Keep anticipated funds distinct from actual qualifying commitment under the applicable rules.
Track the real amounts and dates
Identify obligations, deductions and transfers. There is no universal E-2 total that makes an unsupported funding history sufficient.
Costs actually incurred to establish and operate the business: lease and deposits, software, registration and bond, insurance, equipment, initial payroll and committed working capital. The investment consists of the money placed at risk in the enterprise: the purchase price, working capital committed to the business account, equipment and inventory bought for it. Substantiality is proportional: the comparison is to the total cost of creating an operating enterprise of this kind, including premises, processing equipment, licensing and working capital. Costs incurred to prepare an immigration application are ordinarily not the same as capital committed to the enterprise, while genuine business legal and translation expenses may be viewed differently. Use a purchase valuation, startup budget, invoices, lease, equipment schedule, capitalization plan, forecast assumptions, and records showing what has already been committed. Separate three pots that tend to be mixed after a partner leaves: the capital committed and at risk in the enterprise, the working reserve the business needs to reach its plan, and the household’s own living costs. Amounts already spent on the business — equipment, stock, leasehold improvements, non-refundable deposits — are usually easier to characterise, because the expenditure has occurred.