Finance My Equipment
Cash flow, refinancing and upgrades

Your gear should earn its keep, not strain your cash flow.

Plain-English explainers for Australian tradies, farmers and small business owners who already own or lease equipment and want to understand the repayment, refinance and upgrade decisions that come next.

Start an enquiryRead the cash flow guide
A black and yellow mobile crushing and screening plant on wheels, its conveyor discharging gravel into a stockpile under a blue sky
Same repayment, different months Under 9% of takings in a strong month, nearly 22% in a weak one. Illustrative only.
Why cash flow comes first

The repayment never changes. The work does.

A fixed repayment lands on a fixed date, while income arrives in lumps, seasons and slow-paying invoices. Seeing the year as a shape, not a single month, is the first step before changing any loan.

Find your thinnest month and ask: if that month happened twice in a row, could every repayment still be made on time?

Three moves

Three decisions, three guides

This site is not a general finance primer. It sticks to what happens after the first purchase.

A red tractor towing a red round baler across a hay paddock under a blue sky
01Free up cash flow

Make repayments fit the job calendar

Quiet months, slow-paying clients and GST bills can all collide with a fixed repayment. See how owners think about it before it bites.

  • Quiet months
  • Slow invoices
  • GST and BAS
Cash flow guide
A yellow tracked bulldozer with its blade forward on a gravel work site, with a gum tree and blue sky behind
02Refinance

Refinance without fooling yourself

A lower repayment can hide a longer, dearer loan. Here is how to check break costs, fees and the full cost of changing.

  • Payout figure
  • Break costs
  • Total cost over the term
Refinancing guide
A red telehandler with its forks raised on a gravel yard beside a gum tree under a blue sky
03Upgrade

Upgrade, repair or keep running

When does the old machine cost more to keep than to replace? A simple way to put numbers on the decision.

  • Repairs and downtime
  • Sale value of the old unit
  • What the new one earns
Upgrade guide
A green combine harvester cutting through a wheat field under a blue sky
Pressure points

Where equipment cash flow gets tight

Four pressure points that come up again and again. Spotting yours early gives you more options.

  • 01

    Slow-paying invoices

    Repayments are due on a date. Customers often pay on theirs.

  • 02

    Seasonal dips

    Weather, holidays and budget cycles can thin work for weeks.

  • 03

    Tax and GST bills

    Lumpy obligations arrive on top of regular repayments.

  • 04

    Ageing equipment

    Repairs and downtime quietly eat the margin the loan was meant to protect.

A green round baler parked beside a freshly made round bale in a paddock
Know the numbers before you talk to anyone.
What to gather before you ask

Before you change anything, check this list

  1. What is the real monthly cost of the current loan or lease, including fees?
  2. What does the equipment earn, or save, in a normal month?
  3. What would early exit or break costs be on the existing contract?
  4. Has your accountant looked at the tax side of the change?
  5. Do you need a safety buffer before taking on any new commitment?
See the refinancing checklist
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Ready when you are

Not sure what the right structure is?

A licensed professional can look at your whole situation. If you want to see what finance options might exist, you can start a free, no-obligation enquiry through our referral partner.

Start an enquiryRead the guides first

Indicative only. Finance is subject to lender criteria and approval.

Note. Finance My Equipment is an information site. We do not lend money or make credit decisions, and nothing here is a guarantee of approval or of any rate. Learn more about borrowing at ASIC MoneySmart. Thinking of selling the old equipment? You can list it on Anything Marketplace.