Merchant Cash Advance Calculator
Free merchant cash advance calculator: enter the advance amount, factor rate, holdback, and monthly card sales to get the total repayment, daily payment, estimated payoff time, and the true effective APR. Built to show the real cost of an MCA before you sign.
How merchant cash advance pricing works
A merchant cash advance is priced with a factor rate, not an interest rate, so the total fee is fixed the moment you sign. Repayment comes out of a fixed percentage of daily card sales, an arrangement called split funding, so the holdback and your sales volume determine how fast the advance is repaid and what the true annualized cost turns out to be. Because the fee does not shrink when you pay early, the effective APR is usually far higher than the factor rate suggests. For where an MCA fits against a loan and against factoring, read the merchant cash advance guide, and to convert any factor rate and term to an APR, use the factor rate to APR calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How is the cost of a merchant cash advance calculated?
An MCA is priced with a factor rate, a multiplier on the advance. A 100,000 dollar advance at a 1.4 factor rate means 140,000 dollars is owed, so the cost is a fixed 40,000 dollars regardless of how fast it is repaid.
How does the holdback affect payoff time?
The holdback is the percentage of daily card sales the provider collects until the advance is repaid. A higher holdback or stronger card volume repays it faster; slower sales stretch it out. This calculator uses monthly card sales and holdback to estimate the daily remittance and days to repay.
Why is the APR on an MCA so high?
Because the fee is fixed by the factor rate and the repayment period is short, the same dollar cost is compressed into a fraction of a year. Annualizing it produces an APR often in the double or triple digits. Paying an MCA off faster actually raises the effective APR.
How does an MCA compare to other financing?
An MCA funds fast with light underwriting but at a high effective cost, so it mainly fits card-based businesses with no access to cheaper credit. For businesses that invoice other businesses, invoice factoring is usually far cheaper.
Estimate only, not a quote. Zolvo automates the servicing behind advance and factoring books on top of the systems lenders already run.