Generally only the amounts you have actually paid and irrevocably committed count, not the full schedule of payments still to come. A future obligation is a liability, and capital qualifies when it has been placed into the enterprise and exposed to loss.
Committed money versus promised money
Separate the ledger into three columns before you total anything: money already spent, money irrevocably committed under agreements you cannot walk away from, and money you merely intend to spend. Hypothetical example: an investor equipping a U.S. sign shop counts sixty monthly payments on a leased CNC router as capital, arriving at a figure far above what has left her account; the payments not yet made are future obligations, and the amount at risk today is the deposit, the instalments paid and any personal guarantee genuinely enforceable against her.
There are ways to strengthen a thin position honestly, and each is documentary. Buying equipment outright places the whole price at risk. Non-refundable deposits, paid leasehold improvements, inventory purchased and staff already hired all count as committed spending.
Note as well that funds borrowed against the assets of the business being acquired are usually not treated as the investor’s capital at risk, whereas a loan secured on property you already own generally is.