--- title: "Business Loan Calculator | Payment and Total Cost" url: "https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loan-calculator/" description: "Work out the payment, total repaid and real cost of a business loan. Adjust the amount, rate and term, and see the full payment schedule." --- # Business Loan Calculator A $50,000 business loan repaid over 12 months at 7.1% costs **$4,328.64 a month**, $51,944 repaid in total, and $1,944 of that in interest. Work out the same three numbers for any amount, rate and term, on a monthly or weekly schedule. [See what you qualify for](https://www.fundbetter.com/apply/) [786-882-2705](tel:+17868822705) Show the full payment schedule | # | Payment | Interest | Principal | Balance | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Enable JavaScript to build the schedule. The totals above are calculated without it. | | | | | ## The payment is only half the answer The payment is the number most people come looking for. The total cost is the one that decides whether the funding was worth taking, so both sit together above. Lengthening the term moves them in opposite directions, and seeing that trade in a single view is the point of the tool. Every amortizing business loan uses one formula. The payment is the amount borrowed multiplied by the periodic interest rate, divided by one minus one plus that rate raised to the negative number of payments. The periodic rate is just the annual rate divided by payments a year, so 7.1% annually is about 0.59% a month or 0.14% a week. Each payment covers the interest accrued since the last one, and whatever is left reduces the balance, which is why early payments are mostly interest and later ones are mostly principal. ## What the default rate is, and is not The calculator opens at 7.1% because that is roughly what banks were charging. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's [Small Business Lending Survey for the first quarter of 2026](https://www.kansascityfed.org/surveys/small-business-lending-survey/small-business-lending-q1-2026/) put median rates on new small business term loans at urban banks between 6.7% fixed and 7.1% variable. Two things follow. It is a median, so half of all loans priced above it. And it is a *bank* figure, which matters because banks decline most applicants that alternative lenders approve. Funding that opens at a 500 credit score prices higher than a bank median, and pretending otherwise would make this tool useless. Put the rate you have actually been quoted into the field and the answer becomes real. ## Why a factor rate will not fit this calculator A [merchant cash advance](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/merchant-cash-advance/) and revenue-based funding are priced as a factor rather than a rate. A 1.35 factor on $50,000 means $67,500 repaid, full stop, however long it takes. Nothing accrues over time, so entering 1.35 as a percentage here produces a meaningless number. That is also why the two cannot be compared as quoted. A factor is fixed and a rate is a function of time, so repaying an advance faster saves you nothing while repaying a loan faster does. Compare total dollars repaid and the number of weeks of payments, and the comparison becomes honest. A dedicated tool for factor rates is next on the list. ## What this calculator cannot tell you It prices a scenario, not an offer. The rate you are actually quoted depends on the product, your revenue and your credit profile, and no calculator can guess those. What lenders check is covered in [what lenders look at on a business loan application](https://www.fundbetter.com/blog/business-loan-requirements/), and at FundBetter a typical approval starts around a 500 personal credit score, roughly $15,000 in monthly revenue, and six months in business. Structure matters as much as rate. A [short-term business loan](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/short-term-business-loans/) amortizes the way this calculator models. A [business line of credit](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/business-lines-of-credit/) charges interest only on what you have drawn, so an open line sitting at zero costs nothing to hold. [Equipment financing](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/equipment-financing/) is secured against the machine, and [long-term business loans](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/long-term-business-loans/) stretch the same arithmetic over years instead of months. All eight sit on the [business funding options](https://www.fundbetter.com/business-loans/) page. ## Questions about business loan payments How is a business loan payment calculated? Multiply the loan amount by the periodic interest rate, then divide by one minus one plus that rate raised to the negative number of payments. The periodic rate is the annual rate divided by payments per year, so 12 for monthly and 52 for weekly. A $50,000 loan over 12 months at 7.1% works out to $4,328.64 a month. What is the monthly payment on a $50,000 business loan? At 7.1% over 12 months the payment is $4,328.64 a month, with $51,944 repaid in total and $1,944 of that being interest. Stretch the same loan to 36 months and the monthly payment falls by roughly two thirds while the total interest roughly triples. Does a longer term make a business loan cheaper? No. A longer term lowers the payment and raises the total cost, because interest accrues over more periods. The right question is whether the lower payment is worth the extra cost, which depends on what the money is buying and how quickly it pays back. Why do some business lenders quote a factor rate instead of a rate? Merchant cash advances and revenue-based financing are priced as a factor, so a 1.35 factor on $50,000 means $67,500 repaid regardless of how long it takes. A factor is not an interest rate and cannot be compared to one directly. Compare total dollars repaid and the number of weeks of payments instead. Does this calculator tell me what I will be approved for? No. It prices a scenario you enter, not an offer. Approval depends on your revenue, time in business and credit profile, and the rate you are offered depends on the same things plus the product. Checking your options with FundBetter uses a soft credit pull. ## See the rate you would actually get A calculator prices the scenario you give it. An advisor prices your business. Checking takes a couple of minutes, uses a soft credit pull, and covers offers from $5,000 to $5 million. [See what you qualify for](https://www.fundbetter.com/apply/) [Talk to a funding advisor](https://www.fundbetter.com/contact/)