CAM Report Format for Bank Loans: A Section-by-Section Walkthrough With Sample

A CAM report format for a bank loan runs from a one-page gist through borrower, conduct, industry, financials, limit assessment, security, rating, deviations, covenants and recommendation. This page carries one illustrative Indian MSME proposal — a ₹18.65 crore working capital and term loan — through every section with the arithmetic shown.

Key facts

• In YuSight, 100% of the figures in a CAM are cited, with one-click source verification — every number in a sample like the one below links back to the page of the audited statement, GST return or bank statement it came from, which is the difference between a sample you can read and one you can defend.
• The sample recommends less than the borrower asked for. MPBF Method II supports ₹565 lakh of cash credit against a ₹600 lakh request. A CAM that always lands on the requested figure is a CAM nobody assessed.
• Minimum DSCR, not average DSCR, is the number that decides. The sample's average DSCR over five years is 3.11x; the ramp-up year is 1.93x. Committees that read only the average approve projects that fail in year two.
• RBI puts a clock on the small end. Credit decisions on MSE loans up to ₹25 lakh must be taken within 14 working days (RBI, MSME FAQs, 30 July 2025). Above that, the lender's own board-approved turnaround norms apply.
• Asset classification carries a date or it carries nothing. SMA-0 to SMA-2 are stamped at day-end for each calendar date, with NPA beyond 90 days overdue (RBI Master Circular RBI/2025-26/13, 1 April 2025).

The borrower, the figures and the documents in this walkthrough are illustrative. They were constructed for this page to show what a finished CAM looks like. Nothing here is a real credit file, a real company or a real sanction.

Which of these three pages you actually want

This page is the worked sample — one complete proposal carried through every section. If you want the empty template instead, with each field's data type, source document and validation rule specified so you can rebuild it in Word and Excel, use the credit appraisal memorandum format template. If you underwrite in the United States, the document differs in substance — global cash flow rather than MPBF, tax transcripts rather than CMA data — and the commercial credit memo template for US banks is the one to read. For the underlying concept, see what a credit appraisal memorandum is.

[EDITORIAL] Attach the filled sample CAM (YuSight-CAM-Sample-IN.pdf, plus the matching annexure workbook YuSight-CAM-Sample-IN.xlsx with live formulas) here and at the end of the post. Do not publish until the files are live. Replace this marker with the download component.

Section 1 — Gist of proposal

The page the sanctioning authority reads first, written last.

Two things in that box do the work. The recommended limit differs from the requested limit, and the deviation count is three, which is what routes the note to a committee rather than a delegated desk.

Section 2 — Borrower profile and management

Registered in Coimbatore in 2014; Udyam certificate classifies the enterprise as Small (investment ≤ ₹25 crore, turnover ≤ ₹100 crore under the classification effective 1 April 2025 — see the RBI MSME FAQs). Two GST registrations, both Tamil Nadu. Two promoter-directors, both mechanical engineers, holding 62% and 34%; the balance 4% is held by a former employee. Combined promoter net worth ₹1,140 lakh as certified on 30 June 2026, of which ₹640 lakh is the Coimbatore factory already mortgaged to the bank — so the free net worth is ₹500 lakh, and the note says so rather than quoting the gross figure.

One group entity: Suryodaya Tooling LLP, ₹85 lakh working capital limit with another bank, Standard. Related-party sales to the LLP were ₹34 lakh in FY2026, 0.8% of turnover.

Section 3 — Conduct of account and credit history

Twelve months of the cash credit account: average utilisation 88%, peak 97%, two instances of drawing beyond the drawing power, each regularised within four days. No cheque returns for want of funds. Interest serviced by the last day of every month.

Bureau: CMR-4, no overdue reported by any lender, one closed vehicle loan with a clean 36-month history. The reading of that rank sits in CIBIL Rank and CMR for MSMEs. Bank credits for FY2026 across both accounts were ₹4,412 lakh against audited net sales of ₹4,280 lakh and GST outward supplies of ₹4,318 lakh — a 3.1% spread explained by non-sales credits, and reconciled line by line in Annexure 6. The method is in bank statement analysis for lenders.

Section 4 — Industry and business analysis

Tier-2 machining for passenger-vehicle drivetrain components. Order book at 30 June 2026: ₹1,860 lakh, covering roughly five months of the FY2027 sales projection. Installed capacity 14 CNC machining centres, utilisation 84% in FY2026.

The finding that matters: the top customer took 41% of FY2026 sales and the top three took 68%. The concentration is the single largest business risk in the file, and the note says it plainly rather than describing the customer as "a reputed Tier-1 supplier" and moving on. The mitigant offered — a three-year rate contract with the top customer expiring March 2028 — is real but time-bound, and the covenant section reflects that.

Section 5 — Financial analysis

Three audited years and one projected, in ₹ lakh.

Ratios computed line by line, FY2026 audited:

Current ratio = current assets ÷ current liabilities = 1,320 ÷ 1,024 = 1.29 TOL/TNW = total outside liabilities ÷ tangible net worth = 1,243 ÷ 724 = 1.72 Interest coverage = EBITDA ÷ interest = 531 ÷ 98 = 5.42 Inventory days = (512 ÷ 4,280) × 365 = 43.7 days Receivable days = (704 ÷ 4,280) × 365 = 60.0 days Creditor days = (388 ÷ 4,280) × 365 = 33.1 days Working capital cycle = 43.7 + 60.0 − 33.1 = 70.6 days

Two notes a reviewer will want. Creditor days here use net sales as the denominator because purchase figures are not separately disclosed in the audited accounts; the note flags the substitution rather than hiding it. And the ₹95 lakh of unsecured loans from directors sits inside total outside liabilities, so TOL/TNW is 1.72; on a quasi-equity basis it would be 1.40 — but the note does not use that figure, because no subordination letter is on file. That gap becomes deviation 2.

Section 6 — Working capital assessment

MPBF Method II on FY2027 projections, ₹ lakh:

Projected total current assets Inventory (43.7 days) 620 Receivables (60 days) 852 Cash and bank 45 Other current assets 68 ----- Total current assets 1,585 Less: other current liabilities (excl. bank borrowing) Sundry creditors (33 days) 468 Other current liabilities 152 ----- 620 Working capital gap = 1,585 − 620 965 Route A: WCG less 25% margin 25% of 965 241.25 MPBF (A) = 965 − 241.25 723.75 Route B: WCG less 25% of total current assets 25% of 1,585 396.25 MPBF (B) = 965 − 396.25 568.75 MPBF Method II = lower of A and B 568.75 Recommended cash credit limit (rounded) 565 Limit requested by borrower 600 Shortfall against request 35

The projected holding periods are the FY2026 audited holding periods carried forward unchanged, which is why the assessment is defensible. Had the projection stretched receivables to 72 days, the working capital gap would have risen by roughly ₹170 lakh and the MPBF with it — the standard way a limit gets talked upward. The full method is in MPBF calculation explained.

Drawing power on an illustrative month-end stock statement:

Inventory 512 Less: creditors for stock 300 Paid stock 212 DP on paid stock @ 25% margin = 212 × 0.75 159 Book debts up to 90 days 660 DP on book debts @ 40% margin = 660 × 0.60 396 Drawing power 555 Sanctioned limit 565

Drawing power binds ₹10 lakh below the limit, so the borrower's usable facility is ₹555 lakh in this month, not ₹565 lakh. The note says so, because a sanction letter that promises ₹565 lakh and a monthly DP that delivers ₹555 lakh produces a phone call. The margin mechanics are in the drawing power calculator.

Section 7 — Term loan assessment and DSCR

Project: a second machining unit at Kinathukadavu — building ₹400 lakh, plant and machinery ₹1,450 lakh. Total ₹1,850 lakh.

Means of finance: term loan ₹1,300 lakh, fresh promoter equity ₹350 lakh, internal accrual ₹200 lakh. Promoter contribution 29.7% of project cost against a policy minimum of 25%. Term debt to promoter contribution is 2.36:1 against a policy norm of 2:1 — deviation 1.

Repayment: 8 years including a 12-month moratorium; principal in 84 monthly instalments thereafter, ₹15.5 lakh per month.

DSCR here is computed on the Indian term-loan convention — cash accrual plus term interest, divided by term principal plus term interest — and it excludes cash credit interest:

FY2028 DSCR = (597 + 127) ÷ (248 + 127) = 724 ÷ 375 = 1.93

Include the ₹66 lakh of cash credit interest on both sides and the same year computes to 1.79. Neither number is wrong; they answer different questions, and a covenant that says "DSCR shall not fall below 1.50" without saying which one is a dispute waiting to happen. The variants are set out in the DSCR formula and every variant lenders use, and the drafting problem in covenant testing for DSCR and leverage.

Sensitivity, both cases run on FY2028, the ramp-up year:

Case 1 — sales 10% below projection Sales 7,100 → 6,390; contribution margin 30% EBITDA falls by 0.30 × 710 = 213 → 653 PBT = 653 − 372 − 193 = 88; tax 22; PAT 66 Cash accrual = 66 + 372 = 438 DSCR = (438 + 127) ÷ 375 = 1.51 Case 2 — interest rate up 200 basis points Additional interest: term 1,207 × 2% = 24; CC 620 × 2% = 12 Interest 193 → 229; term interest 127 → 151 PBT = 866 − 372 − 229 = 265; tax 67; PAT 198 Cash accrual = 570 DSCR = (570 + 151) ÷ (248 + 151) = 1.81 Case 3 — both together EBITDA 653; interest 229; PBT 52; tax 13; PAT 39 Cash accrual = 411 DSCR = (411 + 151) ÷ 399 = 1.41

The combined case still clears a 1.25 floor. That is the sentence the recommendation is built on, and it is worth more than the 3.11x five-year average.

Section 8 — Security

Realisable security against term exposure = 640 + 320 + 1,068 = 2,028 Term exposure = new TL 1,300 + existing TL 186 = 1,486 Security cover = 2,028 ÷ 1,486 = 1.36x Policy norm for grade SB-4 = 1.40x

Deviation 3. Note that the note uses realisable value, not market value, and carries the valuation date beside each figure. Using the ₹780 lakh market value would have produced a cover of 1.46x and a note with no deviation — and an examiner who found it would be right to ask why.

Section 9 — Deviations

Every mitigant in that table reappears in section 10 as an enforceable condition. A mitigant that does not is a sentence.

Section 10 — Covenants and conditions

Conditions precedent to first disbursement: promoter equity of ₹350 lakh brought in and certified; subordination undertaking for the ₹95 lakh director loan; ROC Form CHG-1 filed and CERSAI registration completed; insurance with bank clause in place for the full replacement cost.

Section 11 — Recommendation

Sanction of a cash credit limit of ₹565 lakh (against ₹600 lakh requested, restricted to MPBF Method II) and a term loan of ₹1,300 lakh is recommended, at EBLR + 3.25%, subject to the three deviations listed at section 9 and the conditions precedent at section 10. The proposal is supported by three years of audited growth at a stable EBITDA margin, a CMR-4 bureau position with no overdue, and a minimum projected DSCR of 1.93x which holds at 1.41x under a combined 10% sales shortfall and a 200 basis point rate rise. The principal risk is customer concentration at 41% of sales; it is monitored by a half-yearly reporting covenant and is not, on the present order book, mitigated away.

What a credit committee will push back on in this sample

A sample that answers every question is a sample that teaches nothing. These five are the gaps a real committee finds, and the point of showing them is that the note's structure makes each one locatable in seconds.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I download a CAM report sample format in PDF or Excel?

The filled sample above is available as a PDF alongside the annexure workbook with live formulas, so you can trace each figure back to the cell that produced it. Samples on document-sharing sites are usually a single bank's internal form with the arithmetic flattened into text, which makes them impossible to check.

What is CAM in banking?

Credit Appraisal Memorandum — the internal document a credit team writes to recommend or decline a loan proposal, and the document the sanctioning authority approves. It is also called a credit appraisal note, a process note, or a credit assessment memo depending on the lender's house style.

What is included in a CAM report for a term loan?

Everything in the sample above, plus a term-loan block that a working capital CAM does not have: project cost, means of finance, promoter contribution percentage, the repayment schedule, DSCR year by year, and at least two sensitivity cases. The moratorium period and the date of commercial operation belong there too.

Should I quote average DSCR or minimum DSCR?

Both, with the minimum stated first and the year it falls in named. In the sample the average is 3.11x and the minimum is 1.93x in FY2028 — the ramp-up year. Averages hide exactly the year the project is most likely to fail.

Why does the sample recommend less than the borrower requested?

Because MPBF Method II supports ₹565 lakh and the request was ₹600 lakh. The assessment produces the limit; the request does not. If the two always agree, the assessment is being written backwards from the answer.

How long should a CAM report be?

The sample above runs about eleven body pages with roughly forty pages of annexures. Length is not the quality signal — traceability is. A shorter note where every figure links to a source document survives review better than a long one where numbers float.

Does the CAM have to show the arithmetic, or just the ratio?

Show it. A limit or a DSCR that cannot be recomputed from the note is an assertion, and the first thing an examiner or an internal auditor does is try to recompute it.

How is a CAM different from CMA data?

CMA data is what the borrower submits — seven statements of financial history and projections. The CAM is what the lender concludes about it. CMA data feeds the spreads and the MPBF working; see what CMA data is for the input side.

Who signs the CAM?

The preparing officer and the recommending authority sign it; the sanctioning authority signs the approval. Which authority that is depends on the lender's delegation of powers, and in the sample the three deviations push the file one level up to a committee.

Key takeaways

• A finished CAM shows a recommended limit that was derived, not requested. The gap between the two is the evidence that an assessment happened.
• State the minimum DSCR and the year it occurs before the average, and run at least two sensitivity cases on that year.
• Use realisable value with a valuation date, not market value. The difference is often the difference between a deviation and no deviation.
• Define every covenant in the covenant table itself. "DSCR not below 1.50" without a definition is unenforceable.
• Say the concentration risk out loud. A note that describes a 41% customer as "a reputed Tier-1 supplier" has hidden its largest risk in an adjective.
• Every mitigant in the deviations table must reappear as a condition precedent or a covenant.

See your first CAM in 30 minutes — [book a live demo](https://yuverse.ai/yusight).

For the process that surrounds this document, see the MSME loan underwriting process in India and the credit appraisal process in Indian banks.

Sources

• RBI, Frequently Asked Questions — Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, updated 30 July 2025
• RBI, Master Circular RBI/2025-26/13 — Prudential norms on Income Recognition, Asset Classification and Provisioning pertaining to Advances, 1 April 2025
• RBI, Master Direction — Lending to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) Sector, updated 9 February 2026