Almost any type of organization can take advantage of leasing, including proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, government agencies, religious and non-profit organizations. It is possible to lease almost anything associated with your businesses operation, including capital equipment, hardware, software and even soft costs such as installation and consultation.
8 out of 10 businesses choose leasing over cash or bank loan equipment purchases, because most businesses make money by using equipment, not by owning it.
Read on to find out why, and how leasing can give you the competitive advantage to help you grow your business.
Speed, Convenience and Flexibility
Banks and other financing sources tend to move slowly, drawing out the process of an application and finally, after many days of review, providing an answer. Leasing moves at the speed of business: online applications are approved or denied within minutes of receipt. The documentation provided with your lease is also simpler and more flexible, and 100% of the associated costs, including service, shipping and installation costs, can be financed, spreading the cost evenly over the lease term. A lease line of credit offers all the benefits of leasing and more, with a predetermined rate quoted based on the volume of the line, guaranteeing you a lower rate of interest than with submitting separate, individual leases.
Stay on the Leading Edge
Often, outdated or obsolete equipment is shuffled downstream or stored away to the point where it is worth less than the costs associated with selling or disposing of it. Leasing offers a built in termination date, the lease term, which can be calculated to coincide with the equipment’s productive life and allows you to acquire the equipment you need today and use it cost-‐effectively until it no longer meets your needs. At the end of the lease, equipment can be upgraded, allowing you to avoid dealing with outdated and obsolete equipment. If your competitive advantage relies on the latest, most sophisticated hardware, leasing should definitely be considered. No matter how fast the leading edge is moving, leasing can help you keep pace.
Outsource Your Asset Management
The process of buying, maintaining and disposing of equipment can be time consuming and can draw your company’s valuable technical and operational resources away from mission-‐critical priorities. Leasing can be implemented as outsourced asset management, allowing you to offload effort from your team and spread the cost evenly over your lease term.
Effectively Manage Your Cash Flow
Leasing offers a significant advantage to business with predictable or seasonal cycles, allowing flexible options for the customization of your payment schedule to your needs. With a well-‐structured lease, you will not pay for your equipment until it has paid for itself. Additionally, fixed rate lease payments allow you to accurately predict equipment costs and cash needs, unlike the variable interest rates offered by many bank loan and credit line options.
Conserve Your Capital and Borrowing Power
In this day and age of rapid technological growth, leading edge equipment assets depreciate faster than ever before. Traditional bank lines are perfect for day-‐to-‐day business expenses, but not for funding long-‐term capital acquisitions. Leasing provides an alternate source of credit and financing that allows you to acquire what you need, when you need it, without investing in depreciation. Additionally, leasing will not weaken your borrowing power, because money has not been borrowed, leaving your existing credit line healthy and available for your company’s growth and other unforeseen expenses.
Overcome Budget Limitations
Spreading your costs evenly over a lease terms can help you stretch your budgeted dollars to acquire the quality and quantity of assets you really want, instead of the bare minimum required.
Tax Benefits*
Monthly payments on operating leases are typically viewed as operating expenses, and are made from pre-‐tax rather than after-‐tax earnings, offering significant tax benefits. *Please contact your tax and legal advisors to determine the most tax-‐beneficial lease for your specific situation.
About the Author:
Robert Brown is the Senior Account Manager for Easylease Corp., a Canadian-based leasing and financing company focused on making it easier than ever before for companies to overcome cash flow and resource constraints to acquire the assets they need to grow their business. If you’re interested in finding out more, please contact Robert at 613-825-3557 or rbrown[at]easylease.ca
Are there any benefits that you have seen that we haven’t covered? Make sure to let us know in the comments!