Saas Revenue Multiple Requirements for SBA Loan?

searcher profile

October 01, 2025

by a searcher from Purdue University in Denver, CO, USA

I'm a first time searcher looking for a legacy SaaS company that I'm hoping to finance with a SBA loan and 30% down. What Saas revenue / SDE multiples are acceptable for SBA loans? I'm sure it will vary from deal to deal, but I'm looking for a general rule of thumb to help with my search.
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commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
from Roosevelt University in Boston, MA, USA
The difficulty with SaaS is not revenue but EBITDA. Most software businesses have good gross margins but have much higher opex than what most SBA lenders want to see. This is due to trying to keep up with other software companies in competitive spaces. I've never heard of the SBA approving anything more than 5x EBITDA
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Reply by a searcher
from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Apex, NC, USA
SBA = cash flow/EBITDA. They will usually let you factor in some SDE, but they don't care about revenue. Quick and dirty rule of thumb 13k monthly debt payment per 1MM borrowed. They want/like 1.25 DSCR. So 16k profit per 1MM. Max is 5MM to borrow so call it 80k/month (1MM EBITDA business). 30% down to make math easier/closing costs etc means you can buy like an 8MM SaaS business which likely does 1MM/EBITDA (or 8x...which is probably right on market, prob 6-10x range for small SaaS). SaaS is going to have minimal assets so could see SBA wanting a higher DSCR which drops value of business to finance. 30% will make them much happier than the 0 down deals. Maths could be wrong, mileage may vary, working capital is real, do your own diligence etc etc.
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