Restaurant loan and debt calculator

What you will enter

• Loan principal ($): The amount on the offer before any fees are deducted.
• Quoted annual interest rate (%): The nominal annual rate on the quote. Enter 10 for 10%. Variable rates are not modeled; use the current rate and re-test higher.
• Months until the loan matures (months): When the loan must be fully repaid. A term shorter than the amortization creates a balloon.
• Amortization months (months): The number of months the payment is calculated over, after any interest-only period. Often equal to the term.
• Interest-only months (months): Months at the start where only interest is paid. Enter 0 if none.
• Fees withheld from proceeds ($): Origination, packaging, guarantee or closing fees deducted before you receive the money. Enter 0 if the lender charges none.
• Owner contribution available ($): Your own committed cash that will sit beside the loan. Enter 0 if none.
• Monthly available cash before this debt ($ / month): From your cash plan: what a normal month leaves after operating costs and owner living costs, before this loan's payment. A negative number is allowed as an honest stress case (an operating loss); blank is not.
• Funding date (date): The day the lender says the money arrives, from the quote or commitment letter.
• First payment date (date): The first scheduled payment, after funding and normally within a month or two of it. Later payments follow monthly on the same day of the month.

The formula

Monthly rate r = annual rate ÷ 12 ÷ 100. Payment = principal × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−amortization months); at 0% it is principal ÷ months. Interest-only months pay principal × r. Cash received = principal − fees withheld. Balloon = balance remaining at maturity. Payment n falls on the first-payment date plus n − 1 months, on the same day of the month or the last day of a shorter month. Interest is charged once per payment at r on the outstanding balance, whatever the number of days in the period; there is no daily accrual and this is not an APR.

A worked example

Fictional example: $100,000 at a 10% nominal rate over 60 monthly payments costs about $2,124.70 a month. Funded on October 15, 2026 with the first payment on November 15, 2026, the last payment falls on October 15, 2031. With $3,000 withheld, $97,000 arrives. Interest over the term is about $27,482, so the loan costs about $30,482 in interest and fees. With $3,500 of monthly cash before debt, about $1,375 remains after the payment.

How to use the result

Separate proposed funding from committed funding

A term sheet is not money. Until the documents are signed and the funds land, the opening plan should show the shortfall. Confirm the funding date and the first payment date and put both on the cash calendar.

Borrowing does not fix an operating loss

If a normal month does not leave cash before debt, adding a fixed payment makes it worse. Use the P&L builder and the opening planner to test a lower-sales month, then see whether the payment survives it.

Read the structure, not the headline rate

Interest-only periods make early months look easy and later months heavier. A short term with a long amortization leaves a balloon. Withheld fees mean you borrow more than you receive. The schedule shows all three.

Questions owners ask

Is this an APR?

No. It is a payment schedule from a nominal annual rate and fees withheld at funding. An APR disclosure follows regulatory rules and may differ. Ask the lender for the required disclosures and compare quotes on identical terms.

Why do the funding and first-payment dates matter?

They turn the schedule into a cash calendar: every payment gets a date you can line up with rent, payroll and the sales ramp. The gap between funding and the first payment also decides how much interest the first period really carries; this tool charges one month regardless and flags a gap over 45 days so you can ask the lender.

Can I enter a negative monthly cash figure?

Yes. If a normal month loses money before debt, enter the loss as a negative number. The tool then shows the combined shortfall as a stop signal rather than pretending the loan improves it.

What about merchant cash advances or daily remittances?

Not modeled. Products repaid as a share of sales, by factor rate or by daily debit have a different cost structure. Ask for the total repayment amount and the expected repayment period in writing, and compare that total with the interest-plus-fees figure here.

Do SBA loans work like this?

Most 7(a) term loans are repaid with monthly payments of principal and interest from the cash flow of the business, and fixed-rate payments stay the same. Eligibility, guarantee fees and terms come from the lender and the SBA's current rules, not from this tool.

Keep working on the decision

• Read: can you afford the loan and still pay yourself?
• Put the payment into the projected P&L
• Lender quote comparison and document checklist
• New to percentages? Start with restaurant math from zero.
• Add this decision to your guided opening plan

Sources and scope

• U.S. Small Business Administration: 7(a) loans (program description, eligibility and repayment)
• U.S. Small Business Administration: Plan your business (market research, business plan, startup costs)
• SEC: beginners' guide to financial statements

Planning estimates based on your inputs. Check the assumptions against your actual quotes, recipes and operating records. Not legal, tax or accounting advice.