Business Loan Calculator
Work out a business loan's monthly payment and full cost, with upfront fees folded into an effective APR so offers can be compared on one honest number.
Price a business loan like a lender prices you
Commercial offers arrive in mixed dialects: a term loan at a stated rate, another quoted with flat fees, an online offer in factor rates. This calculator forces one dialect: the monthly payment, the total cost, and an effective APR with upfront fees counted — so the dialects can be compared.
Effective APR = the rate at which the payment stream is worth the net proceeds (amount − upfront fees)
Example: $100,000 at 9% over 7 years with $2,500 of upfront fees: payment $1,609.25, total interest $35,176, and an effective APR around 9.8% once the fee is priced in. A rival offer at 9.5% with no fees would cost less despite the higher stated rate.
Watch for the factor-rate dialect
Merchant cash advances and some online products quote a factor (say 1.3) instead of a rate: you repay 1.3 × what you took, on a short schedule. On a one-year schedule that factor can equal an APR well past 40%. Any offer that will not state an APR should be converted before it is compared — if it cannot be converted on this page's principles, that is information too.
How this is calculated
The loan amortizes monthly at the nominal rate ÷ 12 over the entered term; payments are contractual on the full amount. Effective APR uses the actuarial construction: solve for the monthly rate that discounts the payments to the net proceeds (amount − fees), then annualize × 12. Daily-payment products and factor-rate advances are outside this model — deliberately, and the page says why.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good rate for a small-business loan?
It ranges enormously by lender type and credit: bank and SBA loans price lowest (often prime plus a few points), online lenders much higher. The useful comparison is effective APR against other real offers, not against an ideal.
SBA loan or conventional term loan?
SBA 7(a) loans carry a government guarantee, allowing longer terms and lower down payments for borrowers banks might decline; they add guarantee fees and paperwork. Price both on total cost and effective APR.
Do business loans amortize like personal loans?
Term loans generally do — level monthly payments, interest on the declining balance. Lines of credit do not: they behave like the HELOC pattern (interest on the drawn balance), priced on that page.
Should fees really change my decision?
On short terms, absolutely: a $2,500 fee on a 2-year loan is a far heavier rate burden than the same fee on 7 years — which is exactly what effective APR exposes.
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