For fiscal year 2026, the SBA 7(a) upfront guaranty fee runs from a low upfront fee on loans maturing in 12 months or less up to a higher percentage of the guaranteed portion on the largest loans, and these rates apply October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. If you’re financing a manufacturing business, pay close attention: the SBA is waiving the upfront fee entirely on 7(a) manufacturing loans below a certain threshold, and waiving both the upfront and annual service fee on 504 loans to manufacturers classified under NAICS codes 31 through 33.
Here’s the fee schedule for loans with maturities over 12 months, based on the guaranteed portion of the loan:
- a nominal fee for any 7(a) loan maturing in 12 months or less, regardless of size
- a small fee rate on loans where the guaranteed portion is at or below a lower threshold
- a moderate fee rate on the guaranteed portion in the mid-range
- higher fees applied progressively on portions exceeding one million dollars of the guaranteed portion
These numbers come straight from 13 CFR 120.220, the federal regulation governing SBA loan fees, and they’re echoed in SBA Information Notice 5000-872051, the official document announcing the FY2026 schedule. The manufacturer waivers were announced separately in a September 2025 SBA press release, and they exclude MARC (Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan) loans from eligibility. Before you sign anything, run your numbers through the SBA 7(a) Loan Guaranty Fee Calculator and confirm the final figure through E-Tran, the SBA’s loan processing system, which always has the last word on what you actually owe.
Key Takeaways
| Point | Details |
|---|---|
| Effective dates locked in | FY2026 fees apply October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026, per SBA Information Notice 5000-872051. |
| Fee tiers scale with loan size | Rates run from nominal fee on short-term loans up to higher fee rate on the largest guaranteed portions over $1 million. |
| Manufacturer waivers offer real savings | NAICS 31–33 manufacturers get 0% upfront fees on 7(a) loans up to $950,000 and 0% fees on qualifying 504 loans. |
| E-Tran is the final authority | Fee calculators help estimate costs, but the E-Tran confirmation at approval is the number SBA actually charges. |
| Emorylending helps verify eligibility | Emorylending connects borrowers with lenders who confirm NAICS classification and document fee calculations clearly before closing. |
Table of Contents
- What Changed for FY2026 SBA Loan Fees
- The FY2026 SBA 7(a) Guaranty Fee Schedule Explained
- FY2026 504 Loan Fees and the Manufacturer Waiver
- Who Pays the SBA Guaranty Fee?
- How the 90-Day Rule Can Push You Into a Higher Fee Tier
- How to Calculate Your Exact SBA Guaranty Fee
- Checklist: Managing FY2026 SBA Fees as a Borrower or Lender
- What FY2026’s Fee Structure Really Means for Small Businesses
- Get Help Verifying Your SBA Fees and Loan Options
- Where to Confirm FY2026 SBA Fee Details
- Sources
What Changed for FY2026 SBA Loan Fees
The fee tiers themselves look similar to recent years, but two things make FY2026 different: a clarified aggregation rule and a brand-new set of manufacturer waivers that didn’t exist before.
Information Notice 5000-872051 spells out the fee schedule effective October 1, 2025, and it also nails down something lenders have asked about for years — exactly how the SBA treats multiple loans approved close together. The notice confirms that when an applicant (or its affiliates) gets more than one 7(a) loan with a maturity over 12 months within a 90-day window, the SBA aggregates those loans for fee-tier purposes. That single clarification changes how brokers and lenders should sequence loan applications for a borrower who might need more than one facility in a short stretch.
The bigger headline is the manufacturer relief. On September 18, 2025, the SBA announced it would zero out the upfront guaranty fee for small manufacturers taking 7(a) loans of $950,000 or less, and eliminate both the upfront and annual service fee for 504 loans to manufacturers in NAICS categories 31 through 33.
The SBA has framed these waivers as a direct incentive for domestic manufacturing and re-shoring, reducing the capital small manufacturers need up front to acquire equipment, expand facilities, or refinance existing debt. For a manufacturer borrowing close to that $950,000 ceiling, the waiver alone can save tens of thousands of dollars in fees that would otherwise be due at closing.
Not every manufacturing-adjacent loan qualifies. MARC loans stay excluded from the waiver regardless of NAICS classification, and Express and veteran-designated loan exceptions that already existed in SBA policy remain untouched by this update. If your business straddles multiple NAICS codes, don’t assume the waiver applies just because part of what you do is manufacturing.
The FY2026 SBA 7(a) Guaranty Fee Schedule Explained
Guaranty fees aren’t charged on your entire loan amount. They’re charged on the guaranteed portion, which is the slice of the loan the SBA agrees to back if you default. That distinction trips up a lot of first-time borrowers who assume the fee percentage applies to the full loan.
Here’s how the guaranteed portion works: the SBA guarantees 85% of loans of $150,000 or less, and 75% of anything larger, up to the program’s $5,000,000 maximum, according to the SBA’s own 7(a) loan program details. Once you know the guaranteed portion, you apply the tiered rate from the table below.
| Loan Maturity | Guaranteed Portion | FY2026 Upfront Fee Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 12 months or less | Any amount | nominal fee |
| Over 12 months | Up to $150,000 | 2% |
| Over 12 months | lower threshold | moderate fee rate |
| Over 12 months | mid-range | 3% |
| Over 12 months | portion exceeding one million dollars | higher fee rate |
Let’s walk through the math on three loan sizes, all assuming a maturity over 12 months.
A $150,000 loan. The guaranteed portion is 85%, or $127,500.
A $500,000 loan. The guaranteed portion is 75%, or $375,000.
A $1,500,000 loan. The guaranteed portion is 75%, or $1,125,000.
Pro Tip: Never treat a worksheet calculation as final. Lenders run the loan through E-Tran at approval, and if that number differs from a manual worksheet, the E-Tran figure is what SBA actually charges. Ask your loan officer to show you the E-Tran confirmation screen before you sign closing documents.
FY2026 504 Loan Fees and the Manufacturer Waiver
The 504 program works differently from 7(a). Instead of a single lender carrying the SBA-guaranteed piece, a Certified Development Company (CDC) funds a second-lien portion of the project, typically alongside a bank loan and your own down payment. That CDC portion carries its own guaranty fee and an ongoing annual service fee, both of which get updated annually in the SBA’s FY2026 504 fee notice.
For manufacturers in NAICS codes 31 through 33, both of those charges disappear entirely under the FY2026 waiver:
- Upfront guaranty fee on the CDC (504) portion: waived for qualifying manufacturers
- Annual service fee on the CDC portion: waived for qualifying manufacturers, for the life of the waiver period
- Standard borrowers outside the manufacturer waiver continue to pay the regular 504 upfront and annual service fees set in the FY2026 notice
Picture a manufacturer buying a $2 million facility using 504 financing, with the CDC funding $800,000 of that project. Under standard 504 pricing, that borrower would owe both an upfront fee and an annual service fee on the CDC portion, fees that typically get rolled into the loan and repaid over the loan’s term. Under the FY2026 waiver, both charges drop to zero, meaning less capital needed at closing and a lower effective interest cost over the life of the loan since there’s no annual fee accruing against the balance.
The catch is documentation. Your CDC and lender need your correct NAICS code on file before closing to apply the waiver, so if your business operations don’t cleanly match a manufacturing classification, get that resolved early rather than discovering a problem during underwriting.
Who Pays the SBA Guaranty Fee?
Technically, the lender pays the guaranty fee to the SBA, not the borrower. In practice, nearly every lender passes that cost through to the small business taking out the loan, and it’s usually rolled into the loan proceeds rather than paid as a separate check at closing, according to a breakdown of SBA guarantee fee mechanics from NerdWallet.
There are limits on how lenders can handle this, though, and borrowers should know them:
- On loans with a small guaranteed portion, lenders have limits on how much of the upfront fee they may retain versus remit to SBA.
- The Lender’s Annual Service Fee is paid by lenders and is not passed through to borrowers. That cost sits with the lender, according to research on the 7(a) program structure from the Yale School of Management.
- Whether the upfront fee gets financed into your loan or charged separately at closing is a lender-by-lender decision, so ask before you assume.
Before you close on any SBA loan, request a short disclosure from your lender covering these points: the exact upfront fee dollar amount, whether it’s financed into the loan balance or due at closing, confirmation that no annual service fee is being passed to you, and written confirmation of your NAICS code if you believe a manufacturer waiver applies.
Pro Tip: If a lender can’t produce a clear breakdown of the guaranty fee in writing before closing, that’s a red flag. A transparent lender will show you the fee calculation and the E-Tran output side by side, not just a lump-sum number buried in your closing disclosure.
How the 90-Day Rule Can Push You Into a Higher Fee Tier
Here’s a scenario that catches borrowers off guard: you take out two separate 7(a) loans, both with maturities over 12 months, within a 90-day window. SBA doesn’t evaluate those loans in isolation for fee purposes. It combines them, and that combined total determines which fee tier applies to the second loan.
This aggregation rule, clarified in Information Notice 5000-872051 and further explained in a practical guidance summary from NAGGL, exists to prevent borrowers and lenders from splitting a large financing need into smaller loans just to land in a lower fee bracket.
- Working Capital Pilot (WCP) and Export Working Capital Program (EWCP) loans have their own handling under this rule, and lenders should check current NAGGL and SBA guidance before assuming standard aggregation applies the same way.
- The manufacturer waiver can still apply within an aggregated calculation, but only to the portion of financing that independently qualifies under the $950,000 cap for 7(a) manufacturing loans.
- Affiliated businesses under common ownership count toward the same 90-day window, so a borrower with multiple related entities needs to track approvals across all of them, not just one.
Say a business takes a $400,000 7(a) loan on day one, then comes back 60 days later for a second $400,000 loan. Combined with the first loan under the 90-day rule, the total guaranteed exposure could push the pricing calculation into the higher tier structure, adding real dollars to the upfront fee the borrower didn’t budget for.
Pro Tip: If you know you’ll need a second SBA loan within a few months of your first, tell your lender up front. Structuring the timing, or at least pricing in the aggregation impact ahead of time, beats getting surprised by a bigger fee at your second closing.
How to Calculate Your Exact SBA Guaranty Fee
Every example in this article uses standard rates, but your actual fee depends on details specific to your loan. The SBA’s own 7(a) Loan Guaranty Fee Calculator is built for exactly this purpose, and it asks for a handful of inputs: your loan amount, the maturity term, whether you’ve had other 7(a) approvals within the past 90 days, and your NAICS classification.
Follow this sequence to land on a reliable estimate before you ever see a closing disclosure:
- Determine your guaranteed portion first: 85% for loans of $150,000 or less, 75% for anything larger.
- Apply the correct tiered rate to that guaranteed portion based on your loan’s maturity and size.
- Check whether your NAICS code qualifies for the manufacturer waiver, and confirm the loan amount falls under the $950,000 cap for 7(a) loans if you’re claiming it.
- Factor in any other 7(a) approvals from the past 90 days that might push your combined exposure into a higher tier.
- Have your lender run the final numbers through E-Tran at the time of approval. E-Tran output overrides any prior worksheet or calculator estimate.
The calculator gives you a strong planning number, but it’s not the final word. If a lender’s internal worksheet shows a different figure than what E-Tran generates, the discrepancy needs to be resolved and documented before closing, not after.
Save a screenshot or PDF of the E-Tran confirmation once your loan is approved. That single document becomes your reference point if a fee dispute ever comes up, and it’s the cleanest way to prove exactly what SBA charged versus what your lender estimated earlier in the process.
Checklist: Managing FY2026 SBA Fees as a Borrower or Lender
Getting the fee calculation right isn’t just about math. It’s about paperwork, timing, and asking the right questions before you’re locked into a closing date. Here’s how to approach it depending on which side of the loan you’re on.
For borrowers:
- Confirm your business’s correct NAICS code before applying, especially if you believe a manufacturer waiver might apply to your loan.
- Ask your lender for a written fee worksheet showing the guaranty fee calculation, including which tier applies and why.
- Request the E-Tran fee confirmation once your loan is approved, and compare it against the earlier worksheet.
- Clarify whether the upfront fee will be financed into your loan balance or charged separately at closing.
- If you’re claiming manufacturer waiver eligibility, keep documentation proving your NAICS classification in case of an audit or SBA review.
For lenders:
- Verify NAICS classification early in underwriting, not at the closing table, to avoid last-minute fee recalculations.
- Run every loan through the SBA fee calculator and confirm against E-Tran before issuing a closing disclosure.
- Disclose fee retention practices clearly, particularly on smaller loans where retention caps apply.
- Document any 90-day aggregation decisions in the loan file, including a record of other recent approvals for the same borrower or affiliated entities.
Documents worth keeping on file for either side include the specific SBA information notice citing your fee tier, the fee-calculator output with your inputs, and the final E-Tran approval page. Borrowers evaluating how a guaranty fee affects total borrowing cost may also want to compare it against how loan rates and fees interact more broadly before deciding how to structure financing.
What FY2026’s Fee Structure Really Means for Small Businesses
Most articles on SBA fees treat them like an afterthought buried at the bottom of a term sheet. That’s a mistake. On a $1.5 million loan, the difference between understanding the fee structure and not understanding it can run close to $40,000, and that’s money that either gets planned for or blindsides a borrower two days before closing.
What stands out most about FY2026 isn’t the fee tiers themselves, which haven’t moved dramatically from recent years. It’s the manufacturer waiver. For a small manufacturing shop trying to buy equipment or expand a production line, that’s real breathing room.
The 90-day aggregation rule deserves more attention than it usually gets, too. Borrowers rarely think about loan timing as a cost lever, but sequencing two loan requests wrong can quietly push you into a higher fee bracket without anyone flagging it until the closing disclosure arrives. Lenders who catch this early and structure conversations with borrowers accordingly are doing their clients a real service. Those who don’t are setting up an unpleasant surprise.
If there’s one thing worth pushing back on, it’s the assumption that a fee calculator result is the end of the conversation. It’s a starting point. E-Tran is where the real number lives, and any lender unwilling to show you that confirmation before you sign is asking you to trust a number they haven’t actually verified themselves. Ask for it every time.
Get Help Verifying Your SBA Fees and Loan Options
Reading a federal fee schedule is one thing. Knowing exactly how it applies to your specific loan, your NAICS code, and your timeline is another. Emorylending works with small business owners across North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Virginia to sort through exactly this kind of detail, and we evaluate your business’s cash flow and performance rather than leaning only on personal credit history the way traditional lenders do.
Here’s how we help borrowers navigate FY2026 fee rules specifically:
- We help you confirm whether your business qualifies for the manufacturer waiver before you ever apply, so you’re not guessing about NAICS eligibility.
- We connect you with lenders who will show you a clear fee worksheet and the E-Tran confirmation, not just a lump number buried in closing paperwork.
- We help you understand how the guaranty fee fits into your total financing cost, whether you’re pursuing SBA lending or another funding path better suited to your timeline.
If you’re weighing SBA financing against other funding structures, options like revenue-based financing can also make sense for businesses that need faster access to capital without the SBA’s fee and approval timeline. Whatever direction fits your business best, the place to start is a conversation about your actual numbers. Visit our flexible financing guide to see your options and get matched with the right lender for your situation.
Where to Confirm FY2026 SBA Fee Details
Don’t take any secondhand summary, including this one, as the final word on your specific loan’s fee. These are the official resources worth bookmarking:
- The SBA Information Notice 5000-872051 is the primary rule document for FY2026 7(a) fees, including the 90-day aggregation clarification.
- The SBA press release on manufacturer fee waivers explains the policy reasoning and specific eligibility limits for the waiver program.
- The SBA 7(a) Loan Guaranty Fee Calculator gives you a working estimate based on your loan’s specific inputs before you apply.
- E-Tran, accessible through your lender, provides the final, binding fee calculation once your loan is approved, and it’s the figure you should insist on seeing in writing.
For general background on how the SBA loan program works before you dive into fee specifics, Emorylending’s SBA loan guide covers the program fundamentals in plain language.
Sources
- 13 CFR 120.220 (Cornell Law School / eCFR reference)
- 7(a) Fees Effective October 1, 2025 for Fiscal Year 2026 | U.S. Small Business Administration
- FY 2026 loan fees and clarification of fee calculation for multiple WCP or EWCP loans – NAGGL
