Calculator

Should I buy this equipment at all?

Buy cash, finance, lease, wait, buy used, or do not buy -- from your own numbers. The calculator checks the two ways a purchase fails (the work is cheaper to get done without it, or the money you are crediting to it is not really its), then payback, then whether your cash survives it.

Every field starts blank on purpose. Nothing here is pre-filled from a "typical" price or rate: the price is the one on the quote in front of you, and financing or lease terms only count if you are actually holding them. The full reasoning, a worked example, and the sources are in the article Leasing Equipment vs Buying: Should You Buy It at All? Your numbers stay in your browser; nothing is sent or stored.

1. The purchase

Price to buy it outright, all in requiredDelivery, setup, attachments, sales tax -- the number the money actually leaves for

Years it will be useful to you requiredNot the manufacturer life -- how long it does this job for your business

What you can sell it for at the end of thatLeave blank if nothing

Cost per year to own and run itInsurance, maintenance, fuel or power, storage, licensing, software fees

2. What it replaces and what it earns

These two numbers decide the whole thing. Either one can carry the purchase on its own; a purchase that has neither is a cost, not an investment.

What you pay today to get this work done without it, per monthRentals, subcontractors, overtime, the jobs you turn away because you do not have it -- averaged over a year

Extra gross profit it lets you earn, per monthNew revenue minus the direct costs of that revenue (labor, materials, fuel). Not the revenue itself

Where does that gross-profit number come from?An estimate is fine to enter. It is treated as an estimate.

3. Your cash

Cash in the business today requiredOperating accounts, not the line of credit

Monthly outflows you cannot skip requiredPayroll, rent, loan payments, tax set-asides, insurance

Months of those outflows that must stay in the bank requiredYour own rule. The article explains how to pick one if you do not have one

Longest payback you will accept, in monthsLeave blank to use the structural limit: the useful life

4. Only if you are holding terms (optional)

Leave these blank unless a lender, dealer, or lessor has given you these exact terms for this purchase. A blank means "not held", and the calculator will not guess a rate for you.

Financing: annual interest rateAs a percentage, from the quote

Financing: term

Financing: down paymentLeave blank if none

Lease: monthly payment

Lease: term

Lease: end-of-term buyoutLeave blank if you would return it

Used option: price of a specific used unit you have priced

Used option: years it would be useful to you

How the verdict is reached

Cost of ownership per month is the price minus what you can sell it for, spread over the months it will be useful, plus the monthly cost to run it. Benefit per month is what it saves you plus the gross profit it earns. If the benefit is smaller than the cost of ownership, the way you get the work done today is the cheaper machine, and the answer is do not buy. If the benefit is there, payback is the price divided by the net monthly cash it adds, and it has to land inside the useful life and inside any limit you set. If the gross profit is an estimate and the verdict depends on it, the answer is wait for evidence. Only then does the cash question come up: paying cash has to leave your floor intact, and financing or leasing counts only on terms you actually hold, with the payment fitting inside the net benefit and the term inside the useful life. Last, the downside: if the new work comes in at half, can the cash above your floor carry it.

This calculator is informational and does not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. It uses only the numbers you enter; it holds no benchmark prices or rates. Consult a qualified professional for decisions specific to your situation.