The 25C federal tax credit is gone. As of January 1, 2026, the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit no longer hands your customers up to $3,200 back at tax time, and the discount that quietly helped you close so many projects disappeared with it. The replacement is not a new tax break. It is financing, and specifically it is the monthly payment.
This calculator puts that payment on the table in seconds. Enter the project amount, any down payment, the APR and term your financing partner offers, and an optional dealer fee, and watch the monthly payment update in real time alongside the amount financed, the total of payments, and the total interest.
Why a monthly payment closes bigger jobs
Homeowners do not buy on price. They buy on affordability. The same $18,000 bathroom remodel that triggers a flinch as a lump sum becomes a calm decision at roughly $380 a month, a number that sits next to a car payment or a gym membership rather than next to a savings-account balance. Nothing about the job changed. Only the frame did.
That reframe does three things at once. It moves the objection from "I can't afford that" to "I can fit that in," which is a far easier obstacle to clear. It makes premium options cheap to upgrade to, because the difference between good and best is a few dollars a month, not a few thousand dollars today. And it lets the customer say yes now instead of waiting to save up, which is when most jobs quietly die.
With the 25C credit gone, this is no longer a nice-to-have. The tax break was doing real work in your close, and it has stopped. Showing a payment is how you replace that work.
How the math actually works
The tool uses the same amortization formula a lender uses, so the number you show is honest.
- Amount financed is the project amount minus any down payment, times one plus the dealer or finance fee. The fee, when there is one, is usually rolled into the balance.
- Monthly rate is the APR divided by twelve. A 9.99% APR is about 0.8325% a month.
- Monthly payment is the level amount that pays the financed balance down to zero over the term. It is principal times the monthly rate, divided by one minus (one plus the monthly rate) raised to the negative number of months. At 0% APR the tool simply divides the balance by the number of months.
- Total of payments is the monthly payment times the term, and total interest is that total minus the amount financed.
Adjust the APR slider and the term dropdown and you can see the trade-off instantly: a longer term lowers the monthly payment but raises the total interest. That trade-off is the heart of the conversation, and showing both numbers keeps you honest.
Presenting financing ethically
A monthly payment is a powerful tool, which is exactly why it has to be used straight. Three rules keep you on the right side of it.
First, never present an estimate as a guaranteed rate. This calculator produces an illustration. The real APR, term and approval depend on the customer's credit and can only come from a licensed financing partner. Quote the payment as "roughly," then let the lender issue the actual offer.
Second, always show the total cost, not just the monthly number. A customer who finances over 120 months should see the total interest, not have it hidden. The tool surfaces total of payments and total interest on purpose. Hiding the cost is how financing earns a bad name.
Third, model the dealer fee honestly. If a low-APR plan costs you a merchant fee, decide openly whether you absorb it or finance it, and price accordingly. Pretending the fee does not exist just means it eats your margin by surprise.
Working with a financing partner
You do not originate loans yourself, and you should not try to. The job is to partner with a licensed lender or a financing platform that serves home improvement, present their programs cleanly, and hand the application off. The good partners give you a range of plans: promotional deferred-interest offers for customers who will pay quickly, and longer amortizing terms for those who want the lowest monthly number. Your role is to match the customer to the right plan and to present the payment clearly, which is what this tool helps you rehearse before you are standing in the kitchen.
Pair it with a clean estimate
A payment lands hardest when it sits on a professional, itemized estimate rather than a scribbled total. Build the proposal first, then attach the financing options to it. Our professional estimate and proposal generator creates that document, and the financing payment from this calculator becomes the line that closes it.
What to do with the number
If the monthly payment makes a project you thought was a stretch suddenly look reasonable, that is the point. The next step is to build the offer around it. The conversion page explains how we help home-service businesses turn quotes into booked jobs, and the guides on quotes that win more jobs and the science of pricing for contractors go deeper on framing price so customers say yes. To set up financing with your real numbers and a real partner, talk to us.
Explore the rest of the contractor tools while you are here, and cross-check your margin with the quote margin and markup calculator so the payment you offer still leaves you a profit.