Getting started in a business is almost a never cheap undertaking. Whether it's an office-related operation or a commercial construction company, there are equipment expenses that can prohibit startups from getting off the ground running correctly. But thanks to equipment leasing companies, the expenses can be a bit more manageable.

When it comes to equipment leasing, companies can rent just about any type of machine to get their jobs done. Heavy equipment, office machines and even coffee machines can all be leased. Whether it's a long-term lease or one just meant to help a company get enough working capital to make outright purchases, these leases can open doors for startups and even help longstanding companies save some money.

The advantages of leasing include:

* Easier access to needed equipment. Rather than have to pay thousands of dollars right now to set up an office with computers, a lease brings the monthly bottom line down to pennies on the dollar.

* Maintenance. Since the equipment is leased, maintenance and repairs are generally covered under contracts. There's no need to worry if a machine breaks, the lease should cover it and get the company back up and running quickly.

* No worries over replacement costs. If something stops working all together, there's no need to be concerned about having to shell out for another big investment. Replacements are generally included in the lease contract.

The types of equipment a business can lease are practically endless. They include:

* Office furniture. From desk and chairs to filing cabinets and even pictures, leasing is available to help businesses get off the ground. This helps a new company avoid a large capital outlay during start up and can result in a good looking office for a reasonable amount of money.

* Computers. Leases on technology are quite common in today's working world. These generally include help with basic programs and so on to really help a new business get up and running on the right foot right from the start.

* Other office technology such as faxes, copiers, printers and so on.

* Heavy equipment. From backhoes to forklifts, there are leasing options available on just about every piece of equipment imaginable. The advantages here can be great in helping a company avoid big capital outlays while still enabling them to get jobs done.

While it used to be most companies had to buy everything needed to get their jobs done and even open their doors, today's business world often revolves around leases. Providing a great way to ensure everything that's needed is obtained, these leases can be a real benefit to business.

When leasing, make sure you get the equipment you really need, read the contract fully and understand any maintenance agreements. Even for companies that intend to buy their own equipment eventually, leases can help a company get over the hump in starting out without having to have a lot of capital at the beginning.

Purchase a car or just lease it out!

Gone are the times when the options of getting a new car were to either purchase it or wait for a company car. But, today, one has a choice to either opt for car purchase or lease it out. There’s a wide variety of loans ranging from traditional bank loan to novated lease.

Lease a car and pay only for the use of car, on completion of the lease period, one can hand it back to the leaser, take out another lease or even purchase the vehicle through a third party. Leasing out is a good option, if your employer is willing to include a car as part of your salary package. Also get exempted from paying tax, especially for cars in the prestige or luxury sector.

Lease finance can be classified into two broad categories:

Finance Lease or Operating lease and Novated lease are the two categories of Lease finance.

Finance lease are quite popular due to the fact that they have an ability to novate the lease. There’s no deposit or trade-ins involved in such lease. Monthly payments are made based on the lease term, interest on the finance charge and the residual value of the car at the end of the term. A borrower may have to take risk on the residual amount, if the car is not worth the amount three years later, he will have to make up the residual difference and finalise the contract. However, one can take ownership, by refinancing the residual.

Another way out to have a car and get tax exemption is to go for novated lease. One can take out a standard finance lease on a car of his choice. The employer can pay the employee’s lease payments through a novation agreement which is valid till the last working day. The lease payments to be made, running costs of the car used for an employee’s private purpose will be subjected to FBT (Fringe Benefit Tax). This FBT is calculated on the basis of the car value. The kilometers traveled annually are covered by the pre-tax salary. If the employee resigns from the company, then the lease payments will be made by him and not the company any more.

What Are the Range of Options for Equipment Acquisition?

Cash Payments

This option assumes that there is enough cash available.
Advantages:
• It’s simple and quick.
• Everybody accepts cash
• Cash purchases minimize paperwork and middlemen and may help reduce purchase price.

Disadvantages
• It’s generally not a good use of funds.

In today’s investment market, you can often obtain a yield on your money in excess of the interest charged for financing the equipment purchase. The only rationale for paying cash for the purchase is if your funds are in a low-paying account (e.g., a passbook savings account yielding 3%) whose yield is less than the interest on a loan or lease. In that case, taking the funds from a low-yield account and losing the 3% interest in order to avoid paying 9% or 10% is a sound financial decision. Of course, having significant funds in a 3% account is not wise cash management.

Financed Purchase In this method of purchase, a lender provides funds for the purchase and generally obtains some form of lien or other encumbrance on the equipment until the funds have been repaid.

Advantages

• It does not deplete cash flow. (Usually a 10% to 20% down payment of the total purchase price is required. (In many cases, the income generated by the equipment can exceed the payments.)

• Funds not expended for a cash purchase can possibly earn a higher-income yield than the interest rate of the loan. Disadvantages

• Interest rates may be high.

• The down payment may be high.

• The equipment is encumbered by a third party (unless the funds are borrowed from a source other than a financial institution‹for instance, from your pension fund).

Lease A lease offers an alternative to traditional financing. With a lease, the equipment is owned by the leasing company. The practice makes payments to the leasing company in exchange for being able to use the equipment (i.e., essentially rental payments). Leases can be closed-ended, in which case the leasing entity retains the equipment at the end of the lease term. There are also open-ended leases, where at the end of the lease term a predetermined amount is paid to the leasing entity, and the practice attains ownership of the equipment.

As a general rule, the higher the residual value (balance owed) at the end of the lease, the lower the monthly payments.

Advantages
• Generally little or no down payment is required.
• Leases are often supported by the equipment manufacturer, which can lower the interest rate or the residual payment (the amount required to attain ownership of the equipment at the end of the lease term).
• Leasing can give you the ability to obtain more purchasing power from a given amount of available cash.
• Sometimes equipment becomes obsolete in a relatively brief period of time. A closed-ended lease may allow you to use the equipment during its useful life and return it to the leasing entity at the end of the lease term with a lower total expenditure than an outright purchase would have required.

Disadvantage
• More interest is paid than in any other form of acquisition.

Other Leasing Considerations

1. Trade up‹An equipment manufacturer may have a lease or purchase program that will allow significant credit for the equipment you’ve acquired from them when you move up to a more current model or to newer technology. This can alter the calculation of the best option for acquisition.

2. Supported Leases or Financing‹An equipment manufacturer may support the interest rate of a lease or financing plan and may lower lease payments by increasing the residual value of a closed-ended lease. Again, these special offers may significantly alter the assessment of the best acquisition option.

3. Purchase Price‹No matter what financing option you choose, do not ignore the purchase price. Negotiate your best price before you evaluate financing. Do not fall into the trap that automobile dealers have used for years: “You can have the latest and best visual fields machine for only $49.95 a month!” You should always start with the purchase price and then move to the terms (whether lease or purchase).

4. Beware of the Lease That’s Not a Lease‹The Internal Revenue Service may consider an open-ended lease with a purchase option to be a purchase contract rather than a lease. The impact of this is that the lease payments may not be deducted as expenses, and instead the equipment will be capitalized and depreciated. Have your professional financial advisors evaluate the financing contract to assess your level of risk.

5. Each Transaction Is Unique‹Each piece of equipment you are considering for acquisition must be evaluated in the context of the following:

a. Purchase price

b. Projected useful life of the item

c Your current cash position and monthly cash flow

d. Your current and projected future tax position

e. Financing incentives offered by the vendor

f. Careful evaluation of the lease or financing contract to ensure that it meets the requirements for the method you plan to use to report the equipment in your tax filings

g. Any other considerations required by your expert financial and tax advisors

In today’s financial and tax environment, many of the factors that favored one type of financing over another have disappeared. What remain are the purchase price and financing terms, whether the transaction is called a lease or a purchase. Keep in mind that today’s market is not as good as it was last year. In the final analysis you may find that purchasing is cheaper than the interest cost on a lease.

For equipment that you anticipate retaining at the end of the lease or financing term, the purchase price, down payment, monthly payments, and total payments (principal and interest) are key. These factors can be impacted by incentives from the vendor, but ultimately the same evaluation needs to be done (purchase price, down payment, monthly payments, and total payments). Secondary issues may include tax advantages and other concurrent acquisitions.

If you think that eventually you may be recycling the equipment or‹trading up to more current or more capable models‹the evaluation changes; and a lease, especially one that is artificially supported by the vendor, may be a better way to go.

Finally, if you are just starting out in a new practice or have just acquired an existing practice and need to upgrade equipment, current cash availability and projected cash flow may dictate that you finance the acquisition with the lowest possible cash outlay, even if the ultimate total of funds required is significantly higher. Remember to get advice from a professional to help you sort out the details of the equipment lease.

A Lease means an assignment of the right to ownership and use of merchandise for a period of time in return for some mutually agreed on remuneration or recompense. A sale, whether it is a sale on agreement, or a sale or return, or retention or creation of a collateral interest, is not labeled as a 'lease.' Whether it is a real estate property that is to be leased or an automobile or any other kind of property, it must be done within the terms of a legal and binding contract to avoid misunderstanding, loss and breach of trust. A lease contract is an officially authorized document or record that certifies a lease transaction between the individual renting the property and the leaseholder.

A leaseholder can enter into a lease contract with the individual leasing property by approaching a lawyer and stating his assets and choices of remuneration. The individual leasing the property then states his conditions for leasing the property, as well as the expected remuneration. When the two mutually agree on payment, the contract is carefully drafted by the leasing lawyer or agent and signed by both parties. The period of time the recompense must be made is also stipulated in the contract. In case of breach of contract by the leaseholder through non payment of remuneration or repeated, the contract also mentions the penalty incurred therein. Similarly, there is penalty for the individual leasing the property when there is compromise on promised quality, as well as unnecessary inconvenience caused to the leaseholder. However, it must be noted that lease contract are more in the interest of the leaseholder.

Sometimes, a lease contract is combined with an option-to-purchase contract, where at the end of the lease term, the leaseholder can buy the property under mutually agreed terms.

We are enjoying the fruits of the exponential growth rate of medical equipment technology. The medical community may now offer diagnoses based on information about a patient’s condition that we couldn’t accurately obtain using older equipment. The problem is that most organizations capital budgets just can’t keep pace with the quickening of technology advances.

The problem is getting worse

If you’re like most medical care providers, you are facing the dilemma of how to provide cutting-edge care to your patients but don’t have the financial reserves (cash or credit) to make the purchase of new equipment. One could argue that it is economics that slows down the delivery of medical care. Standard accounting practices allow for the assets to be depreciated over five years. What do you do when the equipment needs to be replaced in some amount of time less than five years? One option is to try selling the outdated equipment on eBay or somewhere else in the open market.

There’s another solution

There is another option that many astute organizations use. They simply lease the equipment. Why lease? It’s all about cash-flow. Typical leasing standards require you to put just 20% down in cash, and there are some rather nimble leasing companies that will allow you to write 100% of the cost of the equipment as operating costs on your firm’s balance sheet. By treating the asset as an operating expense you don’t have to deal with depreciation on the leased medical equipment. Plus the lease does not show up on your credit report, possibly freeing you to make other necessary purchases.

Is leasing for you?

While most organizations need to be in business for at least 3 years, savvy shoppers can find leasing companies that have no time-in-business requirements. And even without documenting your financials you should be able to enter into leases up to $150,000. By providing a bit of financial information, you can lease items with a much higher dollar figure.

Does this sound like a viable option?

Typical lease terms are two to five years, and are affected by the typical useful life of the item you are leasing for your business. Some leasing companies have the flexibility to buy back newly acquired equipment assets and convert them into leases. Do you normally pay shipping, installation, training and other soft costs on top of the actually hardware? You can search out leasing companies that will include these items in the lease. Have a lease with unfavorable terms? Most do not know it, but you can actually “refinance” leases into one with more favorable terms.

If you’re strapped for cash, or just want to conserve it for other business purposes, leasing will enable you to obtain a much needed piece of business (medical or otherwise) equipment without a large outlay of cash.

Leasing a Car

Leasing a car is like renting a vehicle: you pay a monthly installment which includes a fee for the use of the vehicle, and some other fees and costs, like insurance, maintenance, administrative fees, etc. However after a period of time leasing, you are entitled to exercise the right to purchase the vehicle for a considerably smaller amount than the retail price of the car. If you decide to do so, then the monthly payments you’ve made can be considered to be part of the purchase price of the car and you only have to put enough money down to complete payment.

Benefits of Leasing

Leasing is an excellent option for those who like changing their car every two or three years because you don’t need to sell the vehicle, you just have to notify the financial institution you don’t want to pursue with the leasing for another period and return the car. You can even arrange for the car to be exchanged for a new model or another brand and model and start paying the leasing installments for this new car.

Since the car remains property of the financial institution, it doesn’t belong with your assets and you won’t have to pay taxes over it. Moreover, in some cases it can be deducted from taxes as an expense. This is very much like renting a car, however, it’s considerably cheaper as the leasing installments are but a portion of a car rent installment.

Drawbacks of Leasing

For those who like ownership, leasing won’t satisfy their needs. As stated before, the car leased remains property of the leasing company, and thus you cannot do what you please with it. It cannot be repainted, fixed, have the interiors changed, etc. without the authorization of the leasing company. It cannot be sold or rented and you can’t decide which insurance company to hire or which mechanic can repair it.

There are also some limitations as to the mileage you can drive with the car. If exceeded there are penalty fees. Also, since the leasing period is limited, unless you exercise the right to purchase the vehicle, you’ll have to return it in the same conditions that it was given to you. Any reparations that have to be done to the car will be your responsibility unless the insurance covers them.

Summing up

As you can see, the answer to whether you should request a loan to buy your new car or lease, is not easily answered. You need to analyze if your needs are satisfied with the leasing option or you prefer to own your car even if you have to pay a little more and have a debt on your back for a couple of years. Bear in mind though, that unless you plan to have your car for many years, a new car loses a portion of its worth immediately after you buy it. When leasing you don’t suffer this drawback, since the car does not belong to you.

One of the main reasons that businesspeople often choose to lease equipment, rather than borrowing money to buy it outright, is the very low up front cost of obtaining a lease. Unlike bank loans, which often require a large down payment, you can generally initiate a lease arrangement with just two months of advance payments.

This lack of up front costs allows you to keep more of your capital to make valuable investments in growing your business.

Another advantage of leasing equipment is the potential for protection against obsolescence. When buying a new computer, for example, you can negotiate a fairly short lease term, then upgrade to newer machines before the old ones are out-of-date.

That way the gently used computers can be re-sold as refurbished consumer products, while your business never has to do without the top-of-the-line equipment it needs.

Finally, leasing business equipment can come with substantial tax advantages. Depending on the way that your lease is structured, it may be possible to deduct all of your payments as business expenses, offsetting depreciation costs.

It is a good idea to speak with a tax professional to ensure that your leasing arrangement qualifies as a business expense, and can be fully written off against your end-of-year tax bill.

If your main business is being a property renter, you will need to make sure to use a first-rate assignment of lease forms to look after your legal rights. Luckily, it is quite painless to download lease assignment forms off of the internet, but this is not in truth adequate. The lease assignment forms that you come across will in general be satisfactory - they will cover all of the standard typical areas legally - but just before you sign and endorse that agreement, no matter what it is, you ought to get in touch with a lawyer. This is especially true if you are thinking about renting property. There is simply no reason to not seek advice from the legal authority of your district before finalizing your lease assignment. And the good thing about this is you could even find out something that is just indispensable.

I have been a paying guest for a lot of years, so I do have my finger on the pulse. As a property-owner, I have had to be aware of all of my lawful privileges and obligations, and had to make completely sure that my lease assignment is completely airtight, This is particularly true in the locale I reside. Berkeley, California is a incredibly renter friendly city, so as a landlord it is usually extremely difficult to eject tenants, or even bring them to account for breaking the terms of their lease assignment. If I did not have one of the top assignments of lease's in the business, I would be pretty concerned about protecting my investment.

There are other things much more important and essential than even a suitable lease assignment, even though that is a decent place to begin. One of these is doing a superior and meticulous background check on each tenant who proposes to reside in your rental property. Personally I think a background check is even better than a lease assignment for protecting you, for the reason that it will permit you to see if someone has proven themselves to be dependable and trustworthy, and consequently a respectably good renter in the past. No matter how good your lease assignment, it is nonetheless better to make sure to have a good renter to start with. It is just not worth the aggravation of having to evict someone otherwise, and with legal expenses and delays of many months, it can certainly take the pleasure out of what is otherwise a profitable business which usually if done right requires very little work. A clever landlord can be a lazy landlord, and will always be a wealthy landlord, so before you even think about looking at lease assignments, make sure that you are renting to dependable people.

A leasehold retail business is one that is operated by the leaseholder, who rents his premises from the landlord (freeholder). A newsagent, pub, fish and chip shop or other leasehold business can provide the purchaser with source of income and usually a family home. It offers a relatively cheap way to solve two of life's basic challenges: finding shelter and a livelihood - which is precisely why the UK is so densely populated with these businesses.

Most retail business premises are held on a 21-year lease (or less) at a commercial rent, and the leaseholder is usually protected by the Landlord&Tenant Act 1954, which safeguards renewal. In essence, however, a leaseholder is a "tenant" renting the premises to carry on retail business.

The real value of a leasehold business is determined primarily by the volume of turnover. Other factors such as level of rent, location and competition do have a significant bearing on value, but income is ultimately the most important factor. It must also be remembered that even the best-equipped business, set in a prime location, will be worth only fraction of the going-concern value, if it is closed.

At least 25% of them change ownership each year, so it is probable that every week around 20,000 buyers are looking for a commercial loan in a financial marketplace where there are precious few sources of finance.

Similarly, it would be reasonable to assume that many existing owners of retail businesses will require a commercial loan during the course of a trading year in order to either buy out a partner, discharge an outstanding VAT bill or refurbish their premises and will usually encounter rasing funds from the usual High Street sources.

easy4life Loans and mortgages can provide you with access to leasehold business loans for variety of leasehold businesses ranging from Retail Outlets such as general stores, newsagents, off-licenses, post office stores, DIY shops, Dry Cleaners, Drug Stores to Catering Businesses such as Pizza/pasta/kebab/fish & chip shops, takeaways, cafes, snack bars and all other types of fast food outlets. Finance is also available for Pubs, Wine Bars, Bistros and types of restaurants.

If you are a looking for office space in today’s day and age you are in luck. With more and more people going into business, the need for office space has never been so much in demand. There are companies renting out entire offices, as well as individuals who are simply in need of one office. And you do not have to worry about the supply at this point. Every year, thousands of new office buildings are being built in the United States. And in the bigger cities, these offices are being rented out before construction is even complete. This pre-selling of space is a common practice on commercial real estate. This allows the owners to do planning on the type of offices to build. Many will "build to suit" and then you can have the space perfectly designed for you and your business.

If you are looking for office space the first thing you may want to do is search your local newspaper classified ads. If you live in a larger city, you are sure to have hundreds of options at your finger tips. It may be slightly more difficult if you are looking for an entire building to rent out. But this is still very possible with the speed that office buildings are being built today.

If the newspaper does not work out for you, take a drive. All you need to do is go out to one of the corporate office parks and ask around. Most of these parks will have some empty offices. They often consist of many buildings, so you will probably have your choice of what you want. It is now a buyers market so you have the upper hand in negotiating leases, ammenities, locations, size etc.

Finally, the internet can also be a great place to search for offices.This site offers a way of easily and effectively searching for office space in any city in the world.

Offices is no longer difficult to locate. At this point, the most difficult decision is which office you are going to relocate to. And remember, if you do not find anything you like, just wait for the next office building to be built in your area. Office spaces, even whole buildings are available in abundance. The time has never been better to find the perfect space to suit your needs today, and well into the future.