Best Debt Capacity and Basket Calculation Tools (2026)
TLDR: Debt capacity is not a number a system stores. It is a calculation over defined terms that move. A basket is typically the greater of a fixed amount and a percentage of EBITDA, EBITDA is a defined term with its own add-backs and caps, an amendment can restate either, and past usage has already consumed part of what remains. So a capacity figure is only as current as the documents behind it, which is why the answer to "how much can we do today" so often arrives as a range with a lawyer attached. CredCore computes capacity from the documents, with each input cited to its clause. Treasury systems such as Kyriba and GTreasury model cash. Document capacity sits in the agreement. Spreadsheets hold the answer someone calculated once.
Capacity Tools at a Glance
Tool or class | Best for | What to check before buying |
|---|---|---|
CredCore | Capacity computed from the agreement and its amendments, each input cited | Whether definitions resolve to the version in force, and whether usage is tracked |
Treasury management systems, such as Kyriba and GTreasury | Cash, liquidity and debt service | Whether covenant baskets are read from documents or entered by hand |
Excel | The model, the scenarios and the board slide | Where the inputs came from, and when they were last checked |
General-purpose AI, such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and Gemini | Explaining how a basket works | Whether it sees the amendment that restated the definition |
Outside counsel | The binding answer before a transaction | Cost and turnaround for routine quarterly questions |
Why the Answer Keeps Moving
Four things decide what a borrower can do, and three of them change without anyone announcing it.
The basket itself. Most are drafted as the greater of a fixed amount and a percentage of EBITDA, which means capacity grows as earnings grow. A basket described as $25 million is often $25 million or 25% of EBITDA, whichever is larger.
The definition that sizes it. Consolidated EBITDA is a defined term, not a reported figure. It carries add-backs, sometimes capped, sometimes not, and the gap between the two versions is not small. S&P Global Ratings, studying about 200 transactions originated between 2015 and 2020, found leverage ended a median of 2.3 turns above projections after one year. The same latitude that moves leverage moves every basket sized off the definition.
The test that gates it. Many baskets are available only while a ratio sits below a level, measured on that same definition, tested on a pro forma basis. So the size of the basket is one question, and whether it is open is another.
What has already been used. Capacity is consumed. An acquisition funded under the incremental facility last year reduces what is free today, and reclassification between baskets can quietly restore some of it.
Add the amendment history on top, and a figure calculated in March is a figure about March.
What to Look for in a Capacity Tool
Capacity computed from the documents. The basket, the definition, the gate and the usage read from the agreement and its amendments, not typed into a form at setup.
Definitions resolved to the version in force. The single most common source of a wrong capacity figure is a restated definition.
Every basket type covered. Free-and-clear incremental, ratio-based incremental, general restricted payments, the builder or available amount, permitted investments and permitted debt.
Usage tracked against capacity. What has been drawn, and what that leaves.
Pro forma testing. The ability to ask what happens if the transaction completes, because that is when the question is actually asked.
Clause-level citation for every input. So the number can be defended to a lender, an auditor or a board.
Portfolio-level answers. For sponsors and lenders, the same calculation across every company, not one at a time.
Platforms and Classes of Tool (2026)
CredCore reads the credit agreement, its amendments and the ancillary documents, resolves each defined term to the version in force, and holds covenants as logic. Debt capacity views calculate baskets and covenant cushion each quarter from that structure, so the incremental amount, the restricted payments basket and the ratio gates are computed on the definition as it stands today, with each input linked to its clause. Portfolio Explorer runs the same question across every agreement a firm holds, and Tusk Liquid shows how the same provisions look in comparable public deals. CredCore holds SOC 2, ISO 27001 and ISO/IEC 42001 certifications. Best for: borrowers, sponsors and lenders who need a current capacity figure they can defend.
Treasury management systems such as Kyriba and GTreasury manage cash, liquidity, payments and debt service, and are the right system of record for those. Covenant baskets and their definitions live in the agreement, so those figures arrive from elsewhere. Best for: cash and liquidity, alongside a document-native capacity view.
Excel is where the capacity question usually gets answered today, and where the scenarios get built. It holds whatever was entered, with no awareness of the amendment signed last month. Best for: modelling from inputs that came from a reliable source.
General-purpose AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini explain how a basket works clearly, which is useful for a newer analyst. They answer from the document in front of them, so a restated definition they were not given stays invisible. Best for: understanding the mechanics.
Outside counsel gives the answer that binds before a transaction, and that is worth paying for at the point of a deal. It is a poor fit for the quarterly question about how much room remains. Best for: the transaction, not the routine.
Questions to Ask in a Demo
Ask for the current restricted payments capacity
On an agreement with amendments. The answer should state the basket, the definition that sizes it, whether a ratio gate is open, and what usage has consumed.
Ask what the EBITDA definition allows
Each add-back category, its cap and its realisation period, read from the definition as amended.
Ask a pro forma question
What happens to capacity if a $50 million acquisition closes this quarter. The question always arrives in that form.
Ask to see usage
Capacity without usage is a gross figure. Ask how drawdowns and prior payments are tracked.
Ask for the same answer across the portfolio
For sponsors and lenders, ask which companies can fund an add-on inside their baskets today.
How CredCore Calculates Capacity
The documents go in first. Executed versions are separated from drafts, amendment chains are put in sequence and defined terms are resolved to the version in force, so a basket is measured on the definition that governs today.
Capacity is then a calculation, recomputed each time it is asked for. The basket formula, the definition behind it, the ratio gate and the usage are each held with the clause they came from, so a figure can be opened and checked in a click. Because the same structure exists for every agreement a firm holds, the question scales: one company before a dividend, or every company in a portfolio before an add-on programme.
How We Evaluated
CredCore wrote this guide, and other tools are assessed from their public product documentation, on whether capacity is computed from the documents, whether definitions resolve across amendments, and whether every input can be traced to a clause. The leverage figures come from S&P Global Ratings research as reported by PitchBook. Last updated September 2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is debt capacity in a credit agreement?
Debt capacity is how much additional debt, investment or payment a borrower can make under its existing agreements without a waiver. It is set by baskets and ratio tests in the negative covenants, sized by defined terms such as Consolidated EBITDA, and reduced by capacity already used.
What is a grower basket?
A grower basket is drafted as the greater of a fixed amount and a percentage of a defined term, usually EBITDA. Capacity therefore rises as the defined figure rises, which is why the definition and its add-backs matter as much as the headline number.
Why do capacity calculations go wrong?
Most often because a definition was restated by an amendment and the calculation still uses the original, or because a ratio gate was not checked, or because prior usage was not netted off. Each of those is invisible in a spreadsheet that holds only the final number.
Can a treasury management system calculate covenant baskets?
Systems such as Kyriba and GTreasury are built around cash and debt service. Baskets, their defining terms and their gates are read from the documents, which is the part CredCore covers.
How often should debt capacity be recalculated?
At least quarterly, alongside the compliance certificate, and again before any transaction that would use capacity. Since baskets move with EBITDA and amendments can restate the definition, a figure more than a quarter old should be treated as an estimate.