SBA Resources · Updated July 2026
SBA Loan Calculator: Payment + Global DSCR
Estimate your monthly payment, then run the same global debt-service check your lender will.
Global DSCR is the ratio SBA lenders use to test whether the business and the owner's household together cover all debt: business cash flow plus household income, minus living expenses, divided by combined business and personal debt service. SOP 50 10 8 requires at least 1.15×; most lenders want 1.25× after a 10% cash-flow stress test.
Written by Thomas Hartwell, author of the FUNDED series of industry-specific SBA lending guides.
Step 1: Estimate Your Monthly Payment
SBA 7(a) loans fully amortize — no balloons. Your payment feeds directly into the DSCR check below.
SBA 7(a) rates are typically Prime + 2.25% to 2.75% (WSJ Prime 6.75% as of July 2026)
Step 2: Run Your Global DSCR Self-Check
Lenders don't underwrite the business alone — they underwrite you and the business together. Global DSCR = (business cash flow + household income − living expenses) ÷ (business + personal debt service). Run it yourself before a lender does.
EBITDA or seller's discretionary earnings before your own pay. If your number already deducts your salary, add that salary to household income below instead.
Spouse W-2, rental income, other verifiable income.
Everything except debt payments: housing costs not in a loan, food, insurance, childcare, taxes.
Lenders run global cash flow across every business you own or control (you disclose them all on SBA Form 1919). Combined EBITDA of your other businesses; enter a negative number if any lose money. Add their loan payments to business debt service below. Leave 0 if none.
The new SBA payment (use Step 1's Annual Debt Service) plus any other business loans that survive closing — including your affiliates' debt payments.
Mortgage, autos, student loans, credit card minimums — what your credit report will show the lender.
How Lenders Calculate Global DSCR
Underwriters combine the business's cash flow with the owner's full household picture, then divide by every debt payment — business and personal. A deal passes when the combined ratio clears the lender's threshold both as-projected and after a 10% cash-flow haircut.
- Start with business cash flow available for debt service — EBITDA or SDE with documented add-backs (owner salary being replaced, one-time expenses, interest on debt being refinanced).
- Add verifiable household income — spouse wages, rental income, other recurring income from the personal financial statement and tax returns.
- Add the net cash flow of any other business you own — the SBA's "global" analysis spans every business you own or control (all disclosed on SBA Form 1919). A profitable affiliate helps; one that loses money is counted as a drain against you.
- Subtract household living expenses — what the household actually spends to live, excluding debt payments (those go in the denominator).
- Total all debt service — the proposed SBA payment, any surviving business debt, your other businesses' loan payments, plus personal mortgage, autos, student loans, and card minimums from the credit report.
- Divide and compare — (steps 1+2−3) ÷ step 4. SOP 50 10 8 floor is 1.15×; most lenders underwrite to 1.25×.
- Stress it — re-run with cash flow reduced 10%. If the stressed ratio falls below threshold, expect a smaller loan, more injection, or a decline.
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DSCR Thresholds Lenders Use
SOP 50 10 8 sets the SBA's minimum debt service coverage at 1.15×. Most lenders underwrite to 1.25× as their internal credit standard, and 1.50× reads as strong. Startups and ramping acquisitions must reach the floor within the first two years.
| DSCR | What it means to a lender |
|---|---|
| Below 1.15× | Below the SOP 50 10 8 minimum — decline risk without more injection or a smaller loan |
| 1.15× – 1.24× | Meets the SBA floor but under most lenders' internal 1.25× standard — expect scrutiny |
| 1.25× – 1.49× | Bankable — clears the standard threshold most SBA lenders underwrite to |
| 1.50× and up | Strong — coverage survives the 10% stress test with room, and supports rate negotiation |
Current SBA Interest Rates
| Program | Rate Structure | Typical Range |
|---|---|---|
| SBA 7(a) | Variable (Prime + spread) | Prime + 2.25% to 2.75% |
| SBA 504 (Bank) | Negotiated with bank | Varies by lender |
| SBA 504 (CDC) | Fixed (tied to Treasury) | ~6% (as of 2026) |
* Rates move with the Prime Rate and market conditions. WSJ Prime is 6.75% as of July 2026.
DSCR is one gate. The kit runs all of them.
Found a deal? The "Will the SBA Fund This Deal?" kit runs your actual numbers the way an underwriter will — your walk-away price, equity injection, collateral, global DSCR, and the red flags that kill applications — verified against the current SOP 50 10 8. And we don't sell your lead.
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