Form 1084
Fannie Mae’s self-employed income analysis worksheet. Lenders use it to standardize how they calculate qualifying income from Schedule C and other self-employment documents. It includes add-back calculations for depreciation, depletion, and other non-cash business expenses.
How it works in practice
Form 1084 is the worksheet underwriters fill in, line by line, from your returns: Schedule C net profit in, depreciation and other non-cash add-backs restored, disallowed items removed, the result averaged across two years (or weighted to the recent year when the trend supports it). Freddie Mac's Form 91 is the sibling document; the arithmetic is nearly identical.
Its value to a borrower is predictability. Because the worksheet is public and mechanical, you can run your own numbers before any lender does — take your last two Schedule Cs, add back the depreciation lines, and divide by 24. That figure, not your gross revenue and not your bank balance, is the monthly income a conventional underwriter will plug into your DTI. Discovering it early reshapes the whole plan: target price, loan program, timing.
The worksheet also explains outcomes that otherwise feel arbitrary. Two borrowers with identical revenue can qualify for very different loans because one depreciates equipment (restored) while the other rents it (not restored). When the 1084 math lands short of your real cash flow, that's not a dead end — it's the documented case for a bank statement or P&L program, and our self-employed income calculator mirrors the same lines so you can see the gap precisely.
Common questions
Do all lenders use Form 1084?
Every conventional lender runs some version of this cash-flow analysis — Fannie's 1084 or Freddie's Form 91 — and non-QM full-doc programs borrow the same logic. The worksheet brand matters less than the constant: qualifying income comes from analyzed tax returns, not gross receipts.
Can I fill out Form 1084 myself?
You can and should, as a planning exercise — the form is public. Lenders complete their own from your actual returns, so treat yours as a preview. If your self-calculated number and the lender's disagree, ask for the line-by-line; the difference is usually one disallowed add-back.
Related terms
- 2-year average — How conventional lenders handle self-employed income variability: they average qualifying income across the tw…
- Depreciation add-back — Depreciation is a non-cash expense — it reduces Schedule C net income without representing real money leaving…
- Rising income / declining income — Income trend affects how lenders apply the two-year average. Rising income (year 2 higher than year 1) is favo…
- Add-back — A non-cash or one-time business expense that can be added back to Schedule C net income when calculating quali…
- 1099-NEC / 1099-K — IRS forms reporting non-employee compensation. 1099-NEC covers freelance and contractor income paid by clients…
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Sources
Educational definition only — not financial, legal, or tax advice. Programs and limits change; verify current terms with a licensed professional.