Read from SOP 50 10 8.1, in force since 1 October 2026

SBA Loan Broker Fees and the SBA Form 159 Limits on What an SBA Broker or Loan Packager Can Charge

An SBA loan broker who bills the borrower a percentage may charge at most 3% on a 7(a) loan of $50,000 or less, and on larger loans 2% of the first $1,000,000 plus 0.25% of the amount above it, with a $30,000 ceiling for all services combined. On a $1,000,000 loan to buy a business that is $20,000. On a $2,000,000 loan it is $22,500. The broker may not make the fee contingent on the loan being approved or closed, and may not charge one standard flat fee to every applicant.

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SBA broker fee checker SOP 50 10 8.1 ceilings

Gross 7(a) loan amount

Fee the broker quoted you

The fee is only due if the loan is approved or closes

Broker fee ceiling

Your quote as a share of the loan

Lender packaging fee ceiling

Itemization starts above

$2,500

The ceiling covers packaging, consulting and referral fees combined when one agent does all three.
The lender and its associates may not charge you a broker or referral fee at all.

Calculate the SBA guaranty fee

Educational check against the published SOP ceilings · not legal advice

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Those limits are in SOP 50 10 8.1, the SBA rulebook lenders have followed since 1 October 2026, under the heading "Fees an Agent May Charge an Applicant for Packaging and Other Services". SBA calls a broker, consultant, packager or referral source an Agent. Every agent fee, whether you pay it or the lender does, is disclosed on SBA Form 159, signed by you, the agent and the lender. Fees above $2,500 must be itemized with supporting documents.

Many brokers are paid a referral fee by the lender instead, and then you owe nothing. The lender cannot pass that fee to you, and the same person cannot collect a referral fee from both sides. The checker above tests a quote against the ceiling for your loan size. The tables below set out who may charge what.

This page is educational and is not legal advice or a fee opinion. The SOP and your lender’s itemization govern.

The broker fee has a published ceiling and a disclosure form. The business you are borrowing to buy has neither, which is where the checking should go.

Read from SOP 50 10 8.1 on 7 October 2026

Who may charge you what on an SBA 7(a) loan

Taken from the SOP 50 10 8.1 sections on lender fees, agents and SBA Form 159, with the regulation each one cites. A ceiling is the most that may be charged, not the going rate.

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Who	What they may charge you	What is not allowed	Disclosure
Independent broker or referral agent you hire	By percentage: 3% on loans of $50,000 or less, otherwise 2% of the first $1,000,000 plus 0.25% of the rest, $30,000 at most. By the hour: no maximum, with the rate and time documented	Contingency fees, a standard flat fee charged to all applicants, charges for services not reasonably necessary	SBA Form 159 signed by you, the agent and the lender. Itemized above $2,500
Loan packager or consultant you hire	The same ceiling. When one agent packages, advises and refers, the combined fee cannot exceed it	A packaging fee contingent on approval or closing	Same Form 159, each service reported separately
Broker paid a referral fee by the lender	Nothing. The lender pays	A referral agent may be paid by the applicant or the lender, not both	Form 159 naming the agent, signed by lender and applicant
The lender, for its own packaging	A flat fee up to $2,500 with no documentation, or a percentage up to 5% on loans of $150,000 or less and 3% above, $30,000 at most	Splitting one request into two loans to charge twice. Charging for work its service provider did	Entered in the SBA loan system. Form 159 above $2,500
The lender or its associates, for anything else	Out-of-pocket closing costs at actual cost, and the SBA guaranty fee	Commitment, bonus, origination, broker, commission, referral or similar fees, points and add-on interest	Itemized in writing by fee category
Lender service provider	Nothing. It is paid by the lender under an SBA-reviewed agreement	Passing its fees to the applicant	No Form 159 for work under that agreement
Closing attorney, appraiser, business valuator, environmental firm	Their actual fees, with legal work billed by the hour	Legal fees not calculated hourly	Not agents for this purpose, no Form 159

SOP 50 10 8.1 (Technical Policy Updates effective 1 October 2026) read firsthand on 7 October 2026. The SOP cites 13 CFR 120.221 for lender fees and 13 CFR Part 103 for agents. It also bars lenders from using any agent located outside the United States, and requires the lender to tell you in writing that you are not required to obtain or pay for unwanted services.

Our arithmetic on the SOP ceilings

The broker fee ceiling at common acquisition loan sizes

The percentage ceiling for an agent paid by the borrower, next to the lender’s own packaging fee ceiling. Above $1,000,000 the broker ceiling grows by only $2,500 per extra million, so as a share of the loan it falls quickly.

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Gross 7(a) loan	Broker fee ceiling (our math)	Ceiling as a share of the loan	Lender packaging fee ceiling
$50,000	$1,500	3.00%	$2,500
$150,000	$3,000	2.00%	$7,500
$350,000	$7,000	2.00%	$10,500
$500,000	$10,000	2.00%	$15,000
$1,000,000	$20,000	2.00%	$30,000
$2,000,000	$22,500	1.13%	$30,000
$3,500,000	$26,250	0.75%	$30,000
$5,000,000	$30,000	0.60%	$30,000

The SOP wording is "2 percent for loans between $50,000 and the first $1,000,000 and 0.25 percent on the portion over $1,000,000". We read that as 2% of the loan up to $1,000,000, which makes the formula reach the $30,000 maximum exactly at the $5,000,000 loan limit. One oddity follows from the text: a $50,000 loan allows $1,500 and a $60,000 loan only $1,200. These are ceilings on percentage fees. Hourly billing has no maximum, but the hourly rate and the time spent on each service must be documented.

A business buyer and spouse reviewing loan paperwork with an adviser at an office desk

Read the fee agreement before the broker opens your file

A broker earns the fee when the right lender says yes quickly. That is worth real money on a first acquisition, because a declined file costs you weeks of exclusivity. But the fee agreement is the one document in an SBA deal that nobody else reviews until closing, when the lender asks all three parties to sign Form 159. Check it yourself on day one: how the fee is calculated, whether it depends on closing, and whether the lender is paying the same person.

The lender, with or without a broker, underwrites the seller’s historical earnings. A deal whose numbers fall apart in diligence still costs you the broker’s hours, the valuation and the legal work. Every listing on Buyouts carries verified MRR, churn and growth before you make an offer, so the file a broker takes to a lender starts with numbers that hold.

Side by side

The SOP 50 10 8.1 rule against what brokers commonly quote

A fair look at what each does well. Both are useful. Here is where they differ.

Feature	Buyouts	What brokers commonly quote
Percentage on a $500,000 loan	At most 2%, which is $10,000	One broker’s own guide (13 Feb 2026) describes 1% to 3% as typical, $5,000 to $15,000
When the fee is due	For work done. It cannot depend on approval or closing	Often described as a success fee earned at closing, which is a contingency fee
Flat fees	No standard or flat fee charged to all applicants	Flat packages of $3,000 to $10,000 regardless of loan size are described in the same guide
Upfront deposits	Allowed only as payment for documented, necessary services	A $2,500 to $5,000 commitment deposit appears in the same guide as a warning sign
Lender-paid brokers	Allowed. Disclosed on Form 159 and never passed to you	Often advertised as free to the borrower, which is accurate when it is the only fee
If the fee is too high	SBA can order a refund of anything it finds unreasonable	Rarely mentioned

Comparison reflects general, publicly understood positioning. Capabilities change, so check each marketplace for the latest. Trademarks belong to their owners.

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The ceiling is 2%, not 3%

Above $50,000 the percentage ceiling is 2% of the first $1,000,000, then a quarter of a percent on the rest. A 3% quote on a $750,000 acquisition loan is $22,500 against a ceiling of $15,000. A broker can still bill more by the hour, but then every hour has to be on paper.

A success fee is the one structure SBA bans

The SOP says plainly that SBA does not allow contingency fees, meaning fees paid only if the loan is approved or closed. It applies to agents you hire and to agents the lender hires for application work. That is the opposite of how buyers expect brokers to work, so read the agreement for the words "at closing" and "success".

Form 159 is your receipt

Form 159 is the Fee Disclosure Form and Compensation Agreement. You sign it, so you see every dollar the agent receives, including a referral fee the lender pays. If a broker tells you the form is not needed, or asks to be paid outside closing, that is the moment to stop and ask the lender.

Keep reading on the parts of a deal this page touches: the SBA guaranty fee calculator and every other 7(a) fee, the full guide to an SBA loan to buy a business, the business acquisition loan calculator with payment and DSCR, who signs the SBA loan personal guarantee, the SOP 50 10 8.1 change of ownership rules, what a buy-side advisor charges to find the deal, financing a SaaS acquisition now that Boopos has stopped lending.

Good questions

SBA loan broker fees, answered

An SBA loan broker billing the borrower by percentage may charge at most 3% on loans of $50,000 or less, and otherwise 2% of the first $1,000,000 plus 0.25% of the amount above it, capped at $30,000. That is $10,000 on a $500,000 loan and $20,000 on $1,000,000. Many charge the borrower nothing and are paid by the lender.

Either one, but not both for the same service. SOP 50 10 8.1 says a referral agent may be employed and compensated by an applicant or a lender, not both. The single exception is an agent who is paid by you for packaging and by the lender for the referral, with both sides aware of it.

No. SOP 50 10 8.1 states that SBA does not allow contingency fees, defined as fees paid only if the loan is approved or closed. An agent you hire must be paid for the services actually performed. A fee agreement that says the fee is earned at closing is the structure the rule prohibits.

SBA Form 159 is the Fee Disclosure Form and Compensation Agreement. It records who helped with a 7(a) or 504 loan application and what they were paid. The applicant, the agent and the lender each sign it, and the lender submits it to SBA after the first disbursement, within two monthly reporting cycles.

Whenever an agent is paid by the applicant or by the lender in connection with the loan, at any amount. It is also required when the lender charges its own packaging fee above $2,500. If one agent’s total compensation exceeds $2,500, an itemization and supporting documentation must be attached. A separate form is completed for each agent.

The SOP lists seven: your accountant preparing ordinary financial statements, the lender’s state-licensed appraiser, a lender service provider under an SBA-reviewed agreement, the Qualified Source doing the business valuation, the environmental professional, any attorney in connection with the closing, and a real estate agent earning a sale commission.

It is a fee for helping the applicant complete the application, a business plan, cash flow projections and related documents. A lender may charge a flat packaging fee up to $2,500 without documenting the work, or a percentage up to 5% on loans of $150,000 or less and 3% above that, never more than $30,000.

No. Under the SOP’s prohibited fees list, a 7(a) lender and its associates may not charge the borrower any commitment, bonus, origination, broker, commission, referral or similar fee, and may not charge points or add-on interest. The lender is limited to packaging, real out-of-pocket costs, late fees and passing on the guaranty fee.

No, and lenders and agents are required to tell you so. The SOP says they must clearly inform any applicant that SBA does not require the use of an agent for packaging or referring a loan application. A broker is a convenience that can save time matching your deal to a lender that likes acquisitions.

An SBA loan consultant advises on the amount and type of financing, prepares the application package and often introduces the borrower to lenders. SBA treats consultants, packagers and brokers alike as agents, so the same fee ceiling, the ban on contingency fees and the Form 159 disclosure apply whatever the title on the card.

Not a standard one. The SOP says SBA does not allow an agent to charge an applicant a standard or flat fee charged to all applicants. A fee has to reflect the services actually performed on your file, either as documented hours or as a percentage within the ceiling for your loan size.

SBA may review agent fees at any time, and the agent must refund any fee SBA considers unreasonable or impermissible. Lenders have to review an agent’s fees when a borrower complains or a third party flags them, and report apparent problems to SBA. An agent can also lose the privilege of doing business with SBA.

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