Calculators / Calculator
SBA 7(a) loan calculator: payment, guaranty fee and APR for fiscal 2027
Most loan calculators stop at the payment. This one adds SBA's upfront fee under the new fiscal-year schedule and shows what borrowers your size were actually charged.
Fee schedule: SBA Information Notice 5000-881797, for loans approved October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. Rate benchmarks: our analysis of 7(a) loans approved July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. The payment assumes the rate never changes; most 7(a) loans have variable rates that move with prime. Lender packaging fees, closing costs and third-party reports are not included. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
What the calculator does
It answers three questions a lender's quote usually leaves open.
- What is the payment? Standard monthly amortization at the rate and term you enter.
- What will SBA's guaranty fee cost? The fee depends on the size of the loan, its term and the kind of business. The calculator applies the schedule SBA published for loans approved from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027.
- What is the loan's real annual cost? The APR line counts the guaranty fee as a cost of borrowing, the way a mortgage APR counts points.
The interest rate starts at the median for loans of your size in our analysis of 49,520 recent 7(a) loans. Change it to match your quote.
The guaranty fee, step by step
SBA does not lend the money. It promises the lender that if you default, SBA will cover most of the loss: 85% of a loan of $150,000 or less, 75% of a larger one, 50% of an SBA Express loan. For that promise SBA charges the lender an upfront fee, and its rules let the lender pass the fee on to you. You may pay it from the loan itself.
The fee is a percentage of the guaranteed part of the loan, not the whole loan, and the percentage depends on the whole loan amount.
| Loan amount | SBA guaranty | Upfront fee |
|---|---|---|
| $150,000 or less | 85% | 2% of the guaranteed portion |
| $150,001 to $700,000 | 75% | 3% of the guaranteed portion |
| $700,001 to $5,000,000 | 75% | 3.5% of the first $1,000,000 guaranteed, plus 3.75% of the guaranteed portion above $1,000,000 |
| Any size, repaid in 12 months or less | 85% or 75% | 0.25% of the guaranteed portion |
Take a $250,000 loan repaid over ten years.
- SBA guarantees 75%: $187,500.
- The fee is 3% of that: $5,625, or 2.25% of the loan.
- At 9.75%, the median for loans this size, the payment is $3,269 a month if you pay the fee at closing and $3,343 if you add it to the loan.
- Counting the fee, the APR is 10.29% rather than 9.75%.
| Loan | Guaranty | Guaranteed amount | Upfront fee | Fee as share of loan | Median rate at this size | Monthly payment, fee financed, 10 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | 85% | $42,500 | $850 | 1.70% | 10.5% | $686 |
| $150,000 | 85% | $127,500 | $2,550 | 1.70% | 9.75% | $1,995 |
| $350,000 | 75% | $262,500 | $7,875 | 2.25% | 9.75% | $4,680 |
| $700,000 | 75% | $525,000 | $15,750 | 2.25% | 9% | $9,067 |
| $1,000,000 | 75% | $750,000 | $26,250 | 2.63% | 9% | $13,000 |
| $2,000,000 | 75% | $1,500,000 | $53,750 | 2.69% | 8.75% | $25,739 |
| $5,000,000 | 75% | $3,750,000 | $138,125 | 2.76% | 8.5% | $63,705 |
Two cliffs worth knowing
Because both the guaranty percentage and the fee rate change at set amounts, one more dollar of loan can cost hundreds or thousands in fees.
- At $150,000. A loan of exactly $150,000 carries a fee of $2,550. A loan of $150,001 carries $3,375. The guaranty drops from 85% to 75% at the same point.
- At $700,000. A loan of $700,000 carries a fee of $15,750; a loan of $700,001, $18,375.
If your request is just above either line, ask whether you need the extra amount.
SBA also treats loans approved within 90 days of each other as one loan when it works out the fee, including loans from different lenders. Splitting a request in two does not get around the tiers.
Who pays no upfront fee
For fiscal 2027 the fee is 0% on loans of $700,000 or less to three groups:
- Manufacturers, meaning businesses in NAICS sectors 31 to 33.
- Food supply chain businesses in the industry codes SBA lists: most crop and animal farming, fishing, farm support services, farm machinery and farm supplies wholesalers, grocery and farm-product wholesalers, supermarkets, refrigerated and farm-product warehousing, and some trucking. The exact codes are 1111, 1112, 1113, 1121, 1122, 1123, 1124, 1125, 1129, 1141, 1151, 1152, 423820, 4244, 4245, 424910, 445110, 484220, 484230, 493120 and 493130. For the two trucking codes the relief is limited to refrigerated and frozen trucking, farm products, grain products and livestock.
- Businesses located in a rural area. SBA defines that as a county the Census Bureau classifies as at least 30% rural.
Two more cases:
- SBA Express loans to veteran-owned businesses carry no upfront fee at any size. The business must be owned and controlled by a veteran or a veteran's spouse.
- Loans repaid within 12 months pay 0.25% of the guaranteed amount. On the $250,000 example that is $469.
The ceiling for the manufacturer waiver was higher last fiscal year. If a lender quotes you a fee and you think you qualify for relief, ask which industry code they filed the loan under.
Fees your lender may and may not charge
SBA's rules say that any fee not expressly permitted is prohibited. What is permitted:
- A packaging fee for help preparing the application. A lender may charge a flat fee of up to $2,500 without documenting the work. If it charges a percentage instead, the limit is 5% of a loan of $150,000 or less and 3% of a larger loan, never more than $30,000 and never more than it charges on similar loans without an SBA guaranty.
- Out-of-pocket costs such as appraisals, environmental reports, and filing and recording charges, itemized.
- A late fee of up to 5% of the regular payment, once a payment is more than 10 days late.
What is not permitted: commitment, origination, broker, referral or renewal fees; points; add-on interest; and prepayment fees charged by the lender. A lender also may not make you buy insurance or any other product from it as a condition of the loan, and must tell you in writing that you are not required to pay for services you do not want.
There is one more fee the lender pays that you should not see: an annual service fee of 0.55% of the guaranteed balance. SBA's rules say it cannot be charged to the borrower.
What rate to expect
SBA sets a ceiling, not a price. For a variable-rate loan the ceiling is the base rate plus a spread that depends on loan size.
| Loan amount | Maximum spread over base rate | Maximum rate with prime at 6.75% |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 or less | +6.5 points | 13.25% |
| $50,001–$250,000 | +6 points | 12.75% |
| $250,001–$350,000 | +4.5 points | 11.25% |
| Over $350,000 | +3 points | 9.75% |
The base rate is fixed on the first business day of the month the loan is approved. Fixed-rate loans have a separate ceiling that SBA publishes from time to time.
Most borrowers pay less than the ceiling. In the twelve months to June 30, 2026, the median 7(a) loan was priced 2.75 points over prime. The calculator shows the range for your loan size under the rate box.
If the rate is variable
86% of recent 7(a) loans had a variable rate, so the payment the calculator shows is where you start, not a promise. Here is the same $250,000 ten-year loan if prime moves.
| Scenario | Rate | Monthly payment | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prime falls 1 point | 8.75% | $3,133 | −$136 |
| Today | 9.75% | $3,269 | – |
| Prime rises 1 point | 10.75% | $3,408 | +$139 |
| Prime rises 2 points | 11.75% | $3,551 | +$281 |
Your lender's note says how often the rate resets and whether there is a floor or a ceiling. Read that clause before you sign.
Paying the loan off early
The lender may not charge you a prepayment fee. SBA itself charges one in a single case: the loan has a term of 15 years or more, and you voluntarily prepay more than 25% of it in one year during the first three years. The fee is 5% of the amount prepaid in the first year, 3% in the second and 1% in the third. After three years there is none.
What the calculator leaves out
- Your lender's own charges. Packaging and closing costs vary. Ask for them itemized.
- Changes in the rate. The payment assumes the starting rate for the whole term.
- Eligibility. Whether you qualify for fee relief depends on details the calculator cannot check.
- The personal guaranty. Anyone who owns 20% or more of the business must guarantee the loan personally. That is not a cost you can put a number on, but it is the largest commitment in the paperwork. Here is how often these loans fail.
This page is general information. It is not an offer of credit, and we are not a lender.
Sources
- Information Notice 5000-881797, 7(a) Fees Effective October 1, 2026 for Fiscal Year 2027, U.S. Small Business Administration. Published September 3, 2026. Upfront fee tiers, fee relief and the 90-day rule. Checked October 5, 2026.
- SOP 50 10 8.1, Lender and Development Company Loan Programs, U.S. Small Business Administration. Effective October 1, 2026. Fees a lender may and may not charge, interest-rate rules, prepayment fee, definition of a rural area. Checked October 5, 2026.
- 7(a) loan program: terms, conditions and eligibility, U.S. Small Business Administration. Guaranty percentages, maximum rates and maturities. Checked October 5, 2026.
- 7(a) & 504 FOIA dataset, U.S. Small Business Administration. Source of the rate benchmarks shown in the calculator; records as of June 30, 2026. Checked October 5, 2026.
Corrections and updates
- First published, with the fiscal 2027 fee schedule.