SBA Business Plan Template: The Outline, What the Lender Checks, and a Worked Example

Written by the 15minuteplan.ai team; figures checked against the sources listed, 2026-10-12.

SBA's template: an outline and example plans

SBA's "Plan your business" guide sorts plans into traditional and lean startup. The traditional plan uses "a standard structure" and can be "dozens of pages long". Of the two, SBA says "Lenders and investors commonly request" the traditional one. The lean plan is "typically only one page", and "Some lenders and investors may ask for more information."

SBA says you "don't have to stick to the exact business plan outline". It links fictional example plans to download: traditional plans from Rebecca (a consulting firm) and Andrew (a toy company), and a lean plan from Andrew. We did not open the downloads. They are examples, not forms.

The loan application is separate. On its 7(a) page SBA writes: "You will be applying for your loan directly through a local lender." The contents of the application "vary depending on the size of the loan and the lender's processing method." Ask your lender which documents it wants first.

Section-by-section checklist

SBA's page says it lists the nine most common sections, but it names eight. The table uses those eight and adds appendices as a ninth row, which is our row and not an SBA heading.

The third column is what the lender's credit memo must cover under SBA Procedural Notice 5000-876777 (effective 2026-03-01, called "the notice" below). The credit memo is the lender's internal write-up that recommends your loan; it is not SBA's list of required plan sections, and your lender may ask for more or less. A "lien" is a lender's claim on collateral.

"Associates" means, in 13 CFR 120.10, a small business's officers, directors, key employees and owners of more than 20 percent. It also covers entities they own or control at least 20 percent of. Anyone in control of or controlled by the business counts too.

Copy this outline

Paste it into a document and replace each prompt with your own text. Each line says what to write.

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
   what the company is, who runs it, the loan you want, and why you expect to repay it. Write it last.
2. COMPANY DESCRIPTION
   legal structure, every owner and share, start date, and any liens, judgments or lawsuits to disclose.
3. MARKET ANALYSIS
   industry, target customer, competitors, and the source for each number you rely on.
4. ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
   who does what, their experience, an org chart, and resumes for key people.
5. SERVICE OR PRODUCT LINE
   what you sell, why customers buy it, and plans for intellectual property. For a franchise, name the brand.
6. MARKETING AND SALES
   how you will attract and keep customers, and the sales figures that follow.
7. FUNDING REQUEST
   how much, debt or equity, terms, the period covered, a line-by-line use of funds, and your collateral.
8. FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS
   five years of income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements (first year by quarter or month), plus the debt service coverage ratio, with every assumption explained.
9. APPENDICES
   Bank statements, tax returns, collateral list, resumes, licences and leases your lender asks for.

What a lender checks beyond your plan

The notice sets what the lender's credit memo must hold for a 7(a) Small loan. The lender must use "appropriate, prudent, and generally accepted industry credit analysis processes", and the memo must address:

• Credit history of the applicant, its Associates and guarantors, and repayment ability: debt service coverage, two months of bank activity on the primary operating account, projected earnings and assumptions.
• Proposed collateral and its estimated value.
• Working capital: on loans over $50,000 with half or more of the proceeds going to it, why that level is "necessary and appropriate".
• Seller financing and standby agreements, with terms. In a standby agreement a creditor, such as a seller, ranks behind the lender and takes no action against you or the collateral without the lender's consent.
• Liens, judgments or pending litigation, "including divorce proceedings", and the effect of any affiliates on repayment.
• Franchise review, if the business is a franchise. SBA's guide says its Franchise Directory lists brands "eligible for SBA financial assistance", including brands that meet the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) definition of a franchise.
• Refinanced debt, with its justification and original purpose.

Personal documents differ by lender. SBA's Form 413 is its Personal Financial Statement, which SBA says "is used to assess repayment ability and creditworthiness" for 7(a) and 504 loans, among other programs. Form 1919 (Borrower Information Form) is completed by the applicant and submitted to the lender. Expect the lender to ask for a personal financial statement and tax returns for each principal; it will tell you the exact list.

Worked example: does a $150,000 loan fit the cash flow?

Harbor Street Print Shop is fictional. Every input is an assumption for illustration, not a rate quote, an SBA cap or a prediction. Lenders may adjust OCF; for an owner-run business they may subtract owner pay, draws or taxes, which lowers it. Arithmetic run on 2026-10-12 with exact decimals, using the unrounded monthly rate.

Formulas:

• Monthly rate r = annual rate / 12
• Payment = P x r / (1 - (1 + r)^-n), where P is the loan and n the number of monthly payments
• Debt service (DS) = the future required principal and interest payments on all business debt, including the new loan (SBA's wording; this example counts 12 months)
• Debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) = OCF / DS
• Minimum OCF at 1.10 = 1.10 x DS; headroom = OCF minus that minimum

Stress case: operating cash flow falls 15%

By our reasoning, a 15% fall in sales can cut operating cash flow by more than 15%, because rent, wages and other fixed costs stay the same. Loan payments are not part of operating cash flow; they are the debt service it has to cover.

If a 7(a) Small applicant does not reach the ratio, SBA's notice says "the loan must be processed following the procedures for either Standard 7(a) or SBA Express Loans." Standard 7(a) is the regular 7(a) process SBA uses for loans over $350,000. SBA Express loans "may not exceed $500,000."

How much loan the cash flow carries

Payment room a year is 42,000 / 1.10 - 9,600 = $28,581.82, or $2,381.82 a month. At 11.0% over 120 months that supports a loan of about $172,900. At the stressed OCF of $35,700 the same method gives about $138,200 (both rounded down). These are upper bounds on invented data, not advice.

Microloan variant

A $25,000 microloan at an assumed 10% (SBA's microloan page says rates are "Generally, between 8%-13%") over 60 monthly payments, within both of SBA's stated maximum terms: monthly rate 0.00833333, payment $531.18 a month, $6,374.16 a year, total interest $6,870.80 (using the payment rounded to the cent). The intermediary sets its own terms, so treat this as payment arithmetic only.

7(a), microloan or 504: which loan the plan is for

SBA's 7(a), microloan and 504 pages, read 2026-10-12, and its lender comparison page, dated 2025-11-18. "CDC" means Certified Development Company, an SBA partner that is certified and regulated by SBA. A "debenture" is the bond a CDC issues to fund its share, which SBA guarantees. "Not stated" means those pages do not say.

New business or existing business: what changes

SBA Procedural Notice 5000-872764 (effective 2025-09-30; its listed expiry is 2026-09-01) defined a New Business as one "in operation for 2 years or less" when the loan is approved. An older business can still count as new when it is a change of ownership with new, unproven ownership or management and added debt unrelated to operations. SBA's Information Notice 5000-880695 lists that notice as folded into SOP 50 10 8.1. We did not quote 8.1, so confirm the current definition with your lender.

For a new business, SBA's guide and notice point at projections and the owner:

• A business with no year-end statement has nothing historical to test, so the lender will rely on 12-month projections. The notice requires them for a complete change of ownership and allows them otherwise. The applicant must reach 1.10:1 "within one year of loan funding".
• SBA's guide says a new business's loan eligibility "is typically based on its owner's personal credit score".
• A business not yet operating, with no commercial debts, is exempt from the bank-statement requirement.

For an existing business, history does the work:

• The test can run on the last year-end statement, dated and received within 120 days of year end, or on that statement plus an interim statement (one covering the months since year end) dated within 120 days of submission.
• A complete change of ownership uses the 12-month projection route above, even though the business has history.

2026 changes for a 7(a) applicant

• 2026-03-01: SBA stopped using the SBSS score for 7(a) Small loans. The same notice (5000-876777, published 2026-02-20) sets the 1.10:1 test. For you, lenders now document repayment ability in the credit memo, including that test.
• 2026-10-01: SOP 50 10 version 8.1 takes effect for applications "issued an SBA loan number on or after that date". Lenders keep using version 8.0 for applications submitted through 2026-09-30 (Information Notice 5000-880695, published 2026-08-14). SBA has also issued Technical Updates to 8.1 (Information Notice 5000-882227, page last updated 2026-09-25).

Ask your lender which SOP version applies to your application. SBA lists the notice as folded into version 8.1, and we did not quote 8.1 itself, so confirm the 1.10:1 ratio, the New Business definition and the Standard 7(a) rules with your lender. Specific 8.1 figures, such as equity injection percentages, are not given here.

What 15minuteplan.ai (15MP) drafts and what you add yourself

We checked the generator's output against the sample plans in our code on 2026-10-12. These are static samples; we did not run a live generation for this page.

15MP is an independent product; we make no claim that SBA, any lender or any advisor has reviewed or endorsed it.

FAQ

Does SBA approve my business plan?

No SBA page we read describes SBA approving a plan. Your lender reviews it as part of your application; see the 7(a) row of the program table for who decides what.

What is a good debt service ratio?

For 7(a) Small loans ($350,000 or less), SBA's floor is 1.10:1. See the worked example for the arithmetic. We give no typical range for larger loans because we found no SBA figure for one.

Can I use a microloan to buy real estate?

No. SBA says microloan proceeds cannot be used to purchase real estate (program table, "Cannot be used for").

Sources and date checked

All read on 2026-10-12.

• SBA, Plan your business: write your business plan, published 2025-12-18.
• SBA pages: 7(a) loans, Microloans, 504 loans (all read 2026-10-12); lender comparison (dated 2025-11-18); Form 1919, Form 413, Form 155.
• SBA Procedural Notice 5000-876777, "Sunset of SBSS Score for 7(a) Small Loans - Supplemental Guidance", effective 2026-03-01, published 2026-02-20 (read in a copy hosted by NAGGL).
• SBA Procedural Notice 5000-872764, "Revisions to SOP 50 10 8", effective 2025-09-30.
• SBA Information Notice 5000-880695, Issuance of SOP 50 10 8.1, effective 2026-10-01; SBA's SOP 50 10 page.
• 13 CFR 120.10, 120.150, 120.160 and 120.213, eCFR.
• Our arithmetic: the worked example, run with exact decimal arithmetic on 2026-10-12.