Every business loan calculator asks for a rate and term you don't know yet — which is backwards, because the question owners actually have is simpler: "If I borrow $250,000, what hits my bank account every month?" This guide answers that directly, with real payment tables for $50,000 to $1,000,000 across the loan structures businesses actually get, plus the math to figure out what payment your revenue can genuinely support.
The payment table: $50K to $1M at a glance
Here's what monthly payments look like across four common structures, using rates that are typical (not promised) for qualified borrowers as of August 2026. SBA 7(a) rates float with the Prime Rate, so treat these as realistic midpoints, not quotes.
| Loan amount | Short-term (18 mo, ~25% APR) | Term loan (5 yr, ~10%) | SBA 7(a) (10 yr, ~10.5%) | SBA/CRE (25 yr, ~10.5%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | ~$3,360 | ~$1,062 | ~$675 | ~$472 |
| $100,000 | ~$6,719 | ~$2,125 | ~$1,349 | ~$944 |
| $250,000 | ~$16,798 | ~$5,312 | ~$3,373 | ~$2,361 |
| $500,000 | rare at this size | ~$10,624 | ~$6,747 | ~$4,721 |
| $1,000,000 | rare at this size | ~$21,247 | ~$13,493 | ~$9,442 |
Two things jump out. First, the spread is enormous: the same $100,000 can cost $944 a month or $6,719 a month depending on structure. Second, term length drives the payment far more than the interest rate does. Moving from a 5-year to a 10-year term cuts the payment by roughly 37% even at a slightly higher rate.
Why the same loan amount produces wildly different payments
Three levers set your payment:
Term length. This is the big one. Doubling the repayment period doesn't halve the payment (interest accrues longer), but it comes close on the front end. A $500,000 loan drops from about $10,624/month over 5 years to about $6,747/month over 10.
Interest rate. Meaningful, but secondary at normal ranges. On a $250,000 5-year loan, moving from 9% to 12% raises the payment from roughly $5,190 to about $5,561 — real money, but nothing like the term-length effect.
Payment frequency. Many short-term online lenders debit weekly or daily, not monthly. A "$1,550 weekly payment" is about $6,700/month in cash-flow terms. Always convert to a monthly equivalent before comparing. And if a lender quotes a factor rate instead of an interest rate, convert it — our guide on factor rates vs. APR shows how.
A worked comparison: $250,000 three ways
Suppose you need $250,000 for an expansion. Here's the honest trade-off between the three most common paths:
| Short-term (18 mo) | Term loan (5 yr, ~10%) | SBA 7(a) (10 yr, ~10.5%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly payment | ~$16,798 | ~$5,312 | ~$3,373 |
| Total interest paid | ~$52,400 | ~$68,700 | ~$154,800 |
| Typical funding speed | Days | 1–3 weeks | 30–90 days |
| Typical requirements | 6+ mo in business, moderate credit | 1–2+ yrs, solid credit | 2+ yrs, strong file, more paperwork |
Notice the tension: the short-term loan has the lowest total interest (less time for interest to accrue) but a payment nearly five times the SBA option — a payment that can strangle cash flow. The SBA loan costs the most in total dollars if held to maturity, but the low payment leaves room to operate, hire, and absorb slow months. There's no universally "cheapest" answer; there's the structure your cash flow can actually carry.
One more nuance: total interest on a long loan assumes you keep it the full term. Many owners take the 10-year SBA payment for safety, then prepay in years 3–5 when the expansion pays off — capturing low payments and lower lifetime cost. SBA 7(a) loans with terms under 15 years have no prepayment penalty; always confirm prepayment terms on any loan.
How much payment can your revenue actually support?
Lenders answer this with the Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR): your free cash flow divided by your total debt payments. Most want at least 1.15x to 1.25x coverage. You can run the same math yourself in three steps:
- Find your monthly free cash flow. Start with average monthly net profit from your P&L, add back owner salary flexibility, depreciation, and any interest you're already paying, then subtract existing debt payments. Be honest — use a 12-month average, not your best month.
- Divide by 1.25. That's roughly your maximum sustainable new payment in a lender's eyes.
- Match it to the table above to see what loan sizes are realistic.
Example: A business doing $1.2 million in annual revenue with a 10% net margin clears about $10,000/month. With no other debt, dividing by 1.25 gives a maximum comfortable payment of $8,000/month. That supports roughly a $375,000 five-year term loan — or nearly $590,000 on a 10-year SBA 7(a). Same business, same cash flow, radically different borrowing capacity depending on structure.
Working backwards: from payment to loan size
If you know what payment fits your budget, here's approximately how much loan each $1,000/month supports at typical current rates:
| Structure | Loan supported per $1,000/month |
|---|---|
| Short-term, 18 months (~25% APR) | ~$14,900 |
| Term loan, 3 years (~12%) | ~$30,100 |
| Term loan, 5 years (~10%) | ~$47,100 |
| SBA 7(a), 10 years (~10.5%) | ~$74,100 |
| SBA/real estate, 25 years (~10.5%) | ~$105,900 |
So if your DSCR math says you can support $5,000/month, you're looking at roughly $235,000 in 5-year term loan capacity or about $370,000 in 10-year SBA capacity. This is also why lenders push borrowers with big projects toward SBA structures — the longer amortization makes the deal cash-flow. For more on sizing, see how much can I borrow.
▦Estimate your term loans paymentsRun the numbers in the term loans estimator →▸Five things that change the real payment
Origination fees. A 2–5% origination fee is often deducted from proceeds. Borrow $250,000 with a 3% fee and you receive $242,500 — but pay on the full $250,000. Gross up your request if you need a specific net amount.
Variable rates. Most SBA 7(a) loans float with Prime. If Prime rises 1%, the payment on a $500,000 10-year loan rises by roughly $270/month. Budget headroom for it.
Balloon structures. Some commercial real estate and bank term loans amortize over 20–25 years but mature in 5–10, leaving a large balloon to refinance. Low payment now, refinancing risk later.
Weekly and daily debits. Beyond the cash-flow crunch, frequent debits raise NSF risk if your deposits are lumpy. Match payment frequency to how your revenue actually arrives.
Prepayment penalties. Some lenders charge fixed fees or require all scheduled interest even on early payoff. If your plan is "long term for safety, prepay when able," confirm that's actually allowed cheaply.
Getting real payment quotes — not calculator estimates
Every number above is a realistic midpoint, but your actual payment depends on your credit profile, time in business, revenue, and industry — and different lenders will quote the same file very differently. A bank might offer $250,000 at 5 years while an SBA lender offers 10 and an online lender offers 18 months, with monthly payments ranging from $3,400 to $16,800.
That spread is exactly why comparing matters. EQ Funding is a financing marketplace, not a lender: one application reaches a network of lenders across the US and Canada who compete for your business, so you can put actual payment quotes side by side — term loans, SBA loans, and more — and pick the structure your cash flow can genuinely carry.