Understanding Your Business Loan's Real Cost
A business loan's stated interest rate only tells part of the story. Origination fees, application fees, and closing costs are paid up front but reduce the cash your business actually receives, which is why the effective APR — calculated from the loan's real cash-flow stream — is the more accurate measure of what the financing truly costs.
Beyond the payment itself, lenders and business owners alike look at the Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) to judge whether cash flow comfortably covers the obligation. A loan that looks affordable on a monthly-payment basis can still strain a business if DSCR is thin once existing debt is included.
This calculator ties those pieces together in one place: payment and amortization, effective APR, DSCR affordability, a reverse "maximum loan" calculation, side-by-side comparison of two offers, and rate/term sensitivity — so you can evaluate a real financing decision rather than just a single number.
The Formulas Behind Each Metric
- Payment = solved from Principal, Rate per period, Number of periods (and any balloon future value)
- DSCR = Cash Flow Available Before Any Debt Payments ÷ Total Debt Service
- Effective APR = annualized internal rate of return on (net loan proceeds after fees) vs. (scheduled payments)
- Maximum Loan (by payment) = present value of the maximum payment stream at the given rate and term
- Investment Recovery Months = Upfront Investment ÷ (Additional Revenue − Additional Expenses − Loan Payment)