Describe the actual commitment and availability accurately; do not relabel uncommitted funds as expenditure.
Reconcile the funding plan
Explain which amounts are committed at risk and how the enterprise will cover projected costs. There is no universal dollar minimum. If borrowing is used, enterprise-asset security excludes the funds even where personal assets also secure it; personal-only or unsecured borrowing may qualify under the remaining conditions.
Enough to show substantial, irrevocable commitment relative to the total start-up budget, ideally most of it, plus the consular visa fee, any reciprocity fee, and professional and translation costs outside the investment. Substantiality is assessed proportionally: the amount invested is compared with the total cost of establishing a business of this kind, and the proportion must be high enough to show the investor’s financial commitment and the likely success of the enterprise. Acquiring the workboats, the mooring equipment, the shore lease and the spare inventory therefore counts, as do professional fees genuinely incurred in acquiring the business and amounts spent bringing premises into service. Keep Canadian sale taxes and closing expenses apart from capital placed into the American business, then separate committed investment, operating reserves, professional work, and verified government charges.