Financing math
How much cash do you actually need to close an SBA 7(a) ecommerce acquisition? Model buyer equity, seller-note substitution, closing costs, and working-capital reserve. Free. No signup.
Total cash needed at close
$216,000
Buyer equity + closing costs + working capital reserve
Per SBA SOP 50 10, a seller note on full standby(no P&I for 24 months) can substitute for up to half of the required equity. Standard seller notes count toward the loan stack, not the down payment.
SBA 7(a) equity injection rules come from SOP 50 10; actual lender policy varies. Closing cost and working-capital percentages are estimates — your SBA lender will finalize them in the commitment letter.
Next step
5-minute SBA pre-qualification through eCommerceLending. No credit pull.
Upgrade your toolkit
Starter at $15/mo unlocks 10 LOIs, 10 business plans, and Deal Analyzer.
The statutory minimum is 10% equity injection on business acquisitions. In practice, lenders push to 15% for first-time buyers, buyers outside the industry, or deals with concentration risk. 20% is common on deals with higher revenue volatility.
Partially. SBA SOP 50 10 allows a seller note on full standby (no principal or interest payments for the first 24 months of the SBA loan) to substitute for up to half of the required equity injection. Standard seller notes where the seller takes payments during year 1 count toward the loan stack, not the down payment.
SBA guaranty fee (2–3.75% of the guaranteed portion), lender packaging fees ($0–$15k), legal (buyer's counsel, $5–25k), business appraisal, and any third-party reports the lender orders. Budget 2–4% of purchase price as a reasonable pre-close estimate.
Lenders want the business to survive its first bad month. Typical ask is 3–6 months of operating expenses (not COGS) in a segregated account at close. Without it, one slow holiday quarter breaks DSCR and the loan goes on watch list.
No — cash to close is down payment + closing costs + working-capital reserve. A $1.2M deal with 10% down, 3% closing costs, and 3 months of $40k OPEX in reserve is not $120k of buyer cash — it's closer to $270k. This calculator breaks the stack into those three pieces.