MCA guide

The merchant cash advance guide: every question, with the numbers.

A merchant cash advance is simple to describe and easy to get wrong. This guide organizes everything we publish about them, from the first requirement to the last payment.

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✓ Checking what you qualify for does not affect your credit score.

The basics and the cost

MCA Requirements — The published numbers behind an MCA file and how they are read.

MCA Documents — Exactly which documents an MCA file needs and in what order.

Factor Rates — How factor rates are set, what moves them and how to compare offers.

MCA Cost — How to count the full cost of a merchant cash advance.

Factor Rate to APR — Rough APR equivalents for a factor-rate advance.

Fees Outside the Factor Rate — The fees that sit outside an MCA factor rate.

Term Length — How term trades payment size against total cost.

How repayment works

MCA Repayment — How MCA repayment is collected and how the balance runs down.

Daily Payments — The arithmetic and cash-flow effects of daily MCA debits.

Weekly Payments — How weekly MCA payments are set and when they fit.

Holdback Percentage — What holdback means and how to compute it from a fixed payment.

Retrieval Rate vs Holdback — Translating retrieval rate and holdback into numbers you can use.

Split Funding vs Fixed ACH — How percentage-of-sales and fixed-debit collection differ.

ACH Debits and Holidays — How holidays and weekends affect MCA debit timing.

Reconciliation — How a fixed debit may be adjusted to match revenue.

When Revenue Drops — Steps to take when sales fall with an advance open.

Positions and existing advances

First Position — What first position means and how it shapes pricing and eligibility.

Positions Explained — How positions are counted and how payments add up.

Multiple Advances — How several advances add up and the ways to simplify.

Renewal Timing — When renewing an advance helps and when waiting is better.

Early Payoff — Whether early payoff saves money and what to confirm first.

Consolidation — How replacing several advances with one payment works.

Refinance vs Buyout — How refinance, buyout, consolidation and renewal differ.

MCA refinance —

MCA buyout —

Reverse consolidation —

Second position funding —

Comparing with other products

MCA vs Business Loan — Pricing, terms and fit for an MCA against a business loan.

MCA vs Line of Credit — Lump sum vs revolving limit: shape, cost and fit.

MCA vs SBA Loan — Speed vs cost between an MCA and an SBA loan.

MCA vs Equipment Financing — How an MCA and equipment financing differ for a purchase.

Factor rate vs interest rate —

RBF vs MCA —

The agreement and the risks

Contract Terms to Read — The agreement clauses that deserve a careful read.

UCC Lien — What a UCC filing is, what it does and how it clears.

Personal Guarantee — What a personal guarantee covers and what triggers it.

Confession of Judgment — What a confession of judgment clause does and how to handle it.

Default — What triggers default and the practical early steps.

Changing Bank Accounts — How to change banks without breaching an advance.

Changing Card Processors — What changing card processors means for an open advance.

Taxes — Tax-related questions to bring to your accountant.

Getting approved and using it well

How Approval Works — Step-by-step view of MCA approval and what speeds it up.

How Long Funding Takes — Realistic timing from application to funds.

Bad Credit — How MCA files with low credit are read and strengthened.

Using Proceeds Wisely — How to decide if an advance will earn its cost back.

Questions to Ask a Funder — Twenty pre-signing questions for an MCA funder.

Checklist Before Signing — A one-page pre-signing checklist.

Myths — Seven common MCA myths and the facts.

Tools

MCA Payment Calculator — From factor rate to daily or weekly payment.

MCA Refinance Savings Calculator — Payment relief and the cost of a refinance.

Daily vs Weekly Payment Calculator — Same payback as daily vs weekly payments.

Factor rate calculator —

MCA payoff calculator —

All calculators —

Common questions

What is a merchant cash advance?

A lump sum paid now in exchange for a fixed amount of future revenue, repaid through daily or weekly debits. It is not a loan with interest. That is how Merchant Fund Express reads it on a real file.

How do I compare offers?

By total payback, net proceeds, payment size and rhythm. See MCA cost.

How fast is it?

Same-day decisions on complete files, with funding typically the next business day after signing. Source: Merchant Fund Express.

Where do I check my own numbers?

Use the MCA payment calculator or call and we will run them with you.

See what you qualify for

Merchant Fund Express gives a same-day decision. Applying takes a few minutes and will not affect your credit score.

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