This will be my last post for 2017. And besides wishing you all a great Holiday season and New Year, I also want to point out that the time for using Section 179 for 2017 is growing short.

If you want the Section 179 deduction for 2017, you have until midnight, 12/31/2017 to buy and have the equipment in service. Because once the New Year’s ball drops, that’s it – Section 179 for 2017 is over.

Let me reiterate something I’ve been saying all year – the Section 179 tax deduction is so good, that you’d be almost silly not to take advantage of it. It’s a full $500,000, and your total equipment purchases can total $2 million before the tax deduction starts to phase out. This makes it a true small business tax break – most small companies simply aren’t going to exceed that $2 million dollar cap, so it’s very likely that everything you buy equipment-wise you will be able to deduct in full. That’s pretty sweet.

Better still, if you finance the equipment, you’ll take the deduction for 2017, and not make a single payment until 2018 – this can have a profound effect on your year-end financials, and also get you needed equipment right now. For many companies, 2017 was a solid year, and using this tax deduction plus equipment financing can make it even better.

Beyond that, I do hope your December is going great. A lot of companies are really busy now, even if they don’t sell consumer-related products. Plus, a company like mine has a busy December for the exact reason I stated above – companies say “we need to spend $xx on equipment to take a deduction, so let’s get to it”. So I’ll be here until that Midnight bell rings on 12/31.

Have a great holiday, everyone, and I’ll see you in 2018!

We’re 11 months into our “which is the best month to finance equipment” series, which means we’re into November. And yes, it’s a great time to finance equipment. I’ll give you one guess as to why (and it has nothing to do with Thanksgiving, although Turkey, Potatoes, and Gravy never hurt anything).

Yup, it’s our old friend Section 179. It’s a great program no matter what month you finance, but wow, does it take on extra significance now. In fact, it can literally make your year.

If you read here regularly, you already know the particulars, but let’s talk about them anyway: If you finance equipment (leasing too) here in November, you can write off the entire purchase price for this year. Depending on the price of the equipment, that can mean a significant dent in your taxes – you will keep more of your money, which is reflected in your bottom line numbers for the year.

But here’s the real beauty in this – as stated, the numbers will make a big difference for this year, but you won’t start paying for the equipment until next year. That’s nice.

Plus, you get to start next year with new (or new to you) equipment – there are worse ways you can start a year.

There are also plenty of bargains this time of year, as companies look to end the current year on a high note, clear out older inventory, or maybe just succumbed to a post-Thanksgiving food coma. Whatever the reason, they’re out there. And equipment financing companies are there with financing.

Which reminds me of a little known factoid: When the Pilgrims came to the new land and celebrated the first Thanksgiving with the Native Americans, it was actually the first equipment financing deal. See, the Pilgrims needed food and local farming knowledge, and the Native Americans desired the metal tools and weapons the Pilgrims had. So they traded food (i.e. currency) for the hard goods. And I’m sure there were some deferred payments and tax breaks and…

Ok, I’m getting a little carried away here, and my history teacher might argue with me on the specifics of that one, but can dream, right?      

We’re now into August, and I’m starting to think that this series might have been better titled “what quarter is best to finance equipment” or “is it better to finance equipment in the fourth quarter or the first?”

The reason for that is many of the months don’t change all that much when viewed back to back. In other words, financing equipment in August isn’t that much different from financing equipment in July. But then again, viewed in the big picture, it’s interesting to see the subtle changes. Plus, Fletch finishes what he starts, so let’s continue.

August is a great time to finance equipment because many companies are still in a summer slump. In fact, it may be even more pronounced in August because now the July numbers are in, and they are soft for many industries. So there might be some deals out there.

Section 179 is climbing higher in these posts. If you finance equipment now, and take the Section 179 deduction, there’s a very good chance you’ll pay less in payments this year than the net dollars you will keep from taking the deduction. Read that again if you must, because it’s an “in the black” statement that makes the company accountant smile.

Here’s another reason: your company may have some grand plans for when everyone gets back from their summer vacations. Financing equipment in August means the stuff you need will be ready for rollout. Nothing like going into the fourth quarter with all systems go.

Last thing – I mentioned a month or so ago that “next year’s models” were starting to arrive. This trickle is starting to turn into a flood, and means two things: The latest and greatest is becoming available, and now “last year’s models” (technically this year’s) are in the way. More deals!

So enjoy a glass of lemonade in the summer sun, and look into some August equipment financing, because it’s a good thing.

I mentioned in a previous post about how a 3D printer made a small, obscure part for a friend of mine. Then I said, almost jokingly, how I did notice more and more companies buying 3D printers, and I should do a post about it. Well, here it is.

I want to start by going back a bunch of years, when I was a teenager, at one of my first jobs (a large, stand-alone retail store.) We were one of the first area businesses to invest in a new technology – a “fax machine”. This amazing device allowed printed pages to be transmitted “over the phone”. It was a real timesaver, because calling in an order could take a half hour “ok, send me 9 of item X, 14 of item Y” and so on. The fax allowed you to call the number, and walk away.

I bring up the fax here because it’s a good parallel. It was a piece of equipment that saved time and money, and it was clearly “the future”. Right now, I see that with 3D printers, and as an added bonus, there’s almost no way these machines will be as short-lived as faxes seem to be (they get used less and less every day, it seems.)

So what type of company can benefit from financing a 3D printer? I would say any company that has machines, a maintenance department (even if that department is one person), maybe some vehicles, a few cubes/desks, etc. And how would they benefit? This is where it gets interesting.

See, a 3D printer can make almost anything. Almost any kind of small object can be printed. They can be solid, slightly mechanical, fit together, etc. They can solve all kinds of problems internally. For example, did a small (but key) piece on a 30-year old machine break? And the manufacturer went bye-bye 5 years ago? No problem for a 3D printer.

Some creative thinking can make a 3D printer pay for itself very quickly, especially since they have come down in price exponentially. I’m no futurist, but I can see every business having one in a fairly short time, and even many homes to follow. Case in point: I spent 45 minutes the other day going to the home center for a simple plastic hose washer. I literally spent more in gas than the washer itself cost, not to mention my time. I would have loved to have been able to print one out.  

Financing 3D printers makes sense, because they are inherently useful to almost any company. Way more useful today than that quaint-looking fax machine (plus, they are Section 179 eligible!)

Happy summer, everyone. Here we are in July, and yes, it’s a great time to finance equipment (leasing too). Let’s see why:

Let me start with vacation. Summertime, and July in particular, are big time vacation months. The sun is shining everywhere, the kids are out of school, and there’s a nice little July 4th Holiday to work with. I’ll bet many people in your own company/industry have vacation time scheduled.

So that means many companies / industries hit a little “summertime lull”. And that may make some of them more apt to offer a nice deal right now. There’s nothing like making a nice sale right before vacation. If you have had your eye on something, check the price this month – you may be surprised.

Ok, here’s another reason: Next Year is coming. Last week, I took my vehicle in for service at the dealership, and to kill time, I walked around the lot, and noticed a few 2018 model year vehicles had arrived. This means many industries are rolling out new models.  This makes “last years” models somewhat obsolete, and ready for discounting. So you’ll start to see lower prices on items that are getting a new model (this typically includes trucks, trailers, and specialty vehicles… all popular equipment financing items. It also may include manufacturing machines, printers, software, and more.) Again, a great time finance / lease equipment.

Finally, let’s talk Section 179 again. This is the last time Section 179 will be at the end of these “best month to finance equipment” posts, because it’s going to take center stage soon. But even right now, if you finance equipment that is Section 179 eligible (and most financed business equipment is), you will almost certainly deduct more net dollars than you pay in payments this year. That’s always a welcome situation.

July is a great time to finance or lease equipment – pass the sunscreen!

June is a great month for equipment financing. And June 2017 is especially good. Let’s go over a few reasons.

My last blog post touched on rates and rate increases, and that should give you pause right now. Take it from your prediction maven Fletch – rates will have one more increase this year. So locking in right now, with a fixed rate, is easily your best bet. Leasing equipment before any rate increase always feels like a big win.

Secondly, let’s talk Section 179 and equipment financing. You will start to hear this thought more and more in the months to come, but here in June, we sort of pass a threshold. If you finance equipment now, it’s almost a certainty you will save more in raw tax dollars (using Section 179) than you will have paid in finance payments for the remainder of the calendar year. That makes financing equipment a “black ink” move. Nice.

This time of year is also good for re-tooling and re-strategizing. The summer is coming, and many non-vacation industries slow down a little as employees take time off, etc. Summer is often the ideal time to introduce that new piece of machinery or new software system – this way, everyone is trained and ready to go when business picks back up later this year.

Lastly, we’re six months into the year. You should know now where you are headed. If things have been good, hey, that’s great – let’s keep that momentum going. If they aren’t good, however, changing things up (like bringing in a new piece of equipment) might be just what the doctor ordered.

Listen, you know I think financing (or leasing) equipment is always a great thing. And different times of the year have unique advantages. June is always great, but that feeling about rates pushes it to the top right now. It’s sunny. It’s warm. And it’s time to do business.