What Is Turnaround Time?
Turnaround time is the elapsed time between receiving a packet and delivering an outcome, such as a funding decision. In MCA and small business lending, this metric is used to track operational efficiency and competitiveness.
Turnaround time typically appears in reporting dashboards and team goals. Operators use it to see how quickly deals are processed, compare performance across brokers or funders, and highlight bottlenecks.
How Does Turnaround Time Work?
Turnaround time is measured by capturing timestamps at key stages.
- Start point: The clock begins when a packet or decision email arrives.
- Processing steps: The submission moves through checks like completeness review, scrubbing, and matching.
- Decision point: Underwriters review the deal and record a decision.
- Final calculation: The difference between the start point and the decision point is the turnaround time.
In Heron’s workflow, turnaround time is shortened because automation removes waiting periods.
- Fast intake: Submissions are captured from inboxes and turned into records without manual sorting.
Automated scrub: Completeness checks, risk detection, and deduplication happen instantly. - Immediate write-back: Clean fields are written to the CRM so deals are ready for underwriting in minutes.
- Ready-to-underwrite state: Underwriters access complete, scrubbed packets immediately, which cuts hours or even days off the cycle.
This makes turnaround time a direct measure of Heron’s impact.
Why Is Turnaround Time Important?
For brokers and funders, turnaround time is a competitive advantage. Shorter TAT means deals close faster, brokers retain clients, and funding happens before competitors can act.
It also reduces costs. When teams spend less time moving packets through intake and scrub, they can handle higher volumes without hiring more processors. Heron directly improves TAT by automating the steps that cause the most delay.
Common Use Cases
Turnaround time is tracked and improved in many parts of the lending process.
- Measuring the speed of moving submissions from inboxes into underwriting.
- Comparing TAT before and after automation to show efficiency gains.
- Reducing delays caused by missing documents through automated requests.
- Using shorter TAT as a selling point to brokers or clients.
- Benchmarking performance across teams to identify bottlenecks.
FAQs About Turnaround Time
How does Heron improve turnaround time?
Heron shortens the cycle by automating intake and scrubbing so that packets are ready for underwriting almost immediately. This reduces manual handling and prevents deals from sitting in queues.
What inputs are used to calculate turnaround time?
Turnaround time is calculated using timestamps from submission arrival to final decision. In Heron, these points are tracked automatically across the workflow.
Why is turnaround time a critical metric for brokers and funders?
Turnaround time directly impacts competitiveness, client satisfaction, and deal volume. A shorter TAT means more deals funded with fewer staff, which improves both revenue and operational efficiency.