River Edge Advisors provides loan-level accounting and fractional CFO services for alternative lenders and specialty finance companies nationwide: loan tape to general ledger reconciliation, interest and fee accruals, draw and payoff tracking, borrowing base certificates, covenant and investor reporting, from a CPA-led team of 75+.
Lenders whose books have to satisfy their own lenders
- Private and asset-based lenders funding real estate, equipment, receivables or inventory through a warehouse or credit facility.
- Small business and consumer installment lenders with hundreds of loans and payments posting every day.
- Specialty finance funds reporting to investors on yield, concentrations and losses.
- MCA funders and syndicators covered on our MCA accounting and MCA syndicator pages.
What River Edge does for lenders
Loan-level accounting
Every loan tracked from funding to payoff: draws, payments, interest and fee accruals, extensions and modifications, reconciled to the servicing system and the bank.
Loan tape to general ledger reconciliation
The loan tape and the books agree every month, with exceptions identified and cleared rather than carried forward.
Borrowing base and covenant reporting
Borrowing base certificates and covenant calculations prepared on a fixed monthly schedule, with the supporting loan tape your facility lender can verify.
Fee and income recognition
Origination, exit and extension fees recognized consistently under one policy, so yield reporting means something.
Investor and fund reporting
Portfolio statistics, yield, concentration and loss reporting for investors and partners.
Fractional CFO
Facility negotiations and renewals, cash and funding forecasts, loss reserve analysis and a senior partner for growth decisions.
The numbers a lender should see every month
- Borrowing base availability. Eligible collateral times the advance rate, less what is drawn: how much more you can fund.
- Portfolio yield. Interest and fee income as a share of the average balance outstanding.
- Delinquency and default rates. Loans past due by bucket, and charge-offs against the book.
- Concentration. Exposure by borrower, property type, geography or industry against facility limits.
- Maturities and extensions. Loans coming due and how many are being extended, a signal of credit quality.
- Cost of funds and net interest margin. What the facility costs against what the book earns.
What this looks like in practice
A loan book the warehouse lender could finally verify
We rebuilt loan-level accounting (interest and fee accruals, draw and payoff reconciliation, extension tracking) for a lender with about 180 loans, and put its borrowing base package on a fixed monthly schedule with supporting loan tape.
Read the case study →The lender now gets reporting it can verify, and the manager can see yield and concentration across the book without rebuilding a spreadsheet.
A finance team that speaks loan tape
Lenders usually compare four ways to cover accounting and reporting.
| River Edge fractional CFO team | Solo fractional CFO | Bookkeeping-only service | Full-time CFO hire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | A CPA-led team: CFO, controller and accounting staff | One senior person | Bookkeepers, often working from software rules | One executive, who still needs a team under them |
| Monthly close and reconciliations | Done by the team, on a fixed date | Usually left to your bookkeeper | Yes, transaction-level | Managed by the CFO, done by staff you hire |
| Forecasting, board and lender reporting | Included, built on books the same team closed | Yes | Limited or none | Yes |
| AP, AR and payroll management | Available in the same engagement | No | Sometimes | Needs more hires |
| Coverage when someone is out | A team of 75+ behind your account | Depends on one person | Varies | Depends on one person |
| Industry depth | Healthcare, real estate, MCA and alternative lending, logistics, tech | Varies by individual | Generalist | Varies by hire |
| Commitment | A monthly engagement sized to the work | Part-time contract | Monthly subscription | Salary, benefits and a search |
A comparison by model, not by firm: every option has its place. The River Edge model fits companies that want senior finance judgment and the people who do the daily work, in one engagement, without building a department.
Three steps, no rebuild required
- Free review of last month's books. Send us last month's books, loan tape and borrowing base certificate. We show you where they disagree and what your facility lender is likely to ask about.
- Cleanup and setup. If the history needs work, we catch up and correct it, set up the chart of accounts and reporting around how your business actually runs, and fix the close calendar.
- Monthly rhythm. Books closed on a fixed date, a reporting package you can act on, and fractional CFO time for planning, lenders, investors and the board as you need it.
Questions owners ask
What does accounting for an alternative lender include?
Loan-level tracking of draws, payments, interest and fees; monthly reconciliation of the loan tape to the general ledger; consistent fee recognition; borrowing base and covenant reporting for the credit facility; and investor reporting on yield, concentration and losses.
Can you prepare our borrowing base certificate?
Yes. We prepare the borrowing base certificate and covenant calculations on a fixed monthly schedule, with the supporting loan tape. In one engagement we reconcile about 180 loans every month for a lender and deliver its borrowing base package on schedule.
Do you work with our loan servicing system?
Yes. We work from your servicing system's data and reconcile it to the bank and the general ledger each month.
Do you also work with MCA funders?
Yes. MCA funders and syndicators are a core part of our practice; see our MCA accounting and MCA syndicator pages for that work.
Do you work with lenders outside New York?
Yes. River Edge Advisors is based in Cedarhurst, New York, and works with lenders nationwide.
How do we get started?
Request a free review of last month's books. We will walk you through what stands out and what we would fix first, with no obligation.
Find out if your loan tape ties to your books
Send us last month's books and loan tape. We'll show you where they disagree and what your facility lender would ask about first.
- → Tell us about your business and the questions you want to answer.
- → We discuss what we see: where cash is going, what doesn't tie, what we'd fix first.
- → A follow-up conversation to walk through it. No obligation either way.