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Compare Two MCA Offers Side by Side

To compare two merchant cash advance offers, put them on the same footing: the money that actually lands in your account after fees, the total you repay, the cost per dollar received, how long repayment takes, and how much of your deposits each payment uses. Enter both offers below to see all five.

Enter your two offers

Use the numbers from each offer document. Leave a field at 0 if the offer has no such charge. All fields are numbers only.

Offer A
For example 1.30. The total you repay is the advance times this number.
Origination, underwriting, broker or processing fees deducted before you receive funds.
Offer B
For example 1.25.
Include every charge deducted before funds reach you.
Optional for fixed payments, required for percentage payments. It lets the tool show how much of your deposits each offer would use.
Hand holding a calculator over printed charts on a wooden desk while working out the total payback of a funding offer
Work out the total payback and the money you actually receive before comparing offers.

How to read the five numbers

  1. Money you actually receive. The advance minus every fee taken out of it. This is the amount you can use, so it is the right base for comparing cost.
  2. Total payback. The advance times the factor rate. In a typical fixed-payback agreement this does not shrink if you repay sooner, so ask each funder in writing whether early repayment changes what you owe.
  3. Cost per dollar received. Total payback minus the money you receive, divided by the money you receive. A result of 0.34 means you pay about 34 cents for each dollar that reaches your account.
  4. Time to repay. The number of payments divided into months. A shorter repayment means the money is outstanding for less time, a longer one means more months of payments leaving your account.
  5. Share of deposits. What the payments add up to each month compared with your average monthly deposits. This is the number that shows whether a payment is realistic for your business.

The tool also shows an annualized equivalent. It exists because two offers can cost different dollar amounts over different lengths of time. It is a nominal figure computed from the payments you enter, assuming equal payments, 260 business days or 52 weeks a year, and fees deducted up front. It is for comparing these two offers with each other and is not an APR disclosure.

Why the lower factor rate can still cost more

The factor rate is only part of the price. The example pre-loaded above is illustrative, not a real offer or a typical one: both offers advance $50,000 and the payments are fixed amounts.

Illustrative example (not a real offer): the two offers pre-loaded in the tool
 Offer AOffer B
Factor rate1.301.25
Fees taken from the advance$1,500$4,500
Money you actually receive$48,500$45,500
Total payback$65,000$62,500
Total cost$16,500$17,000
Cost per dollar received$0.34$0.37
Payment and number of payments$500 a business day, 130 payments$400 a business day, 157 payments
Repaid in about6.0 months7.2 months
Annualized equivalent (nominal)about 123%about 111%
Money received compared with total cost for the two illustrative offers Offer A: $48,500 received plus $16,500 cost, total payback $65,000. Offer B: $45,500 received plus $17,000 cost, total payback $62,500. Offer B has the lower total payback but the higher cost. Illustrative example: what you receive and what it costs Offer A Received $48,500 Cost $16,500 Offer B Received $45,500 Cost $17,000 Pays back $65,000 Pays back $62,500
Bar length is the total payback. The dark blue part reaches your account and the gold part is the cost. Not a real offer.

Offer B has the lower factor rate and the smaller payment, yet it costs $500 more in total and $0.03 more per dollar received, because its fees take $3,000 more out of the advance. It also takes about a month longer to repay. Its annualized figure is lower mainly because the money stays outstanding longer, which is why neither number should be read alone. The better fit depends on whether you need the larger daily cash relief or the lower total cost.

Business owner at a desk with printed account statements, a calculator and a laptop, going through offer paperwork line by line
Every fee and payment term in the paperwork matters, not only the factor rate.

Where to find each input in an offer

What this tool cannot do

Questions people ask

Is the lower factor rate always the cheaper offer?

No. Fees taken out of the advance reduce the money you receive, so an offer with a lower factor rate can cost more per dollar you actually get. Compare total cost against net funding, not the factor rate alone.

Why does the tool show an annualized figure?

Two offers can be repaid over different lengths of time. The annualized equivalent adjusts for how long the money is outstanding. It is a nominal comparison figure based on the payments you enter, not an APR disclosure and not a quote.

What if my payment is a percentage of daily sales?

Choose the percentage option and enter your average monthly deposits. The tool converts the percentage into an average payment. Real payments rise and fall with sales, so treat the payoff time as an estimate.

Does the tool save or send what I type?

No. The math runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to T.A.G. or stored.

Can this tell me whether an offer is a good deal?

It shows what each offer costs and how heavy the payments are for your deposits. Whether that is worth it depends on what the money earns or protects in your business and on the full contract, which this tool cannot see.

Want to see what funding options you could qualify for? Applying takes your four most recent complete, consecutive business bank statements.

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