Funding Numbers

SBA 7(a) loan calculator

Enter the loan amount, term and rate. You'll see the monthly payment, the SBA guaranty fee from the fee schedule in force on your application date, and the APR once fees are counted.

Program
120 = 10 years (equipment, working capital). 300 = 25 years (real estate).
Prime was 7.00% on 2026-09-21.
Added on top of the base rate.
Which businesses qualify depends on the SBA fiscal year.
Advanced
Used for the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR).
Picks the SBA fee schedule (fiscal years start October 1).

Your results

Monthly payment$6,538.51At 9.75% for 120 months
SBA guaranty fee
$11,250.00
Guaranteed portion
$375,000.00
Estimated APR with fees
10.29%
Amount financed
$500,000.00
Total interest
$284,621.45
SBA maximum rate
10.00%

Fees from the SBA fiscal year 2027 schedule. This schedule comes from a secondary source and has not yet been checked against the SBA notice. The lender's 0.55% annual service fee is not charged to you.

Estimate only, not financial, tax or legal advice. Check your own figures and contract before relying on it.

How the calculation works

  1. Guaranteed portion. The SBA guarantees 85% of 7(a) loans up to $150,000 and 75% of larger loans, up to a maximum guaranty of $3.75 million. SBA Express loans carry a 50% guaranty and top out at $500,000.
  2. Upfront guaranty fee. A percentage of the guaranteed portion, not the whole loan. For loans longer than 12 months: 2% up to $150,000, 3% from $150,001 to $700,000, and above $700,000, 3.5% on the first $1 million guaranteed plus 3.75% on the rest. Loans of 12 months or less pay 0.25%.
  3. Waivers. The SBA sets fees for each fiscal year (October 1 to September 30). In fiscal 2026, manufacturers borrowing up to $950,000 paid no upfront fee. From fiscal 2027 the waiver covers manufacturers, food supply-chain businesses and rural businesses borrowing up to $700,000. SBA Express loans to veteran-owned businesses carry no upfront fee in both years.
  4. Payment. Note rate = base rate + the lender's spread, amortized monthly over the term.
  5. APR. The guaranty fee and any packaging fee are treated as costs of the loan, whether they're taken from the proceeds, paid in cash, or added to the balance. The APR is the annual rate at which the payments repay the money you effectively receive.
  6. Rate cap. For variable loans priced off Prime, the rate is compared with the SBA maximum: Prime + 6.5% up to $50,000, + 6% up to $250,000, + 4.5% up to $350,000, and + 3% above that.
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Worked examples

All three use Prime at 7.00% plus a 2.75% spread (9.75%), a 10-year term and a fiscal 2027 application date.

1. $500,000 for equipment and working capital

  • Guaranteed portion: 75% × $500,000 = $375,000.
  • Upfront fee: 3% × $375,000 = $11,250.
  • Monthly payment: $6,538.51. With the fee taken from the proceeds, the APR is 10.29%.
  • The SBA maximum for a loan this size is Prime + 3% = 10.00%, so a 2.75% spread is within the cap.

2. $100,000: the smallest fee tier

85% is guaranteed ($85,000), so the fee is 2% × $85,000 = $1,700. The payment is $1,307.70 a month and the APR 10.16%. The maximum rate is Prime + 6% = 13.00%, which leaves lenders far more room on small loans. Check the spread you're offered.

3. $600,000 to a rural business

In fiscal 2027 this loan qualifies for the waiver, so the upfront fee is $0. The identical loan approved in fiscal 2026 would have cost 3% × $450,000 = $13,500, because rural businesses weren't covered that year. If your approval date is near October 1, the fiscal year can move the fee by thousands.

Assumptions and limitations

  • The payment assumes today's rate for the whole term. Most 7(a) loans are variable, so payments move with the base rate.
  • Only the Prime-based variable cap is checked. Fixed-rate maximums and the other base rates allowed since March 2026 (optional peg rate, Treasury yields, SOFR) aren't checked.
  • The lender's 0.55% annual service fee is excluded, because the SBA doesn't allow it to be passed to the borrower.
  • Program variants such as CAPLines, Export Working Capital and the 504 program have their own rules and aren't modeled.
  • The calculator doesn't judge eligibility, collateral, equity injection or credit. It prices a loan you've already been offered or expect to be.

When this estimate is wrong

The fee will be off if your loan is one of several approved for you within 90 days (the SBA combines them to set the fee tier), or if part of the loan refinances existing SBA debt. The payment will differ if the lender uses an interest-only period, a different day-count, or a balloon. Your lender's term sheet is the authority. Use this to check that its numbers hang together.

Frequently asked questions

Who pays the SBA guaranty fee?
The lender pays it to the SBA and usually passes it to you, either out of the loan proceeds or added to the balance. You can choose either treatment in the calculator; the APR is nearly identical.
Does the fee apply to the whole loan?
No, only to the guaranteed portion. On a $500,000 loan the fee is charged on $375,000.
Why did my fee change when I changed the date?
The SBA publishes a new fee schedule for each fiscal year starting October 1. The fiscal 2027 schedule changed who qualifies for the fee waiver.
What rate should I expect?
The SBA caps the spread over the base rate, and lenders often price close to it on smaller loans. The cap is shown in the results when your base rate is Prime.
Is DSCR a pass/fail test?
No single threshold applies to every lender. Many look for cash flow of at least about 1.15 times annual debt service, and more for riskier deals.

Go deeper: how SBA 7(a) guaranty fees work.

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Data used by this calculator

DataSBA fiscal 2026 fee schedule: as of . Source: SBA Information Notice 5000-872051, 7(a) Fees Effective October 1, 2025 for Fiscal Year 2026.

DataSBA fiscal 2027 fee schedule: as of . Source: FY2027 7(a) fee schedule as reported by Coleman Report (SBA notice number not yet confirmed). Not yet verified against the primary source.

DataPrime rate 7.00%: as of . Source: Federal Reserve H.15 (FRED DPRIME).

Sources

  1. SBA Information Notice 5000-872051: 7(a) Fees Effective October 1, 2025 for Fiscal Year 2026 (accessed 2026-09-26)
  2. NAGGL, FY 2026 Loan Fees and Clarification of Fee Calculation (accessed 2026-09-26)
  3. Coleman Report, FY 2027 fee relief for grocery, manufacturing and rural businesses (accessed 2026-09-26)
  4. SBA, 7(a) loan program terms, conditions and eligibility (maximum interest rates) (accessed 2026-09-26)
  5. Federal Reserve H.15 via FRED, Bank Prime Loan Rate (DPRIME) (accessed 2026-09-26)
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