Bring along your company's latest financial statements, your personal financial statements and an updated business plan detailing how you intend to deal with the crumbling economy.

FORBES: Entrepreneurs

Common requirements include: purpose of the loan, history of the business, financial statements for three years (existing businesses), schedule of term debts (existing businesses), aging of accounts receivable and payable (existing businesses), projected opening-day balance sheet (new businesses), lease details, amount of investment in the business by the owner(s), projections of income, expenses and cash flow, signed personal financial statements and personal resume(s).

FORBES: Washington D.C. Needs More Entrepreneurs

Personal finance sites empowered to ingest financial statements could help spendthrifts reform.

ECONOMIST: Britain wants to lead the world in exploiting consumer data

Personal tax returns, business tax returns and financial statements are considered in establishing the overall viability of a borrower, says Franco Terango, senior vice president and divisional executive at Bank of America Home Loans.

WSJ: Qualifying for a Mortgage Is Harder for the Self-Employed

The Groupon-Facebook dichotomy, in which one accounting firm was responsible for two dramatically different approaches to GAAP, demonstrates the need for actual people at accounting firms taking personal as well as corporate responsibility for the financial statements that they audit.

FORBES: Facebook's Biggest Surprise -- No Funny Numbers