Every document in a submission package takes time to assemble except one — the cover note takes minutes to write and is usually the first thing an underwriter reads. A strong note doesn't change the numbers, but it changes how quickly and how favourably those numbers get read, because it tells the underwriter exactly what they're about to find before they go looking for it themselves.
This template sets out the four-part structure a strong note follows, gives a fill-in-the-blank version to use on every file, walks a good note against a weak one on the identical deal, and closes with the one rule that keeps a note useful instead of counterproductive: it never oversells what the numbers actually say.
Why submission notes change outcomes
An underwriter reading a cold file has to reconstruct the story from scratch — piecing together income type, ratio math, and anything unusual purely from the documents themselves. A strong cover note does that reconstruction for them, in the underwriter's own terms, before they've opened a single attachment. That doesn't guarantee an easier read, but it consistently produces a faster one, because the underwriter isn't discovering the file's story cold — they're confirming a story they've already been told accurately.
Step 1. The structure every note should follow
- →The deal shape, in one line — purchase, refinance, or switch, and why.
- →The income calculation, shown, not just stated — employment type, the method used, and the resulting qualifying figure.
- →The ratios, calculated at the qualifying rate — GDS and TDS, stated plainly against the applicable ceiling.
- →Anything unusual, named with its explanation already attached — a large deposit, a recent job change, a thin credit file — before the underwriter has to ask.
Step 2. The fill-in-the-blank template
Use this structure on every submission, adjusting the specifics to the file:
- →Deal type: [Purchase / Refinance / Switch] — [one-line reason for the request].
- →Applicant: [Name/file reference], [employment type].
- →Income calculation: [method used] applied to [source figures] = $[qualifying income].
- →Ratios at the qualifying rate: GDS [ ]% / TDS [ ]%, against a ceiling of [ ]% / [ ]%.
- →Down payment: $[amount] from [source], [documented / pending] with a 90-day account history.
- →Anything unusual: [item] — [explanation and supporting document already attached].
Step 3. A good note vs. a weak note, side by side
| Weak note | Good note |
|---|---|
| “Great applicant, strong file, please approve.” | “Purchase, self-employed applicant, two-year average of Line 13500 income = $65,000. GDS 32% / TDS 38% at the qualifying rate. Down payment fully sourced, 90-day history attached. One item to flag: a $4,000 deposit in month two, documented as a tax refund with NOA attached.” |
| Leaves the underwriter to find the ratios, the income method, and any red flags on their own. | Tells the underwriter exactly what they'll find before they look, in the terms they already use to evaluate a file. |
Keeping it honest: notes never oversell
A cover note is a summary, not a sales pitch, and the distinction matters under OSFI's Guideline B-20, which expects sound, defensible underwriting practices from the institutions reading these files — a note that spins a weak number, or omits an unusual item hoping it goes unnoticed, is exactly the kind of thing that gets caught on review and erodes the underwriter's confidence in every submission that follows from the same broker.
The test to apply before sending: if the underwriter reads only the note and nothing else, would every number in it match the documents underneath? If the honest answer is no, fix the note before the file goes anywhere.
Making this repeatable across every file
Writing an accurate note this way for every file, every time, is exactly the kind of structured, repeatable output Treadstone's AI underwriting is being built to generate directly from the file's own numbers, currently in early access with an email waitlist. For a human fulfillment team writing these notes on files today, see Treadstone's fulfillment services, and pair this template with the fuller 27-point pre-submission checklist before the file goes out.