Is A ‘ Good Enough ‘ Equipment Loan & Finance Lease Better Than ‘ Best ‘ For Canadian Finance Lea

Updated: May 23, 2011

New assets are always a challenge for acquisition when Canadian business owners and financial managers assess their respective financial positions. The price and therefore how you will finance these assets is of course critical to your overall asset acquisition strategy.

So when it comes to reducing cash outflows and in effect saving monies via a financing strategy is any wonder why over 80% of Canadian businesses utilize leasing financing as an integral part of their finance strategy.

But the reality is that many owners and managers don't understand the make up and the competitive offerings that make up the Canadian equipment loan and lease landscape. Even more importantly just understanding the rights and obligations and options of different types of leases can save any business owner or manager thousands of dollars, depending on overall purchase price. Even more dramatically we can say that making the wrong decision can actually cost you significantly.

Let's utilize a quick example. Let's say you are focused on the amount of monthly payment and want to buy a 150,000 computer and software package (yes, software can be leased). So you contact a firm who you think can give you the best monthly payment, and you find you are quoted and approved for a 5 year term, monthly payment of 3000.00$. A quick expert calculation will tell you that you will pay 31000$ in interest over that 5 year term at current competitive rates. Sounds ok?? Maybe, maybe not.

Moving on... what if we told you that you could finance that same system for 3500$ / mo for a 3 year term , and at the end of the term you could return, upgrade , or choose to extend the lease .

For only 500$ more you have shortened your term, recognizing that most computers don't last 5 years. In effect you have utilized an operating lease strategy to effectively manage your assets - that's a solid financing decision in leasing financing.

We have utilized a simple example of how you need to in essence separate the pricing and the purchase of the asset from the decision of how to finance that same asset.

We're the first to admit the leasing process can be perceived as complex in Canada. There are hundreds of equipment loan and finance lease firms. They have different ' credit boxes ‘- meaning simply you must fit into their asset, deal size, and credit criteria box. Additionally numerous firms tend to complicate matters by throwing arcane terms at you such as ' down stroke ' , ' security deposit ', 'capital lease ' ' off balance sheet financing ' ' admin set up fees ' .. Etc. And on it goes.

In summary, leasing financing in Canada has huge benefits. Billions of dollars of assets are leased every year. Your competitors finance their assets. And yes, you could very quickly go out and achieve a ' good enough ' lease.