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Business loan calculator

By , founder of SignetryLast reviewed

General information, not financial, tax or legal advice. A finance broker or your accountant can tell you what a lender will actually offer.

Buying at $400,000 with $120,000 of your own cash leaves a $280,000 secured loan: over 7 years at 6.98% it is $4,223 a month, with $74,750 paid in interest.

What are you working out?
The asking price, or what you expect to pay.
$120,000. From 20%, which is this calculator's assumption, not a lender's rule.
What you would borrow.
Seller finance
Some sellers take part of the price over time. Shown at 8% over 3 years, as on our listing pages.
Security
Secured means backed by property or another asset.
Leave it blank to use the average for the security you chose, set out under Today's rates. Have a quote? Type it in.
1 to 30 years.
0 to 5 years, at the start of the term.
Repayments

How the $400,000 is paid

  • Your cash $120,000
  • Loan $280,000

What borrowing costs

$74,750 on top of $280,000

  • Borrowed $280,000
  • Interest $74,750
Year by year
The $280,000 loan at 6.98%, repaid monthly. Whole dollars; each column adds up to its total.
YearInterestPrincipalBalance at the end
1$18,528$32,150$247,850
2$16,211$34,468$213,382
3$13,727$36,951$176,431
4$11,064$39,616$136,815
5$8,208$42,470$94,345
6$5,147$45,532$48,813
7$1,865$48,813$0
Total$74,750$280,000

Businesses for sale near this price

See all between $250,000 and $500,000

Repayments at a glance

Monthly repayments over 5 years, principal and interest, at 6.98% secured and 15% unsecured.

Source: Reserve Bank of Australia 2026.
LoanSecured, 6.98%Unsecured, 15%
$50,000$990$1,189
$100,000$1,979$2,379
$250,000$4,948$5,947
$500,000$9,896$11,895
$1,000,000$19,792$23,790

Today's rates, and where they come from

The secured rate is 6.98% a year: the average rate on new loans to small businesses secured on residential property in August 2026, from the Reserve Bank's table F71. It is an average of what lenders charged that month, not a rate the RBA sets. Source: Reserve Bank of Australia 2026.2 The RBA does not endorse this calculator or anything made with its data.

F7 does not split out unsecured loans, so the unsecured rate here, 15%, is this calculator's own middle figure, not a source's. An unsecured loan has no asset behind it, and this calculator assumes it costs more than a secured one. For a sense of the spread, Moula's own page quotes 15.99% to 35.99% APR for its unsecured loans.3

Every lender sets its own rate, from your business, your security and the loan. If you have a quote, type its rate into the calculator. Signetry lists businesses for sale; it does not lend, broker loans or recommend a lender.

How the repayment is worked out

Each repayment covers that period's interest and pays off some of the loan, and every repayment is the same size, so the loan is gone at the end of the term. This is the standard annuity formula: Repayment = P x r / (1 - (1 + r)^-n).

P is the amount borrowed. r is the yearly rate divided by the repayments a year: 12 monthly, 26 fortnightly or 52 weekly. n is the number of repayments, the years times the repayments a year.

With an interest-only period, each repayment in it is the interest alone (the loan times r), and the formula then runs over the years left. Seller finance is worked the same way at 8% over 3 years. Every figure is rounded to the whole dollar.

Questions

  1. What is the monthly repayment on a $50,000 business loan?

    Over 5 years it is $990 a month at 6.98% secured, or $1,189 a month at 15% unsecured. Both are principal and interest.

  2. What about $100,000?

    Over 5 years, $1,979 a month secured at 6.98%, or $2,379 a month unsecured at 15%. The table above has the larger amounts too.

  3. How is a business loan repayment worked out?

    With the standard annuity formula: the amount borrowed, the rate for each repayment period and the number of repayments give one fixed repayment that pays the loan off by the end. The method above sets it out in full.

  4. What interest rate should I use?

    A lender's quote, if you have one. Without one, the calculator uses 6.98%, the RBA's August 2026 average for small business loans secured on residential property1, or 15% for an unsecured loan, which is this calculator's own figure.

  5. Secured or unsecured?

    A secured loan is backed by property or another asset; an unsecured loan is not. Terms differ by lender. ANZ's business loan runs up to 30 years, and its unsecured GoBiz loan up to 74. NAB's QuickBiz unsecured loan runs 12 to 60 months5. Moula quotes 15.99% to 35.99% APR for unsecured loans3.

  6. How much deposit do I need to buy a business?

    There is no published rule. Lenders decide case by case, from the business, its figures and the security you can offer. This calculator starts your cash at 20% of the price; that is its own assumption, not a lender's rule.

  7. What is vendor finance?

    The seller lets you pay part of the price later, in instalments, so you borrow less from a lender. It is agreed between you and the seller, at a rate and term you settle together. This calculator shows it at 8% over 3 years, as our listing pages do; that is an assumption, not a market rate. The finance guide covers the other ways to pay.

  8. Can I pay interest only?

    Some lenders allow it for a period at the start. Repayments are lower while it lasts and higher after, and you pay more interest overall. Set the interest-only years in the calculator to see both repayments and the difference in total interest.

  9. Can I repay early or make extra repayments?

    It depends on the lender and on whether the rate is fixed or variable. Ask before you sign.

  10. Fixed or variable?

    In August 2026, new small business loans averaged 8.09% fixed and 6.81% variable1. A fixed rate holds your repayment still; a variable one moves with the market.

  11. Does this tell me how much I can borrow?

    No. How much a lender will lend depends on the business's income and its other debts, which this page does not ask for. It works out the repayment on an amount you choose.

  12. Does this calculator check my credit or store what I enter?

    No. It is arithmetic in your browser and on our server; nothing you enter is stored, and nothing is a credit check.

Sources

  1. Table F7, Business Lending Rates, Reserve Bank of Australia, published 8 October 2026, read 10 Oct 2026. Small business new loans funded in August 2026: residentially secured 6.98%, fixed-rate 8.09%, variable-rate 6.81%, per cent per annum. Source: Reserve Bank of Australia 2026.
  2. Copyright and Disclaimer Notice, Reserve Bank of Australia, no date shown, read 10 Oct 2026. The terms on which F7 is quoted here: credited as "Source: Reserve Bank of Australia [year]", with no suggestion that the RBA endorses the use.
  3. Business loans, Moula, no date shown, read 10 Oct 2026. Interest rates from 15.99% to 35.99% APR, $10,000 to $500,000, up to 5 years, no collateral required.
  4. Business loans and finance, ANZ, no date shown, read 10 Oct 2026. Business loan: borrow for up to 30 years. Unsecured GoBiz loan: $10,000 to $200,000, up to 7 years.
  5. Business loans, NAB, no date shown, read 10 Oct 2026. QuickBiz Loan: unsecured, $5,000 to $250,000, terms of 12, 24, 36, 48 or 60 months, fixed rate.