Merchant cash advance calculator: what your MCA really costs
Enter the advance, the factor rate and the term. See the total payback, your cost in dollars, your daily or weekly payment, and what an early payoff or a second position does to the numbers.
Your offer
Early payoff discount
Existing positions and your deposits
What it costs
How to read the numbers
Total payback is the advance multiplied by the factor rate. A $50,000 advance at 1.32 pays back $66,000, full stop. The factor rate is not a percentage and it does not shrink as you pay down; the $16,000 is fixed the day you sign, unless the contract has an early payoff discount.
Cash you receive is lower than the advance. Origination, underwriting and ACH fees come off the top. On a New York disclosure this is the line called "amount disbursed." Compare offers on this number and on total payback, never on the advance amount alone.
Daily payment is total payback divided by the number of business days in the term. Most contracts debit Monday through Friday. A "120-day" term is 120 business days, which is about five and a half calendar months.
Estimated APR is what a New York, California, Virginia or Connecticut disclosure form would show: the annualized rate that makes the stream of daily payments equal to the cash you received. It is high on every MCA because the money is out for months, not years, and because it is repaid in daily pieces. It is the right number for comparing an MCA to a term loan; it is the wrong number for judging whether a 90-day bridge on a $20,000 profit opportunity makes sense. For that, use the cost of the advance in dollars against the profit you expect the money to produce.
All debits vs deposits is the number an underwriter looks at first. Add up every daily debit you already have plus this one, and divide by your average daily deposits (monthly deposits ÷ 21). Under 10% is comfortable. 10–15% is where most B and C paper sits. Above 15–20% is where funders start declining and where a reverse consolidation becomes the better conversation.
What an MCA costs per $10,000 advanced
Before fees. Multiply for your amount. Daily payment assumes five debits a week.
| Factor | Total payback | Cost | Daily at 90 days | Daily at 120 days | Daily at 180 days | Daily at 240 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.20 | $12,000 | $2,000 | $133.33 | $100.00 | $66.67 | $50.00 |
| 1.25 | $12,500 | $2,500 | $138.89 | $104.17 | $69.44 | $52.08 |
| 1.30 | $13,000 | $3,000 | $144.44 | $108.33 | $72.22 | $54.17 |
| 1.35 | $13,500 | $3,500 | $150.00 | $112.50 | $75.00 | $56.25 |
| 1.40 | $14,000 | $4,000 | $155.56 | $116.67 | $77.78 | $58.33 |
| 1.45 | $14,500 | $4,500 | $161.11 | $120.83 | $80.56 | $60.42 |
| 1.50 | $15,000 | $5,000 | $166.67 | $125.00 | $83.33 | $62.50 |
Notice the two levers. The factor sets the dollar cost. The term sets the daily payment. A shorter term does not make the advance cheaper; it makes the same cost come out of your account faster, which is why a 1.30 over 90 days feels worse than a 1.40 over 240 days even though it costs $1,000 less per $10,000.
Early payoff discounts
Many contracts drop the factor if you pay in full early, for example 1.32 falling to 1.20 if paid within 60 business days. On $50,000 that is $6,000 back. Two things to check: whether the discount is written into the agreement (a verbal promise from a rep is not a discount), and whether "paid in full" means the discounted payback or the original one. If you expect a receivable or a busy season to land inside the term, ask for the schedule before you sign, and put it in the calculator above.
If you already have an advance
A second or third position is a new advance taken while an earlier one is still being repaid. It costs more than a first position and usually runs a shorter term, because the new funder is behind the first one if things go wrong. The calculator's "all debits vs deposits" line shows the combined load. If it is already over 15%, adding a position typically does not get approved by an A or B paper funder, and the better route is a reverse consolidation that lowers the daily total rather than raising it.
Questions merchants ask about MCA cost
Is a 1.3 factor rate good?
Most offers fall between 1.20 and 1.50, and where yours lands depends on how clean the statements are, time in business, and whether you already have an advance. A "good" factor is one that is below the profit the money produces, not one that beats a benchmark.
Why is the APR so high if the factor is only 1.3?
Because APR annualizes. A 30% cost over five months is a much larger number when expressed per year, and daily repayment means you never hold the full amount for the full term. APR is useful for comparing an MCA to a loan; the dollar cost is more useful for deciding whether the advance pays for itself.
Does paying off a merchant cash advance early save money?
Only if the contract has a prepayment discount. Without one, the total payback is fixed and paying early just moves the same dollars out sooner. With one, the savings can be several thousand dollars; ask for the discount schedule in writing.
What does the New York disclosure form show?
For financing up to $2.5 million, New York requires the funder to show the total funded amount, the amount actually disbursed after fees, the total repayment, the finance charge, an estimated APR, the average monthly payment, and the prepayment terms, before you sign. This calculator produces the same figures so you can check an offer against the form.
How many business days are in a month?
About 21. A 63-day term is roughly three months, 126 days is six, and 252 days is a year. Bank holidays are usually skipped, which stretches the calendar length slightly.
How much can I get?
Most funders cap a first position at roughly 70–120% of your average monthly deposits, less any existing daily debits. Time in business, NSFs and industry move the number within that range. The application takes a few minutes and returns a real figure the same business day.