How much can my company borrow?

This calculator works backwards. Instead of asking how much a funder might offer, it asks how much your company could comfortably repay each month, then finds the largest amount whose repayments fit, at the cost and term you assume. It's affordability, not approval.

How to use it

1. Monthly turnover. What the business takes in a typical month, before costs. Roughly is fine.
2. Existing monthly repayments. Everything already going out on loans, advances, asset finance and revolving facilities.
3. Repayment share. The percentage of monthly turnover you're comfortable putting towards all finance repayments, existing ones included. You set this; it's between 1% and 50%.
4. Term. How many months you'd repay over.
5. APR. The annual cost you expect. If you don't know, try 18% and then something much higher.
6. Payment frequency. Daily (business days), weekly or monthly.

The method, exactly

• Monthly room = turnover × repayment share − existing monthly repayments (never below zero).
• That room is split into payments: 21 a month if daily, 52 ÷ 12 if weekly, 1 if monthly.
• Maximum amount = the present value of those payments over the term, at the APR you entered divided across the year's payment periods. In plain terms: the largest sum a lender could advance today that those payments would fully repay at that rate.
• Range = the same monthly room priced at half your APR (the high end) and at one-and-a-half times it (the low end).

Worked example

A company turning over £60,000 a month, with no existing finance, sets a 10% repayment share, a 24-month term and 18% APR, repaid monthly:

• Monthly room: £6,000
• Maximum amount: about £120,182
• Range: about £110,334 (at 27% APR) to £131,335 (at 9% APR)

That lines up with a loan of £100,000 at 18% over 24 months costing £4,992.41 a month: £6,000 a month stretches a bit further.

Now add £2,000 a month already going to an existing advance. The room drops to £4,000 and the maximum to about £80,122, with a range of about £73,556 to £87,557. Existing commitments cut borrowing capacity pound for pound.

Limitations

• It isn't approval. Funders look at filed accounts, bank statements, CCJs, existing charges and director history. A comfortable repayment doesn't mean a yes.
• The repayment share is your assumption. There's no single lender rule, and the right share depends on your margins. A 10% share is a lot for a business running on 8% margins.
• It assumes a level, amortising repayment. Cash advances priced by a factor rate don't work that way; use the MCA APR calculator to compare those.
• It ignores fees. Up-front fees reduce what you receive. Check a real offer in the offer checker.

Sterling's take: choose the repayment share on a bad month's figures, not a good one's. The calculator will happily tell you what a good month can afford.