For Commercial Loan Officers ·
What you'll accomplish
This guide gives you a repeatable process for generating credit memo first drafts in Claude that cuts memo-writing time from 4–8 hours to under 90 minutes. Claude handles the narrative sections while you focus on the financial analysis and credit judgment.
What you'll need
What you should see: A clean chat window with a text input box at the bottom.
Before pasting deal data, tell Claude what format you need. Copy and paste this opening prompt (customize the bracketed items):
I'm a commercial loan officer writing a credit memo for a [loan type, e.g., C&I term loan] at a [bank type, e.g., community bank]. Our credit memos follow this structure:
1. Transaction Summary
2. Business Overview
3. Management Assessment
4. Industry Analysis
5. Financial Analysis (I'll write this myself — just leave a placeholder)
6. Collateral Analysis
7. Risk Factors and Mitigants
8. Recommendation
Please help me draft sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. I'll provide the deal details below.
What you should see: Claude confirms it understands the structure and asks for deal details.
Troubleshooting: If Claude starts writing immediately without confirmation, that's fine. Continue to Step 3.
In the same conversation, paste a structured summary of your deal. Use this template:
DEAL DETAILS:
- Borrower: [Business name and legal entity type]
- Industry: [Industry and NAICS code if known]
- Loan Type: [C&I, CRE, SBA, equipment, etc.]
- Amount: $[amount]
- Purpose: [what the money is for]
- Term/Structure: [term, rate, payment structure]
- Collateral: [what secures the loan]
- Guarantors: [names and relationship]
BORROWER BACKGROUND:
- Years in operation: [X]
- Annual revenue: $[X]
- Number of employees: [X]
- Key customers/markets: [brief description]
- Owner background: [relevant experience, years in industry]
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS:
- DSCR: [X]x ([year])
- Revenue trend: [growing/stable/declining, % change]
- Net profit margin: [X]%
- Leverage: [debt/equity or debt/EBITDA]
- Liquidity: [current ratio or quick ratio]
What you should see: Claude generates a full first draft of the memo sections, typically 800–1,500 words.
Troubleshooting: If the output is too short, say "Please expand the Business Overview and Risk Factors sections with more detail."
Read the draft carefully. For each section, Claude can refine on request:
Once satisfied with a section, copy it into your bank's Word template. Fill in your financial analysis data yourself. Claude's financial narrative is based on what you gave it, but numbers should be verified against your actual spread.
Write or paste your DSCR calculation, ratio analysis, and trend commentary. This requires your judgment and specific spread data. The narrative you got from Claude is the frame; your financial analysis is the content.
Read the complete memo as if you're a loan committee member seeing it for the first time. Check: Does it tell a coherent credit story? Are any risk factors missing? Is the recommendation clearly supported by the analysis?
For a CRE loan memo:
Write credit memo sections for a $[X]M commercial real estate loan to [borrower]. Property: [type, location, SF]. Occupancy: [%]. NOI: $[X]. DSCR: [X]x. LTV: [X]%. Tenant profile: [anchor tenant info]. Include: property overview, market analysis, collateral analysis, and risk factors.
For an SBA 7(a) loan:
Write credit memo sections for a $[X]K SBA 7(a) loan to [borrower], [business type], [years operating]. Purpose: [acquisition/startup/expansion]. Include SBA eligibility statement, business overview, management, and risk factors appropriate for SBA underwriting standards.
For expanding a risk factors section:
Add 3 more risk factors to this credit memo for a [business type]: [paste current risk section]. Focus on industry-specific risks not already mentioned. Include a mitigant for each.