It’s hard to grow any business, whether new or established, without the necessary equipment. However, some of it can be expensive. For a new business specifically, affording equipment can feel impossible. Still, you need that equipment to make money, which lends itself to a frustrating cycle. The answer may be equipment financing and leasing.

Equipment Financing and Leasing Is a Great Option for Both New and Established Businesses

Equipment financing is when you use a loan or lease to purchase or borrow hard assets for your business. You can use it to buy or lease any physical asset. This can include items like an industrial freezer in a restaurant or an oven or a company car, you name it.

A recent report, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) survey, found that 80% of American businesses lease a portion of their equipment. The list of companies using leasing includes everything from Fortune 500 companies to mom and pop shops.

Benefits of Equipment Financing and Leasing

There are many benefits to equipment financing and leasing. For example, you will pay a set amount each month, which makes budgeting easier.  Also, you can build business credit if your creditor reports your payment to the business credit reporting agencies. The equipment is the collateral. That means you do not have to potentially sacrifice any other assets.

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In addition, it’s easy to upgrade equipment after your lease ends.  This can be helpful if your equipment is something like a computer which quickly becomes obsolete. 

What’s the Catch? 

Of course, nothing is perfect.  You may have to make a large down payment.  Furthermore, you will often need to have good personal credit in order to qualify.  If your financed equipment becomes outdated, your business is stuck with it until the end of the lease or loan. Sometimes, leases can end up actually costing more than purchasing. When the lease ends, you  have to get  a new lease or to make other arrangements. Whereas, if you buy the equipment outright you can sell it if you want. 

Types of leases

There are a few different types of leases. Which one will work best for you will depend on a number of factors. 

Fair Market Value Leasing

This is also called an FMV lease. With an FMV lease, you make regular payments while borrowing the equipment for a set term. When the term is up, you have the option to return the equipment or purchase it at its fair market value.

$1 Buyout Lease

This is a type of capital lease in which you pay off the cost of the equipment plus interest over the course of the lease.  At the end, you owe only $1.  Then, when you pay the $1 you fully own the equipment. This is similar to a loan in structure, and cost as well.

10% Option Lease

This lease is the same as a $1 lease, except at the end of the term you can buy the equipment for 10% of its cost.  These leases typically have lower monthly payments than the $1 buyout option. 

How Much Can a Lease Cost?

Of course it varies, but here is an example. Say the total cost of the equipment you are leasing is $25,000.  If it is a 10% option with a 36 month term, with an interest rate of 15%, it looks like this: 

• Monthly payment is $780
• Total cost of the lease is $28,079
• The cost to purchase at the of the lease is $2,500
• And the total Cost of Equipment is $30,579

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In this case,  you would be paying an extra $5,579 over the course of the lease. That is over 1/5 added to your total cost for the equipment. If you bought the equipment outright you would pay $25,000. Of course, you would then be out  $25,000 cash all at once.  When you are leasing equipment, you pay out over the life of the lease and thus keep more working capital actually working for your business. 

Credit Suite Offers Equipment Financing and Leasing

You can take advantage of our equipment financing and leasing programs if you have been in business at least one year.  Even if your credit is not the greatest, we have options that may work. Even better, approval takes as little as 24 hours.

The minimum personal credit score requirement is 550. Generally speaking, this is considered a fair credit score, and thus much lower than what many lenders will want to see. You will also need to provide details on the equipment you are getting.  You can be approved for as much as $10,000,000 in equipment financing after a quick credit review. This type of financing often affords more favorable terms than typical business financing programs and better benefits. Our equipment financing programs work for both established and startup businesses. We work with hundreds of lenders, and we can help you find the perfect one for your needs. 

Equipment Financing and Leasing Rates and Payments

You can qualify with only two monthly payments as a down payment.  Rates are affordable, and interest is 100% tax deductible.  In addition, there is no application fee. Furthermore, the time from application to funding is generally 2 weeks or less.

Interest rates range from 7% to 25%, and depending on the amount of the loan and risk factors, you may have to provide 2 years of corporate and personal tax returns.

Are There Other Options for Funding Equipment? 

Of course, we already mentioned paying cash and taking out a traditional loan. If you have accounts receivables you can do receivables financing. That’s really better for funding cash gaps. However, if you need to collect receivable to be able to afford your equipment, it could work.

Another option is the Credit Line Hybrid. This is unsecured business financing. There are no documents required, and you can get up to $150,000.  You do have to have a credit score of at least 680 and meet some other requirements. However, if you do not qualify on your own, you can take on a credit partner that does meet the criteria.  One bonus of this option is that you can purchase the equipment outright.  Since many of the cards that are part of the Credit Line Hybrid sometimes offer low introductory rates for a short time, you could save on interest.

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Is Equipment Financing and Leasing the Right Option for Your Business?

The short answer is, it depends.  That begs the question, what does it depend on. Well, first, do you need equipment?  That’s what this type of financing is best for. Then, do you need to finance equipment? If you have the cash on hand, you need to consider it carefully.  Financing can be a good idea if you would deplete your cash reserves paying cash for equipment.

Of course, you could just take out a traditional loan. However, you may have to come up with other collateral. If you need finance equipment, using that equipment as the collateral is the easiest solution. The collateralization allows for generally better rates and terms than you would get otherwise. Contact Credit Suite today to find the best option for equipment financing for your business.

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