Working Capital Calculator
Estimate your payment based on funding amount, factor rate, term and payment frequency.
How to use this calculator
Working capital is priced differently from a term loan or a line of credit, and this calculator is built to reflect that difference. There's no interest rate accruing over time and no amortization schedule. Instead, your total cost is set the moment you're funded, using a factor rate. The calculator models that reality. Here's what each input does:
Funding Amount. The amount of capital you receive upfront. This is the figure your factor rate is applied to, and it's the base for everything else the calculator shows.
Factor Rate. A simple multiplier — not an interest rate — that determines your total payback. A 1.20 factor rate on $100,000 means you repay $120,000. The rate a lender offers generally reflects your personal credit and business's risk profile: time in business, monthly revenue, and industry all tend to influence where it lands.
Repayment Term. How long you take to repay, in months. In this calculator, the term divides your total payback into more or fewer payments — a shorter term means larger payments over fewer remittances, a longer term means smaller payments spread over more time. The total payback itself is driven by your funding amount and factor rate, so changing the term here doesn't change what you repay. In reality the term, factor rate, and approval amount are connected at the offer stage. Shorter terms often come with lower factor rates, because there's less risk to the lender. Longer terms often come with higher approval amounts, since spreading payments over more time keeps payments affordable. This tool lets you set the term and rate independently so you can model any offer you're given.
Payment Frequency. Choose daily or weekly to match how lenders typically structures remittance. The frequency you pick changes the size and number of individual payments, but not your total payback. Daily payments are spread across business days, Monday through Friday; weekly payments group those into larger, less frequent remittances. Once your inputs are set, the calculator returns your estimated payment, total payback amount, cost of capital, factor rate, total number of payments, and estimated payoff date. The next sections explain what those numbers mean and why they move the way they do.
How a working capital payment is calculated
Your total payback is set by your factor rate. This is the single most important thing to understand about a factor-rate product. Your cost isn't calculated over time the way loan interest is — it's set upfront. The math is simple:
Total Payback = Funding Amount × Factor Rate. Borrow $100,000 at a 1.20 factor rate and your payback is $120,000. This calculator shows that full amount. The one thing that can lower it is a prepayment discount — covered in the next section — which can reduce your cost if you pay off the remaining balance early.
Your payment is the total divided across the term. Once the total payback is set, the calculator simply spreads it evenly across your payments. Every payment is the same size — there's no front-loaded interest. The payment amount depends only on how many payments there are.
Frequency sets the rhythm, not the cost. This calculator uses 21.67 business days per month to estimate daily payments — the standard basis, since remittances happen on business days, not calendar days. Weekly payments are based on roughly 4.33 weeks per month. Whichever you choose, the total payback is identical; only the size and timing of each payment changes.
Cost of capital is the gap. Your cost of capital is the difference between what you repay and what you received — the $20,000 in a $120,000 payback on $100,000 funded. The calculator shows this separately so you can see the cost on its own, apart from the principal you're paying back.
Understanding your results
Estimated Payment. The amount remitted each period — daily or weekly — based on your funding amount, factor rate, and term. Because the payback is fixed, every payment is the same amount. The label updates to match the frequency you've selected.
Total Payback Amount. Everything you repay over the full term: your funding amount plus your cost of capital. This is the true all-in figure — what you received plus the cost.
Funding Amount. Repeated in the results as a reminder that this is the capital you actually received, separate from the additional cost.
Cost of Capital. The portion of your payback that is additional cost — the gap between what you received and what you repay. On a factor-rate product this is set upfront as a fixed dollar amount, and the calculator shows it in full. Some offers include a prepayment discount that can reduce this cost if you pay off the remaining balance early.
Factor Rate. The multiplier driving your total, shown alongside the dollar figures so you can connect the rate to its real cost.
Total Payments. How many individual payments you'll make over the term, given your payment frequency.
Estimated Payoff Date. The month and year the balance would be fully repaid at the current schedule. LimeLyne calculators always compute this from today's actual date, so it's never stale.
What actually affects the cost
Your factor rate. The gap between a 1.15 and a 1.30 factor rate on the same funding amount is the difference between a $15,000 and a $30,000 cost of capital on $100,000. Because the rate reflects your personal credit and business's risk profile, the way to earn a lower factor rate over time is the same as the way to qualify for better financing generally: strong personal credit, longer time in business, steady or growing revenue, and clean account history.
Your funding amount. Cost scales directly with the funding amount. Because the factor rate applies to the full amount funded, a larger funding amount means a proportionally larger cost of capital
Your term. Inside this calculator, the term only changes your payment size and the number of payments — your total payback stays fixed. At the offer stage, the term is rarely independent. Lenders tend to price shorter terms with lower factor rates, since a shorter term carries less risk, and they often approve larger amounts on longer terms. So when you're weighing real offers, treat the term as connected to both the rate and the amount you'll be approved for — not as a free dial. Model each actual offer here to see how its specific term, rate, and amount work together.
An honest note on comparing offers. Because the cost is fixed and there's no interest rate, a factor-rate product can't be compared to an APR product on rate alone — they're built differently. The figure to compare across factor-rate offers is the cost of capital in dollars relative to the funding amount and the time you have it outstanding. Model your real offer here, and the results become genuinely useful for planning.
How to reduce what working capital costs.
Size the funding to the real need. Because your cost is a fixed multiple of the amount funded, the amount you take is worth thinking through carefully. Taking more than you'll use means paying a fixed cost on capital you didn't need — but taking too little is the more common and often costlier mistake. A business that funds only its immediate need and comes back for additional capital a few months later is usually looking at a second position, and second positions tend to be more expensive: underwriting now sees an existing payment to keep up with, so the added risk typically means a higher factor rate and a shorter term — meaning more aggressive payments. Match the amount to the actual need, not just the nearest gap.
Ask about a prepayment discount. On a factor-rate product, paying early doesn't reduce interest the way it would on a loan, because there's no interest accruing. But working capital is often structured with a prepayment discount that can significantly reduce your total payback if you pay off the remaining balance early. Not every offer includes one, and the savings vary — so before you accept, ask the provider directly if there's a prepayment discount and how much paying early would save. Because this calculator shows your full payback, it doesn't factor in any prepayment discount — making this one of the most valuable questions to ask about your specific offer.
Match the payment to your cash flow. Inside the tool, the term mainly sets your payment size, not your total cost. Choose the structure your revenue can absorb without strain — a payment that's too aggressive for your cash flow is a real risk with this product. If your offer includes a prepayment discount, weigh that too: paying off faster may lower your cost, so a tighter structure your cash flow can genuinely support might be worth it. Use the payment options and term to find a payment size that leaves you room to operate.
Understand the structure before you sign. Confirm how payments are remitted, whether there's any origination fee taken from the funded amount, and whether a prepayment discount applies. The total payback this calculator shows is your cost under standard terms — knowing the specifics of your actual offer is what turns an estimate into a real decision.
Working capital approvals are based largely on your business revenue — which means strong monthly cash flow is often the most important factor in what you qualify for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about how the calculator works and what the numbers mean.
A factor rate is a simple multiplier used to set the total cost of working capital, instead of an interest rate. You multiply your funding amount by the factor rate to get your total payback. For example, $100,000 at a 1.30 factor rate means you repay $130,000. Unlike interest, it doesn't accrue over time — the full cost is set the moment you're funded.
Your total payback (funding amount × factor rate) is divided evenly across all your payments. Every payment is the same size. The number of payments depends on your term and how often you pay — daily or weekly — so those two inputs determine the size of each individual payment.
It depends on your specific offer. Because a factor rate isn't interest, paying early doesn't automatically reduce your cost the way it would on a traditional loan. However, many offers include a prepayment discount that can lower your total payback if you pay off the remaining balance early. Always ask your provider whether yours includes one.
An APR expresses cost as an annual percentage that accrues over time on your remaining balance. A factor rate sets your total cost upfront as a fixed multiple, regardless of how long you take to repay. Because they're calculated differently, the two can't be compared directly on the rate number alone — comparing them requires looking at the total dollar cost.
In this calculator, no — your total payback is driven by your funding amount and factor rate, so changing the term only changes the size and number of your payments. In the real world, though, the term you're offered is often tied to your factor rate and approved amount, so different offers may carry different totals.
Your cost of capital is the difference between what you repay and what you received — the gap created by the factor rate. On $100,000 funded at a 1.30 factor rate, your cost of capital is $30,000. The calculator shows this separately so you can see the cost on its own, apart from the funding you're repaying.
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