Guide · informational

Sequencing payoffs when you cannot clear them all

Two different ratios give two different answers, and which one you should follow depends on whether you are short of cash or short of time.

Drafted with AI assistance. Not yet independently checked. Nobody has verified the claims on this page against a source, so treat the figures and legal points as a starting point rather than as settled, and confirm anything you are about to act on. How we check things.

You have a sum of money and three positions. The sum clears one and a bit. The order is not obvious and the obvious choice is often wrong.

The two ratios

Cash relief per dollar of payoff.Daily remittance divided by remaining balance, expressed per $1,000 cleared. This measures how much daily outflow you buy back for each dollar spent. Use it when the binding constraint is cash flow.
Absolute monthly relief.The remittance itself, annualised into a monthly figure. This measures how much total outflow disappears. Use it when the binding constraint is a specific monthly number you must hit.

These two ratios frequently disagree, and the disagreement is the whole exercise.

A worked case

Illustrative only —three positions, all fixed-repayment, all remitting per business day:
  • Position A. Remaining $18,200, $450 a day. Business days left: 40.4. Monthly outflow: $9,751.50. Relief per $1,000 cleared: $24.73 a day.
  • Position B. Remaining $31,500, $620 a day. Business days left: 50.8. Monthly outflow: $13,435.40. Relief per $1,000 cleared: $19.68 a day.
  • Position C. Remaining $9,800, $310 a day. Business days left: 31.6. Monthly outflow: $6,717.70. Relief per $1,000 cleared: $31.63 a day.

Totals: $59,500 remaining, $1,380 a day, about $29,905 a month leaving the account.

You have $20,000.

By relief per dollar, the order is C, then A, then B. Clearing C costs $9,800 and removes $6,717.70 a month, leaving $10,200 in hand.
By absolute relief, A is the better single purchase: $18,200 removes $9,751.50 a month, leaving $1,800 in hand.

Both are defensible. The difference is what you do with the change.

  • Clear C ($9,800): monthly relief $6,717.70, cash remaining $10,200.
  • Clear A ($18,200): monthly relief $9,751.50, cash remaining $1,800.
  • Clear C, then use $10,200 toward A: monthly relief $6,717.70 now, plus a partial paydown that on a fixed-repayment product usually shortens the tail without reducing the daily remittance at all.

That last point decides it more often than the ratios do.

The structural fact that overrides both ratios

On a fixed-repayment advance, a partial payment normally shortens the term. It does not reduce the daily remittance. Paying $10,200 against Position A takes 22.7 business days off the end and changes tomorrow's cash flow by nothing.

So if your problem is this month's cash flow, partial payments on fixed-repayment products are close to useless. Only a complete payoff removes a daily debit. That is an argument for clearing the smallest position outright rather than spreading money across several.

On an interest-bearing amortising loan the arithmetic reverses: a principal prepayment reduces future interest and, depending on the contract, may either shorten the term or lower the payment. Ask which, in writing, before you send money.

Three things that beat the arithmetic

A position about to escalate.If one funder has issued a notice of default or has a remedy available that the others do not, clear or cure that one regardless of ratios. The cost of an enforcement action exceeds the difference between $24.73 and $31.63 per thousand.
A position blocking a transaction.If a UCC-1 is stopping a refinance, an equipment purchase or a sale, the value of clearing it is the value of the transaction, not the cash relief.
A position with a genuine discount on the table.If one funder will accept less than the full remaining amount in a lump sum and another will not, the effective price differs and the ratios have to be recomputed on the discounted figure. On fixed-repayment products this is unusual and is a negotiation, not a right — see early payoff discount.

The procedure

  1. List every position with remaining balance, remittance amount, frequency and remaining term. Take the balances from payoff quotes, not from memory.
  2. Compute both ratios for each: relief per $1,000, and monthly outflow.
  3. Flag anything escalating or blocking. These jump the queue.
  4. Ask each funder what a partial payment does — shortens the term, reduces the payment, or nothing. Get it in writing.
  5. Rank by relief per dollar, then check how much cash is left over and whether the remainder can do anything useful.
  6. Prefer complete payoffs to partial ones on fixed-repayment products.
  7. Re-run the model after each payoff, because clearing one position changes what the remaining cash can do.

What clearing one position does to the others

Two effects, and they cut opposite ways.

Your coverage improves, which makes a restructure conversation with the remaining funders more credible. You can walk in with a real number: total debt service has fallen from $29,905 to $23,187 a month.

But the remaining funders may also see a business that found $20,000 and did not offer any of it to them. If you are negotiating with several at once, the sequencing decision is also a communication decision — see the guidance on approaching two funders simultaneously.

What to have ready

Payoff quotes from every position, each good through the same date. A written answer from each funder on what a partial payment does. A thirteen-week cash flow model so you know what monthly relief you actually need rather than what you would like. And a decision, made before you send any money, about whether you are buying cash flow or buying a clean lien position — because those produce different orders.

The effect of a partial payment, the availability of any discount and the consequences of a missed remittance all depend on your specific agreements and on the state law they select. This describes the arithmetic, not what you should do, and it is not legal advice.

Where this applies

Related questions

What does this guide cover?

Two different ratios give two different answers, and which one you should follow depends on whether you are short of cash or short of time.

Which funding products does this apply to?

Merchant Cash Advance, Working Capital, Term Loan, Revenue-Based Financing. Each has its own page listing the funders in this directory that offer it and what each one publishes about its terms.

Are the figures here quotes?

No. Every worked example is labelled illustrative and exists to show the arithmetic. What a particular lender charges is on that lender's page, where it publishes it at all.

Who writes this?

The Find Me Funders research desk. Some drafting is AI-assisted, and every page that is says so at the top, including whether a person has checked its claims yet.

How do I know a figure here is right?

Where a page carries the green notice, its claims were checked against the sources listed at the end and a reviewer is named. Where it carries the amber one, nobody has verified it yet and you should confirm anything you plan to act on.

Are the examples real deals?

No. Every worked example is labelled illustrative and exists to show the arithmetic. What any particular lender charges is on that lender's page, where it publishes it.

Why do you never say what a typical rate is?

Because we cannot source it. A market average assembled from lenders who do not publish prices is a guess with a decimal point on it. Where a lender publishes a figure, we show that figure and say where it came from.

Is this financial or legal advice?

No. It is general information about how these products work. Outcomes depend on your contract and your state, and a lawyer or accountant licensed where you are is the person to ask about your situation.

Can I reuse this content?

Quote a paragraph with a link back. Do not republish whole articles.

Related reading