Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) Calculator — True Cost of Business Cash Advances

⚠️ What is an MCA? A Merchant Cash Advance is NOT a loan — it's an advance on future credit card sales. The provider takes a percentage of your daily card receipts (the "holdback") until the advance plus factor fee is repaid.

The trap: MCAs often have effective APRs of 40-350%. A $100K MCA with a 1.49 factor rate means you repay $149K. If your daily holdback is 20%, every $1 you process, $0.20 goes to the MCA provider. You can be paying it off for 18+ months.

Who it's for: Businesses with no other options that need cash immediately. Almost always, a bank line of credit, SBA loan, or even a personal loan is cheaper.

MCA Terms

Advance Amount ($) oninput="calculate()"

Factor Rate (1.1 – 1.5) oninput="calculate()"

Daily/Monthly Holdback (%) oninput="calculate()"

Avg. Daily Card Revenue ($) oninput="calculate()"

True Cost of This MCA

Total Repayment

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Total MCA Cost

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Effective APR

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Days to Repay

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Annual Cost

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Vs SBA Loan Savings

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MCA costs are estimates. Actual factor rates and holdback terms vary. MCA is not regulated like bank loans — get legal and financial advice first.

MCA Calculator — Warning: Very High Cost of Capital

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