Merchant Cash Advance Calculator

About this calculator

A merchant cash advance (MCA) isn't structured as a traditional loan with an interest rate — a lender advances cash to a business and gets repaid by taking a fixed percentage of future card sales (or fixed daily/weekly debits) until the advance times a factor rate is repaid. A factor rate of 1.3, for example, means a 10,000 advance requires repaying 13,000 total, regardless of how long it takes.

Because factor rates aren't quoted as an annual percentage, MCAs can look deceptively cheap next to a loan's APR when they're often far more expensive once the repayment period is accounted for. This calculator converts the factor rate and repayment timeline into a clearer picture of total cost and effective rate, which is what small-business owners actually need to compare an MCA fairly against a term loan or line of credit.