The SBA deal calculator

The one question a broker's flyer never answers: does this deal cover an SBA loan at the price on the table. Sources and uses, the annual debt service on a 10-year 7(a) loan, and two coverage ratios - one on your SDE as entered, one after the pay of whoever runs the business, which is closer to the lender's own EBITDA-based test - from your own numbers. Nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere; it runs on this page only.

This never shows a recommended price or a verdict on the deal. It shows sources and uses, annual debt service, and both coverage ratios, applied to the numbers you enter, and where to confirm each SBA convention with your own lender.

Where these numbers come from: the 1.25 and 1.15 coverage minimums, the Quality of Earnings requirement at $3 million on an Initial Acquisition or a Business Expansion, and the 10% minimum equity injection are all in the SBA's new rules for business buyers, effective October 1, 2026.

The fields below are filled in with an example deal so you can see how this works. Replace them with your own numbers; nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere, it is calculated on this page only.

Deal type

Minimum DSCR for this deal type: 1.25x

Purchase price

Real estate excluded from this calculator.

Seller's discretionary earnings (SDE)

Annual cash flow available to service debt, your own number or the broker's stated figure.

Buyer cash available

Cash you plan to put into the deal.

Closing costs

Default estimate shown. SBA closing costs vary by lender and deal; edit for your deal.

Additional working capital reserve

Default estimate shown. Edit for your deal.

Interest rate

Annual rate. Never assumed; use your own lender's quote.

Seller note amount (optional)

Leave at $0 if there is no seller note.

Other annual debt (optional)

Any other annual debt service the buyer already carries.

Who will run the business day to day

You, the buyerA hired manager

What you need to draw to live on

The lender's coverage test runs on earnings after this pay, not on SDE. The figure here is a starting point scaled to your SDE, Probity's own rule of thumb rather than a wage survey or an SBA figure. Type what the job really costs.

Seller note is on full standby (no payments during the SBA loan's term). A full-standby note may count for up to half of the required equity injection. A note not on standby is treated here as its own amortizing debt, on the same rate and 10-year term as the SBA loan (a simplifying assumption for this estimate).Finance the guaranty fee into the loan (unchecked: paid at closing, shown separately below).

Fixed for this estimate, per SBA structural convention, confirm with your lender: 10-year (120-month) full amortization, no real estate, and a required equity injection of 10% of total project cost.

Sources and uses

Total project cost: $905,000
Required equity injection (10%): $90,500
Cash required from buyer: $90,500
Cash due at closing: $111,631
Buyer cash entered: $100,000

Equity injection plus the guaranty fee, which is paid at closing unless you finance it.

Buyer cash covers the required injection.

SBA loan amount: $805,000
Guaranteed portion (75%): $603,750
Guaranty fee (3.5%): $21,131

Guaranty fee estimated from the SBA's Maximum Upfront Fee chart; your lender's figure may differ. Shown as paid at closing, not added to the loan above.

Annual debt service

Monthly payment, SBA loan: $11,318
Annual debt service, SBA loan: $135,815
Total annual debt service: $135,815

Debt service coverage ratio (DSCR)

Annual debt service: $135,815
Minimum DSCR for this deal type: 1.25x

Coverage after the salary above, closer to the lender's basis

1.07x

Coverage is below the 1.25x minimum.

Coverage on your SDE as entered, not the lender's basis

1.62x

Coverage meets the 1.25x minimum.

Also clears 1.50x, Probity's own cushion, not an SBA requirement.

The SBA's test runs on EBITDA after paying whoever runs the business, so the second number is the optimistic one. Both are estimates, not your lender's answer: this page starts from the SDE you typed, while a lender spreads the tax returns itself and may strip out other add-backs, so its number can move again.

Owner take-home after pay and debt

SDE: $220,000
Less manager/owner pay entered above: $75,000
Less total annual debt service: $135,815
Owner take-home after pay and debt: $9,185

SOP 50 10 8.1 rule checks this screen applies

DSCR floor
1.25x minimum historical DSCR for Initial acquisition, no projections permitted (SOP 50 10 8.1 Appendix 15 Credit Standards).
Confirm with your lenderVerify against the primary SOP text; secondary sources agree on this point.
Amortization
10-year (120-month) full amortization, real estate excluded.
Confirm with your lenderConfirm with your lender.
Effective date
Applies to loans numbered on or after 2026-10-01.
Confirm with your lenderA deal closing before that date may still underwrite on the prior SOP's numbers; confirm with your lender.
Cash Proof requirement
Mandatory lender-ordered QoE (which must include a Cash Proof) on Initial Acquisitions and Business Expansions at or above $3M purchase price, excluding owner-occupied real estate. Owner Buyout and ESOP or cooperative purchases are exempt at any price.
Confirm with your lenderConfirm with your lender.
Independence
The QoE may not be prepared by or for the borrower or seller.
Confirm with your lenderThis calculator is buyer-side prep, not a substitute for that requirement.

This is a calculator, not a lender decision. It is not a valuation opinion and not a recommended price. Confirm every figure above against SBA SOP 50 10 8.1 and your own lender before relying on it.

When you are ready to run this against a real deal's returns

The free account runs the SDE Recast on the seller's actual tax returns, three years, line by line, and rolls your own estimates into a Buyer SDE. Free on two new deals a month, no card.

Create your free account