How to Complete a Statement of Affairs for Bankruptcy

To complete a statement of financial affairs for bankruptcy, download the correct official form for your filer type, work through each numbered part using the lookback period it specifies, and file it with your petition or within 14 days after. Individuals use Official Form 107; corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and other non-individual entities use Official Form 207. Both are free at uscourts.gov, and federal law requires the disclosure as part of every bankruptcy petition.¹ The form itself is a questionnaire; the work is getting the answers right, because inaccuracies can cost you your discharge or trigger criminal penalties.

Choose the Right Form

Using the wrong form will delay your case. Form 107 covers any individual filing personal bankruptcy under any chapter. Form 207 covers non-individual entities.² Sole proprietors file as individuals on Form 107, even when the debts are primarily business debts.

The two forms overlap but diverge in real ways. Form 207 asks about environmental liabilities, inventory records, and financial statements issued to creditors. Form 107 asks about personal gifts, gambling losses, and community property. Before you start gathering records, confirm which form applies.

Always download the current version directly from uscourts.gov. The dollar thresholds on these forms are periodically adjusted by the Judicial Conference, and the most recent adjustments took effect April 1, 2025.³ Older PDFs floating around online may not reflect them.

Complete the Required Credit Counseling First

Before you can file, federal law requires individuals to complete a credit counseling briefing from an approved nonprofit agency within 180 days before the filing date.⁴ The briefing can be done by phone or online and includes a budget analysis. You receive a certificate that must be filed with the petition and statement of financial affairs.

The exceptions are narrow. The court can temporarily waive the requirement if you show exigent circumstances and that you tried but couldn’t get an appointment within seven days of asking. That waiver lasts 30 days, with a possible 15-day extension for good cause. People with mental incapacity, disability, or active military duty in a combat zone may also be excused.⁴ The U.S. Department of Justice publishes a list of approved agencies searchable by judicial district.⁵

What Individuals Must Disclose on Form 107

Form 107 is organized into numbered parts, and each part carries its own lookback period. Some questions cover the last 90 days, others go back a full decade. Work through them methodically.²

Income. Report gross income from employment and business operations for the current year-to-date and the two prior calendar years. Report other income separately: Social Security, rental income, dividends, lawsuit settlements, gambling winnings, and pension payments.
Payments to creditors. Disclose payments above the specified dollar thresholds made within 90 days before filing. Payments to insiders — relatives, business partners, or corporate officers — go back a full year.
Legal actions. List all lawsuits, court actions, and administrative proceedings you were part of within the past year. Include any property that was repossessed, foreclosed, garnished, or seized in that window.
Gifts and charitable contributions. Disclose gifts over $600 per recipient and charitable donations over $600 total within the two years before filing.
Losses. Report property lost to theft, fire, natural disaster, or gambling within one year before filing.
Property transfers. List any sale, trade, or transfer of property outside the ordinary course of business within two years before filing. Transfers to self-settled trusts or similar asset-protection arrangements go back ten years.
Financial accounts. Include bank accounts, brokerage accounts, and similar instruments that were closed, sold, or transferred within one year before filing. Safe deposit boxes and storage units go on this list too.
Property held for others. Anything in your possession that belongs to someone else — items stored for a friend, property held in trust — must be identified.

The most common individual mistake is forgetting about debts you stopped thinking about: medical bills sent to collections, old utility balances, personal loans from family. All of them belong on the form.

What Businesses Add on Form 207

Form 207 shares much of the ground Form 107 covers and adds several categories that reflect the complexity of business operations.⁶

Inventory. If any inventory of the business’s property was taken within two years before filing, identify who supervised the count, the date, the dollar amount and valuation basis (cost, market, or other), and who holds the records.
Environmental liabilities. Disclose any judicial or administrative proceeding under environmental law, any government notification of potential environmental liability, and any hazardous material release the business reported to a government agency. These disclosures apply regardless of when they occurred.
Financial records. Provide names and addresses of every accountant, bookkeeper, or auditor who maintained or reviewed the business’s books within the two years before filing. Identify who currently holds those records, and list every creditor or financial institution that received a financial statement from the business during the same period.

Business filers routinely underestimate how long compiling this information takes, particularly the environmental and records-custody sections. If the company used multiple accountants or changed bookkeeping firms, tracking down names and service dates can add weeks.

Gather Your Documentation Before You Start

The real work is assembling the records that back up each answer. Start collecting well before you plan to file, because gaps in your records create problems that are much harder to fix once the case is open.

For income reporting, pull pay stubs for at least the 60 days before filing, tax returns for the two prior years, and records of any non-employment income like rental payments or Social Security statements.¹ For asset disclosures, gather recent bank statements, retirement account statements, vehicle titles, and real estate deeds. High-value personal property like jewelry or collectibles should have appraisals if possible, because the trustee will eventually evaluate what to liquidate against your exemptions.

For creditors and legal actions, pull loan agreements, credit card statements, collection letters, and court documents from any lawsuits. Having each creditor’s name, mailing address, and account number in hand will save significant time when you sit down with the form.

Filing Deadline and How to Submit

In a voluntary case, the statement of financial affairs must be filed with the petition or within 14 days afterward.⁷ The 14-day window is tight. Miss it and the court can dismiss your case.

Most bankruptcy courts use the Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system. CM/ECF lets attorneys, trustees, and in some districts pro se filers upload documents directly to the court’s electronic docket.⁸ Using the system requires a PACER account with filing access granted by the specific court where your case is pending. Registration and training vary by district, so contact your local bankruptcy clerk’s office if you’re filing without an attorney.

Anyone filing through CM/ECF must acknowledge responsibility for redacting personal identifiers — Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, dates of birth, and names of minor children — at each login. The system generates an electronic receipt confirming the filing date and time, and that receipt is your proof you met the deadline. If your court does not permit electronic filing for your situation, file paper copies directly with the clerk’s office.

Amending the Statement After Filing

Errors are common, and the rules allow correction. You may amend the statement at any time before the case is closed, provided the trustee and any affected parties get notice of the change.⁹ A party in interest can also ask the court to order an amendment after notice and a hearing.

Amendment is not a safety net for a sloppy filing. Trustees notice patterns; if you “forgot” three bank accounts and a property transfer, the amendment looks less like a correction and more like you got caught. File the most complete and accurate statement you can the first time. But if you genuinely discover an omission — a creditor you overlooked, a lawsuit you forgot about, an old account you closed years ago — amend promptly. Sitting on a known error is far worse than correcting it.

What Happens If You Leave Something Out

The consequences for lying or hiding information come from two directions.

Knowingly making a false statement or concealing assets in connection with a bankruptcy case is a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine, or both.¹⁰ The statute covers false oaths, fraudulent declarations, and any scheme to conceal property that belongs to the bankruptcy estate. Prosecutors do not need to prove the lie affected the outcome; the false statement alone is enough.

On the bankruptcy side, the court can deny your discharge entirely if you made a false oath, concealed property, destroyed financial records, withheld information from the trustee, or failed to adequately explain where your assets went.¹¹ Losing your discharge means you went through the entire process — fees, credit hit, public record — and still owe every dollar. The court can also deny discharge if you failed to keep adequate financial records without justification, or if you transferred property with intent to hinder creditors within a year before filing.

Trustees take disclosure failures seriously even when the hidden amount is small. The act of concealment matters as much as the dollar figure, because the system runs on the assumption that what you report is what you have.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 521 – Debtor’s Duties
2
United States Courts. Official Form 107 – Statement of Financial Affairs for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy
3
Federal Register. Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts Applicable to Bankruptcy Cases
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 109 – Who May Be a Debtor
5
U.S. Department of Justice. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – Credit Counseling
6
United States Courts. Official Form 207 – Statement of Financial Affairs for Non-Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy
7
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1007 – Lists, Schedules, Statements, and Other Documents; Time to File
8
United States Courts. Electronic Filing (CM/ECF)
9
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1009 – Amending a Voluntary Petition, List, Schedule, or Statement
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 152 – Concealment of Assets; False Oaths and Claims; Bribery
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 727 – Discharge