Revenue-based funding fits a Florida City, FL shop that takes cash, checks and cards and wants payments that follow monthly revenue; a merchant cash advance fits a shop that sells mostly by card. Millview Funding arranges merchant cash advances through funding partners, which set the terms. Revenue-based funding comes from other providers and is explained here so the two can be compared.
Sales-linked repayment for Florida City, FL shops, with an invented three-path repayment table and a fixed-loan comparison.
How revenue-based repayment rises and falls with sales
Revenue-based funding gives a shop a lump sum, then collects a fixed share of the shop's revenue each period until a capped total has been repaid. The share stays the same, so the dollars move with sales: a strong month sends more, a weak month sends less, and the repayment stretches out. Invented figures, not an offer: $22,500 received, a $27,000 cap, and 9% of monthly revenue collected.
| Sales path | Monthly revenue | Monthly remittance | Months to reach the cap | Final month's remittance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steady | $30,000 | $2,700 | 10 | $2,700 |
| Softer | $24,000 | $2,160 | 13 | $1,080 |
| Weak | $16,000 | $1,440 | 19 | $1,080 |
The same cap takes 10 months on the steady path and 19 on the weak one. That flexibility is the product's main appeal for a small shop. Nonemployer Statistics put receipts of retailers with no paid employees in Miami-Dade County, FL at $3.6 billion for 2024 (NAICS 44-45), about $88,343 per business on our arithmetic: a sales stream where one slow month is felt right away.
Where it differs from a merchant cash advance
A merchant cash advance also collects from sales, but the deal is built differently. The provider buys a fixed amount of the shop's future card receivables at a discount, and takes a holdback from each day's card batch, or a fixed daily debit adjusted later to sales, until that amount is delivered. It is a purchase, not a loan. Revenue-based funding is offered by other providers, reads the whole revenue stream, cash and checks included, and is collected monthly or weekly; some of those agreements are written as loans.
| Point of comparison | Merchant cash advance | Revenue-based funding |
|---|---|---|
| What the provider gets | A fixed amount of future card receivables | A share of revenue until a cap is reached |
| Sales the share applies to | Card sales | All revenue, card and non-card |
| Collection rhythm | Each business day | Each month or each week |
| How the price is stated | A factor rate, such as 1.3 | A repayment cap, such as 1.2 times the amount |
| Arranged through Millview Funding | Yes, through funding partners | No; described here for comparison |
A shop that takes most of its money by card fits the advance more naturally. A shop with a mix of cash, checks and invoices is the one a revenue share is designed for.
Total cost questions to ask before signing
Both products quote a total rather than an interest rate, so the first question is simple: what is the total, and how much cash arrives? In the invented example, the cap is $27,000 on $22,500, a cost of $4,500. If a 3% fee of $675 comes out of the funds at closing, the shop receives $21,825 and the cost on the cash it can spend is $5,175.
- What is the total repayment, in dollars, and what is netted from the funds at closing?
- Is there a minimum payment that applies even in a weak month?
- Does paying early lower the total, or is the full cap owed regardless?
- How often is the share recalculated, and what records does the provider read to do it?
- What counts as a default, and does taking other financing during the term count?
- Must the owner sign personally, and for how much of the balance?
Time changes the picture as well. The $4,500 is the same whether the cap is reached in 10 months or 19, so a shop that repays in fewer months pays more per month of use. A sales-linked product costs the least per month when sales are weak, the reverse of what an owner hopes for.
Shops that do better with a fixed payment
A fixed payment suits a shop whose sales are steady from month to month, or one that would rather know the number than share its good months. Invented example, not an offer: the same $22,500 as a working capital loan over 12 months at a 17% annual rate means $2,052.11 a month, $24,625.32 in all, or $2,125.32 of interest. That is less than the $4,500 cost in the revenue-share example, though the shop carries the full payment in a weak month.
A fixed loan also fits purchases that last: shelving, a register system, a delivery van. The retail page walks through those store costs one by one. A sales-linked product fits a short, uneven need, such as a stock buy for a shop whose sales swing, where a fixed payment in a weak month would strain the account.
The comparison is worth doing on paper with the real offers. Put each offer's total, its fees and its payment in a weak month side by side, and the right shape for the shop tends to show itself. Other funding questions for shops are on the Millview Funding blog.
By Millview Funding · Updated
