Price a 7(a), 504, Express or Microloan: monthly payment, the FY2026 SBA guaranty fee, and whether your rate and term are inside SBA's published limits.
The flagship program. Up to $5 million for working capital, equipment, real estate or buying a business, guaranteed 85% at or below $150,000 and 75% above.
Maximum allowable variable rates for 7(a) loans, by loan size. The base rate is the prime rate or SBA's Optional Peg Rate. 13 CFR 120.214(d)
| Loan amount | Maximum over base rate |
|---|---|
| $50,000 or less | +6.5 points |
| $50,001 to $250,000 | +6.0 points |
| $250,001 to $350,000 | +4.5 points |
| More than $350,000 | +3.0 points |
A 7(a) runs ten years or less unless it finances real estate or equipment with a useful life beyond ten years, and never more than 25. Microloans cap at seven years. 13 CFR 120.212
| Use of proceeds | Longest term |
|---|---|
| Real estate | 25 years |
| Equipment | 25 years |
| Working capital | 10 years |
| Business acquisition | 10 years |
Estimates for planning only, not a loan offer. Guaranty fees are SBA's published fiscal-year 2026 rates and apply to loans approved between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026. A 504 project must carry at least 10% borrower equity, and more for a new business or special-purpose property. Your lender sets the rate, term and fees within SBA's maximums.
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SBA loans are made by banks and nonprofit intermediaries, not by the Small Business Administration itself, and each program is priced differently. This calculator prices all four: a 7(a), a 504 with its two separate notes, an Express loan and a Microloan. It computes the monthly payment, the upfront guaranty fee at SBA's published fiscal-year 2026 rates, and the effective APR once fees are counted. It also checks the two limits SBA publishes and lenders must respect — the maximum interest rate for a loan of your size, and the longest maturity allowed for what the money is for.
An SBA loan carries three costs a conventional business loan does not present the same way. First, the upfront guaranty fee: SBA charges it on the guaranteed portion of the loan, at 2%, 3%, or 3.5% plus 3.75% depending on loan size, and most borrowers finance it into the note. Second, the structure: a 504 is not one loan but a third-party first mortgage, a CDC/SBA debenture of up to 40% of project cost, and a borrower equity injection of at least 10%, each with its own rate and maturity. Third, the ceiling: SBA caps the interest rate a lender may charge on a variable-rate 7(a) at the base rate plus 3.0 to 6.5 percentage points, depending on loan size.
Monthly Payment Formula
Owner-occupied commercial real estate is the one use of proceeds that reaches a 25-year 7(a) term, and the usual reason to compare a 7(a) against a 504.
Equipment can run beyond ten years only where its useful life supports it; otherwise the ten-year cap applies, which changes the payment materially.
Operating funds, inventory and seasonal cash flow, capped at ten years. On smaller loans the rate ceiling is looser — up to the base rate plus 6.5 points below $50,000.
A complete change of ownership is capped at ten years and normally requires at least 10% equity, so the injection is not optional the way it is for working capital.
Manufacturers can borrow a 504 debenture up to $5.5 million rather than $5 million, and in fiscal year 2026 pay no upfront guaranty fee at or below $950,000.
Up to $50,000 through a nonprofit intermediary, repaid within seven years, with no SBA guaranty and no guaranty fee to add to the cost.
Guaranty fees are read from SBA Information Notices 5000-872051 and 5000-871532 for fiscal year 2026 — the $150,000, $700,000 and $5,000,000 brackets, the split at $1,000,000 of the guaranteed portion, and both fee waivers.
Most calculators blend a 504 into a single loan at a single rate, which produces a payment nobody will ever make. This one shows the first mortgage and the debenture separately, with their own rates and maturities.
Enter the base rate your lender quoted and the calculator states whether the rate you were offered is inside the maximum SBA allows for a loan of that size, under 13 CFR 120.214(d).
A working-capital 7(a) cannot legally run 25 years. Pick any term and the page states whether SBA allows it for your use of proceeds, under 13 CFR 120.212 — rather than quietly pricing a loan no lender could write.
For 7(a) and Express loans with a maturity over 12 months, SBA Information Notice 5000-872051 sets the fiscal year 2026 fee by gross loan approval amount: 2% of the guaranteed portion at or below $150,000; 3% from $150,001 to $700,000; and from $700,001 to $5,000,000, 3.5% of the guaranteed portion up to and including $1,000,000 plus 3.75% above that. A maturity of 12 months or less pays 0.25%. The $1,000,000 split applies to the guaranteed portion, not to the loan amount. For 504 loans, Notice 5000-871532 sets an upfront guaranty fee of 0.50% of the debenture plus a 0.209% annual service fee. Both notices expire on 1 October 2026.
A 504 project is funded by three pieces rather than one loan. A third-party lender provides a first mortgage of roughly 50% of project cost, a Certified Development Company provides a debenture guaranteed by SBA of up to 40% of project cost, and the borrower injects at least 10%. Under 13 CFR 120.930 the 504 loan may not exceed 40% of total project cost, and 13 CFR 120.931 limits it to $5,000,000 outstanding per borrower, or $5,500,000 per project for small manufacturers, energy-reduction projects and renewable-energy producers. The first mortgage and the debenture carry different rates and maturities, so a 504 has two payments, not one.
13 CFR 120.214(d) caps the variable rate a lender may charge over the base rate — the prime rate or SBA's Optional Peg Rate — by loan size: base plus 6.5 points for loans of $50,000 and less; plus 6.0 points from $50,001 to $250,000; plus 4.5 points from $250,001 to $350,000; and plus 3.0 points above $350,000. Fixed rates are governed separately by 13 CFR 120.213, which requires a reasonable rate and leaves the maximum to periodic publication in the Federal Register rather than fixing a formula.
13 CFR 120.212 sets a 7(a) term at ten years or less unless the loan finances or refinances real estate or equipment with a useful life exceeding ten years, and never more than 25 years including extensions. In practice that means working capital and business acquisition are capped at ten years while owner-occupied real estate can reach 25. A microloan must be repaid within seven years under 13 CFR 120.707(b). SBA does not permit balloon payments on 7(a) loans.
Under 13 CFR 120.210, a 7(a) loan of $150,000 or less may be guaranteed up to 85%, and a loan above $150,000 up to 75%. SBA Express is guaranteed at 50%. The aggregate SBA guaranty to one borrower and its affiliates is capped at $3,750,000, and the maximum 7(a) loan is $5,000,000. Microloans carry no SBA guaranty at all — they are funded by nonprofit intermediary lenders, which is why they have no guaranty fee.
Yes, in two cases in fiscal year 2026. Manufacturers in NAICS sectors 31 to 33 borrowing at or below $950,000 pay no upfront guaranty fee. SBA Express loans to businesses owned and controlled by a veteran or a veteran's spouse pay no upfront fee under section 7(a)(31)(G) of the Small Business Act. The manufacturing waiver is an annual authorisation rather than a permanent feature, so it has to be re-confirmed each fiscal year.
There can be. 13 CFR 120.223 imposes a subsidy recoupment fee when a loan has a maturity of 15 years or more and the borrower voluntarily prepays more than 25% of the highest outstanding balance during any of the first three 12-month periods after first disbursement. The charge is 5% of the prepayment in the first year, 3% in the second and 1% in the third. Loans shorter than 15 years are not subject to it, and this calculator does not model it — it assumes the loan runs to maturity.
It depends on what the money is for. A 504 project requires a borrower equity injection of at least 10%, rising for a new business or a special-purpose property. A 7(a) for a complete change of ownership normally requires at least 10% as well. A working-capital 7(a) generally requires none, which is why the equity field in this calculator starts empty rather than assuming a figure.