What is a debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) covenant?

A requirement that cash flow available for debt service, usually defined as EBITDA with specified adjustments, covers scheduled principal and interest by a minimum multiple. The exact numerator, denominator and test period are set in your credit agreement, and they vary between lenders.

What happens if I breach a loan covenant?

A breach is usually an event of default under the agreement, which gives the lender rights such as demanding repayment, charging default interest or changing terms. In practice many breaches are resolved with a waiver or amendment, often for a fee. Raising a likely breach with the lender before it happens usually gives you more options.

Can QuickBooks Online calculate covenant ratios?

Not directly. QuickBooks Online provides the inputs (profit and loss, balance sheet, debt balances) but has no feature for custom ratios, trailing twelve-month calculations or covenant thresholds. Those are built in a spreadsheet or a reporting tool.

How often should covenants be monitored?

At least monthly, even if they are tested quarterly. Calculating on monthly actuals shows the trend while there is still a month or two to act, for example by timing capital spending or paying down a revolver.

Buyer's guide

Loan covenant monitoring software for QuickBooks borrowers

Loan covenant monitoring software calculates the financial ratios in your credit agreement (debt service coverage, leverage, fixed-charge coverage, minimum liquidity) from your books, compares them with the required thresholds, and warns you when headroom is getting thin. For a borrower, the point is to see a likely breach while there is still time to act or talk to the lender, rather than discovering it when the compliance certificate is due.

Most software sold as covenant monitoring is built for lenders. Products such as Abrigo, Baker Hill and Moody's lending tools help banks track covenants across a loan portfolio; they are not sold to borrowers. We found no established borrower-side covenant product with a QuickBooks Online connection. What borrowers use instead are reporting and planning tools that connect to QuickBooks Online and support custom ratio formulas, or a spreadsheet. Those are compared below.

5 tools compared, listed alphabetically, not ranked. CovenantGuard is our own app; we have tried to describe it as plainly as the others. Pricing and features checked October 2026; confirm with the vendor.

How to choose

Custom formulas: the ratio must match your credit agreement's definitions (EBITDA add-backs, which debt payments count), not a textbook version.
Thresholds and alerts: a warning when a ratio approaches the covenant, not only when it crosses it.
Forward view: covenants are tested on future quarters too, so being able to project the ratio matters as much as reporting it.
Trailing periods: most ratios use trailing twelve months, which the tool needs to calculate correctly.
Output: a schedule you can attach to the compliance certificate, showing the calculation.

Comparison at a glance

Tool	Best for	QuickBooks Online	Starting price	Notable limit
CovenantGuardOur app	Borrowers who want covenant ratios calculated continuously	Yes, read-only connection	Not yet generally available	In rollout; not yet generally available
Fathom	Businesses or advisors wanting ratio alerts in management reports	Yes (QuickBooks Online and Desktop)	Tiered by number of companies; see Fathom's pricing page	No covenant-specific features; custom KPIs and alerts need Pro
Jirav	Companies that need to forecast covenant headroom	Yes (nightly sync of actuals)	$10,000/yr billed annually (Starter, businesses)	Priced for companies with a finance function
Qvinci	Franchise and multi-location borrowers	Yes (QuickBooks Online and Desktop)	Pricing on request	Built for multi-location reporting; covenants not mentioned
Reach Reporting	Building a recurring lender reporting pack	Yes (also QuickBooks Desktop, Xero)	$149/mo billed monthly for 1 connection	No covenant-specific features

Pricing and features checked October 2026; confirm with the vendor.

The options in more detail

CovenantGuardOur app · not yet generally available

CovenantGuard is our app and the only purpose-built borrower-side covenant tool in this list. It encodes your covenant definitions, computes DSCR, leverage, fixed-charge coverage and liquidity from QuickBooks Online, warns as headroom thins, and produces a lender-ready compliance schedule. It is in rollout and not yet generally available. Our free DSCR calculator, covenant headroom checker and covenant health check work today.

How CovenantGuard works →Free Loan Covenant Health Check →Free DSCR Calculator →Free Covenant Headroom Checker →

Fathom

Fathom's Pro plan includes custom KPIs with a formula builder, targets and KPI alerts. That is enough to define a DSCR or leverage ratio to your agreement's definition and be alerted when it crosses a threshold. It does not advertise covenant features as such, so the definitions and the compliance schedule are yours to build.

Jirav

Jirav is a planning platform with custom operational metrics and KPIs alongside three-statement forecasts. Its strength for covenants is the forward view: you can project next quarter's ratio under different scenarios before it is tested. The business pricing is substantial, so it fits companies that need FP&A anyway.

Qvinci

Qvinci consolidates multi-location and franchise businesses and supports customizable KPIs and scorecards. A multi-unit borrower whose covenant is tested at the consolidated level can track ratios there. It is not built for covenant compliance, so expect to set up the definitions yourself.

Reach Reporting

Reach Reporting builds reports and dashboards from QuickBooks Online in a spreadsheet-style environment with formulas, goals and targets, plus forecasts. You can build a covenant schedule and the quarterly lender package in the same place. As with Fathom, the covenant logic is something you set up.

Which one fits

If you need covenant tracking today, the practical choice is between a general reporting tool where you define the ratios (Fathom or Reach Reporting), a planning tool if you also need to forecast headroom (Jirav), and a well-built spreadsheet that follows your credit agreement line by line. Multi-location borrowers should also consider Qvinci.

CovenantGuard is not yet generally available. Until it is, a spreadsheet fed by QuickBooks Online exports plus our free DSCR calculator and covenant headroom checker will cover a single loan. Whatever you use, have your lender or attorney confirm the definitions before relying on the numbers.

Common questions

What is a debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) covenant?: A requirement that cash flow available for debt service, usually defined as EBITDA with specified adjustments, covers scheduled principal and interest by a minimum multiple. The exact numerator, denominator and test period are set in your credit agreement, and they vary between lenders.
What happens if I breach a loan covenant?: A breach is usually an event of default under the agreement, which gives the lender rights such as demanding repayment, charging default interest or changing terms. In practice many breaches are resolved with a waiver or amendment, often for a fee. Raising a likely breach with the lender before it happens usually gives you more options.
Can QuickBooks Online calculate covenant ratios?: Not directly. QuickBooks Online provides the inputs (profit and loss, balance sheet, debt balances) but has no feature for custom ratios, trailing twelve-month calculations or covenant thresholds. Those are built in a spreadsheet or a reporting tool.
How often should covenants be monitored?: At least monthly, even if they are tested quarterly. Calculating on monthly actuals shows the trend while there is still a month or two to act, for example by timing capital spending or paying down a revolver.