This calculator from Ivyview Lenders, a small-business funding broker in Greenville, North Carolina, turns an amount, an annual note rate and a term in months into a monthly payment, total interest and total repaid for a standard amortizing loan. The page also shows how to build the month-by-month schedule. Results are arithmetic, not an offer; lending partners set actual terms.
The math behind the three results
- r (monthly rate) = annual note rate ÷ 100 ÷ 12
- n = term in months
- Payment = amount × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−n). If the rate entered is zero, the payment is simply amount ÷ n.
- Total repaid = payment × n, and total interest = total repaid − amount
It assumes the rate never changes, payments fall once a month, and there are no fees or balloon. Results are rounded to the cent, so a lender's figures can differ by a few cents.
Build the amortization schedule yourself
The calculator gives totals. To see each month, set up six columns in a spreadsheet and copy the formulas down one row per payment:
| Column | Formula |
|---|---|
| Month | 1, 2, 3 … up to n |
| Opening balance | The loan amount in month 1; afterwards, the previous row's closing balance |
| Payment | The payment from the calculator, the same every row |
| Interest | Opening balance × r |
| Principal | Payment − interest |
| Closing balance | Opening balance − principal |
The closing balance should reach zero in the final row, give or take rounding. Two patterns show up straight away: the interest column shrinks every month because it is charged on a falling balance, and the principal column grows by the same amount, since the payment never changes. Most of the interest is paid in the early part of the loan.
Reading a balloon payment from the schedule
Some business loans calculate payments as if the loan ran for a long term but require the remaining balance to be paid in full much earlier. That lump sum is the balloon. To size it, enter the longer amortization term in the calculator, build the schedule, and read the closing balance on the row where the loan actually comes due. That figure is what would be owed at that point, before any fees the agreement adds.
Our term loan page explains balloons and prepayment terms in plain language.
Why your result may not match the lender's
- Payment frequency. Weekly or daily payments use a different r and n. For weekly payments, r = annual rate ÷ 100 ÷ 52 and n = the number of weeks.
- Day-count method. Some lenders compute interest on actual days elapsed, or on a 360-day year, which shifts the figures slightly.
- Rate vs. APR. The note rate drives the payment. An APR folds certain fees into a yearly figure for comparison, so entering it won't reproduce the lender's payment.
- Financed fees. Fees added to the balance raise the amount you're repaying; fees deducted from proceeds mean you receive less than the loan amount.
- Variable rates. If the rate can change, the schedule changes with it.
Using the result
A payment matters in relation to what the business earns. Add the new payment to your existing obligations from a debt schedule, then compare the total with operating income using the debt service coverage ratio. What lenders look for covers the other questions in a review. For equipment priced with a down payment, see equipment financing. A merchant cash advance is not a loan and is priced with a factor rate; use the factor rate calculator for it.
By Ivyview Lenders · Updated