of the old one.

Why renewal is the harder exercise

At a fresh sanction the bank has no history with you. Your projections are a proposal, assessed for plausibility.

At renewal the bank has last year's CMA on file. Every figure you projected is now checkable against the audited outcome, and the credibility of this year's projection depends on how last year's turned out. That is the whole difference, and it changes what the pack has to do: it is now an explanation as much as a forecast.

The comparison the branch actually runs

The sequence below is the standard one; presentation varies between lenders, and your own sanction letter is the authority for what yours will ask.

• Projected turnover against achieved turnover. The headline comparison.
• Projected margins against achieved margins. A turnover hit with a margin miss is a different conversation from either alone.
• The working capital cycle. Debtor days, inventory days, creditor days — projected against actual. This is where an unexplained deterioration shows.
• Utilisation of the existing limit. Consistently low utilisation invites a reduced assessment; consistently at the ceiling invites questions about whether the limit was right or the cycle has stretched.
• Consistency with the stock statements filed through the year. The CMA cannot say something the monthly statements have been contradicting for twelve months.

Explaining a variance

The instinct is to present the shortfall as small. The better approach is to explain it as traceable.

A variance that can be followed into the accounts — a delayed order visible in debtors, a deferred despatch visible in inventory, a price movement visible in margins — reads as a business that knows its own numbers. A variance with no corresponding movement anywhere reads as a projection that was never grounded.

That distinction is worth more at renewal than a flattering forecast.

What to have ready

• Last year's sanction letter, with the terms and conditions attached to it
• Last year's CMA pack as filed, so the comparison can be made before the bank makes it
• Audited financial statements for the completed year
• Provisional or estimated figures for the current year
• Stock and book-debt statements filed during the year
• The limit utilisation statement for the period
• Details of any other facility taken during the year, with any bank

If the format itself is the question

The seven statements, the MPBF computation under both methods and a worked example are set out in the CMA data format explained, and the template on that page is the same one linked below.

If you are not sure a CMA is what the bank has asked for at all — the vocabulary is loose and "projections", "project report" and "CMA" get used interchangeably — start with CMA data vs project report vs DPR.

This is a working reference. Bank documentation requirements vary by lender and are confirmed with the branch before the pack is prepared.