Business Loan Repayment Calculator: Secured and Unsecured
Also called: business loan calculator, small business loan repayment calculator.
Quick answer
This business loan repayment calculator estimates what a business loan costs per week, fortnight or month from the amount, the term, a secured or unsecured example rate you can change and any establishment fee. It is an estimate for planning, not a quote or an approval.
See what a business loan costs before you apply.
Pick the amount, the term and whether it is secured. The receipt prints what you would pay, what it costs in total, and an annual cost rate that counts any fee you enter.
Sets the example rate. A director's guarantee on its own is not security.
Example rate as at 27 September 2026, not an offer. Change it to the rate you have been quoted.
Enter any upfront fee you have been quoted. It is treated as paid at settlement and feeds the annual cost rate.
- Est. monthly
- $1,578.38
- Total interest
- $6,822
- Total cost
- $56,822
- Annual cost rate
- 8.50%
- Includes the fee you entered. Not a regulated comparison rate.
$1,578.38 a month over 36 months on a $50,000 secured loan, no establishment fee, at the 8.50 per cent secured example rate. Total interest about $6,822.
Estimates only. This calculator is not a quote, an offer or an approval. The result depends on the figures you enter and the example rate shown; the lender's assessment decides the actual rate, term and repayment. Nick Lim is an FBAA Accredited Finance Broker with Switchboard Finance.
Your figures come with you into the enquiry; nothing reaches us until you send it.
No obligation · We respond same day
How are business loan repayments calculated?
A business loan repayment is the loan amount amortised over the term at the interest rate and paid in arrears, so each repayment covers that period's interest and pays down part of the balance.
Monthly repayment = loan amount × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−n), where r is the annual rate ÷ 12 and n is the number of months.
This is the standard amortisation formula set out in the Reserve Bank of Australia's Research Discussion Paper 2021-10, Appendix A. The calculator assumes:
- Repayments are made in arrears, at the end of each month, at one fixed rate for the whole term.
- Monthly is the base figure; weekly is the monthly repayment × 12 ÷ 52 and fortnightly × 12 ÷ 26.
- The establishment fee is paid at settlement out of the amount you receive. It is not added to the loan, so it does not change the repayment, and the tool caps it at half the loan amount.
- Total cost is every repayment plus the fee.
- The annual cost rate is the internal rate of return of the monthly repayments against the amount you receive after the fee, expressed as a nominal annual rate compounding monthly (the monthly rate × 12). With no fee it equals the rate you entered. It is not a regulated comparison rate.
- Ongoing fees and other charges are not included unless you add them to the establishment fee.
How we arrange secured and unsecured facilities for Australian business owners is covered on our business loans page.
Which rate should you enter?
Enter the rate you have been quoted; the 8.50 per cent secured and 15.50 per cent unsecured example rates are planning figures as at 27 September 2026, not offers. Business loan rates move with the security offered, how long the business has traded, the term and how each lender prices its product, and our guide to working capital loan costs sets out what Australian small businesses actually pay for short term finance.
What is the monthly payment on a $50,000, $100,000 or $250,000 business loan?
About $1,578 a month on $50,000 over three years at the 8.50 per cent secured example rate, or about $1,746 at the 15.50 per cent unsecured example rate. The table shows the same three amounts over one, three and five years at both example rates.
| Loan amount | 1 year, secured 8.50% | 1 year, unsecured 15.50% | 3 years, secured 8.50% | 3 years, unsecured 15.50% | 5 years, secured 8.50% | 5 years, unsecured 15.50% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $4,361 | $4,525 | $1,578 | $1,746 | $1,026 | $1,203 |
| $100,000 | $8,722 | $9,049 | $3,157 | $3,491 | $2,052 | $2,405 |
| $250,000 | $21,805 | $22,624 | $7,892 | $8,728 | $5,129 | $6,013 |
Sources: formula from RBA Research Discussion Paper 2021-10, Appendix A (rba.gov.au, November 2021, read 27 September 2026). The 8.50 per cent secured and 15.50 per cent unsecured example rates are indicative practitioner figures as at 27 September 2026, not quotes. Monthly repayments in arrears at one fixed rate, no fees, rounded to the dollar.
Over three years the unsecured example rate adds about $6,018 in interest on $50,000, which is why the calculator prints both lanes side by side. Two lenders can still quote different repayments on the same amount for reasons the rate alone does not show; our worked example on why two lenders quote different repayments sets them out over a 12 month term. Shorter cashflow facilities are covered on our working capital loans page.
Why does a business loan show no comparison rate?
Because the comparison rate requirement comes from the National Credit Code, and a loan made for business purposes usually sits outside that Code, so there is no regulated comparison rate to print.
ASIC's Regulatory Guide 234 describes a comparison rate as "a rate that includes both the interest rate and fees and charges relating to a loan, reduced to a single percentage figure", and states: "An advertisement must contain a comparison rate if it contains an interest rate: s160 of the National Credit Code" (RG 234.56, June 2026). ASIC's National Credit Code page says the Code covers credit provided "wholly or predominantly" either "for personal, domestic or household purposes" or "to purchase, renovate or improve residential property for investment purposes". Working capital, equipment and other business purpose loans are neither.
That is why the calculator's annual cost rate carries the label "not a regulated comparison rate": it folds the fee you enter into one yearly figure, but it does not follow the Code's Part 10 method (RG 234.57). Online small business lenders that have signed the AFIA Online Small Business Lenders Code of Practice commit to give you a standard pricing comparison before a contract is made, setting out figures including the total cost of credit and an annual percentage rate (clauses 14.5 and 14.7; the current version took effect on 12 September 2024).
More on the term itself is in our comparison rate glossary entry and the annual percentage rate entry, and the costs guide answers whether Australian business loans have to show a comparison rate or APR.
Secured or unsecured: which rate should you use?
Use the secured example rate if the loan will be secured by property or a business asset, and the unsecured one if it will not; the toggle only switches between the two example rates, so replace either with the rate you are quoted.
Security gives the lender an asset to sell if the loan is not repaid, which is why a secured quote is usually lower. A director's guarantee is a promise from the director to repay if the business cannot, not a charge over a specific asset, so a loan backed only by a guarantee is usually priced as unsecured. What an unsecured lender can still take, from a guarantee to a general security agreement over business assets, is set out in what unsecured actually means on a business loan.
That is why the calculator takes a fee as well as a rate. If you would rather have a broker compare real offers, send your figures through and we will check them against live lender policy.
What else do borrowers ask about business loan repayments?
How much do repayments change between a secured and an unsecured rate?
On $50,000 over three years, about $1,578 a month at the 8.50 per cent secured example rate against about $1,746 at the 15.50 per cent unsecured example rate, roughly $6,018 more interest over the term. The gap grows with the amount and the term; the calculator shows both side by side.
How do I calculate my business loan repayments?
Divide the annual rate by 12, then apply the amortisation formula to the loan amount over the number of months, or enter the amount, term and rate in the calculator above. The calculator converts the monthly figure to weekly or fortnightly by multiplying by 12 and dividing by 52 or 26. Why a real daily or weekly schedule changes what you pay is covered in the costs guide.
Secured or unsecured: which rate should I use?
Use the secured example rate if the loan will be secured by property or a business asset, and the unsecured one if it will not; a director's guarantee on its own is not security. Either way, replace the example with the rate you are quoted.
Does the calculator include fees?
Only the establishment fee you enter: it is treated as paid at settlement, it does not change the repayment, and it is added to the total cost and folded into the annual cost rate. Ongoing and other fees are not included.
Is this a quote or an approval?
No, it is an estimate from the figures you enter and an example rate; a lender's assessment decides the actual rate, term and repayment. Send your figures through the enquiry form if you want them checked against live lender policy.