Equipment Finance Perth

Equipment finance, built around how the asset earns

Equipment finance is often treated as a commodity. Compare rates, pick the lowest, done. But the structure of the facility matters as much as the rate: who owns the asset, how it sits on your balance sheet, what it does to your borrowing capacity, and whether the repayment profile matches the cash flow the equipment actually generates. Get that wrong and a cheap rate can still cost you the next deal.

As an equipment finance broker, we work through those questions before recommending a product, and we have access to a range of specialist equipment and asset finance lenders beyond the major banks. That gives us more room on approval terms, on higher-age assets, and on the deals the banks are slow to understand. We are a Perth-based equipment finance broker, working with businesses across Western Australia and nationally.

What we finance

• Cars, utes and commercial fleets
• Trucks, trailers and tippers
• Cranes and lifting equipment
• Forklifts and warehouse handling equipment
• Manufacturing, fabrication and workshop equipment
• Medical, dental and allied health equipment
• Hospitality and retail equipment and fit-out
• Technology, IT and office fit-out
• Marine and aviation

How we structure equipment finance

There are three main ways to finance a business asset, and the right one depends on ownership, tax treatment and cash flow, not just the headline rate.

• Chattel mortgage for business-use assets, where you own the asset from day one and the lender holds a mortgage over it
• Finance lease, where the lender owns the asset and you lease it, useful where flexibility and end-of-term options matter
• Commercial hire purchase, where you hire the asset and take ownership at the end of the term
• Sale and leaseback of existing assets, to free up working capital from equipment you already own

For vehicles, machinery and equipment, a chattel mortgage is often the cleanest way to finance the asset while keeping ownership with the business. The detail that matters is not just approval. It is setting the term, deposit, balloon and repayment profile so the facility supports your cash flow and does not limit the next finance decision.

New, used and private-sale assets

New, used and private-sale purchases are all financeable. The lender, the term and the rate move with the age and type of the asset, and machinery generally holds value better than vehicles, so it can often be funded at higher ages. A private sale between businesses is routine with the right lender and proper verification of the asset and the seller. The work is in matching the asset and the purchase type to a lender who is actively writing exactly that.

Set a master facility in place before you buy

If your business buys equipment more than once a year, a master asset finance agreement is one of the most useful things you can have sitting ready. It is a facility limit arranged with a lender in advance, an approved line you can draw against as you acquire assets, rather than starting a fresh application every time a machine or vehicle comes up.

The value is speed and position. When a deal appears, at a clearing sale, a dealer clearance, or a contract win that needs another truck, you already have the funding behind you. You can move like a cash buyer, negotiate harder on price, and settle quickly while others are still waiting on approval. For operators replacing plant on a rolling basis, it turns equipment buying from a reactive scramble into something you can plan.

• An approved limit ready to draw on, so each purchase moves quickly without a full new application
• The standing of a cash buyer when you negotiate with dealers and at auction
• One set of terms across multiple purchases, with capital expenditure you can actually plan around
• Well suited to civil, mining, transport, agriculture and trades businesses renewing fleet and plant over time

A facility is subject to the lender's approval and is usually reviewed periodically, and the right limit and lender depend on your trading history and the assets you buy. The work we do is setting it up with a lender whose appetite fits how your business actually buys, so it is there the moment you need it. If a rolling equipment program is part of your plans, it is worth putting the facility in place now rather than when the deal is already on the table.

Tax and accounting considerations

The structure of an equipment finance facility has direct implications for GST, depreciation, and how the liability appears on your balance sheet. Those differences are part of why the choice between a chattel mortgage, a lease and a hire purchase is not just a rate decision. We work alongside your accountant or tax adviser to make sure the structure fits your reporting and your cash flow, rather than treating it as an afterthought once the asset is already bought.

Buying equipment as part of a larger deal

Equipment is often bought at the same time as a business, a contract win or a commercial property. Where it forms part of a business acquisition or sits alongside a commercial property purchase, the equipment finance should be designed with the rest of the structure, not bolted on afterwards. Treating it as one combined picture protects your borrowing capacity and keeps the security position clean.

Why use an equipment finance broker?

Going direct to one lender means accepting that lender's policy, rate and view of your asset. An equipment finance broker compares your deal across a panel of lenders and places it where it has the best chance of approval on terms that suit the asset and your cash flow. For standard assets that can mean a sharper rate. For higher-age equipment, private sales, or a business the banks find hard to read, it can be the difference between a yes and a no. There is no cost to you on most deals, because the lender pays the broker.

Frequently asked questions