And sometimes, they need it without warning.

The obvious “without warning” need is a machine breaking down, or some kind of accident. But let’s leave those out, as they are pretty obvious. Let’s talk about some other less-obvious instances that could bring on the need for more equipment very quickly.

I’ve known customers who were happily chugging along, when one day, a sales rep calls in with a new account that changes everything. All of a sudden the volume goes way up, and a company that made 200 widgets a day all of a sudden needs to make 300. There’s little upside to turning away this new business, so the company needs more equipment fast. 

Here’s another instance I remember: there was a local waste hauler in a county where new people were elected, and very quickly, they passed new recycling laws. All of a sudden, the hauler needed new bins for people’s homes, and new sorting machinery would help a lot too. Rumor quickly became law, and everything was turned upside down in a matter of days. 

Both of these types of changes mentioned can be planned for if seen coming, but sometimes they hit like a bolt of lightning. One new customer who’s very eager to get started, or one election with new, engaged people taking power, and everything can change for a company. So they need financial flexibility, and they need to be able to pick up the phone (or go online) and get the equipment financing they need quickly.

And they can’t do that if they are bogged down with restrictions from a previous bank loan.

In the end, it’s a very empowering feeling to not only have financial flexibility, but to also know you can get fast equipment financing on demand (almost literally). Being unfettered by restrictions does this. So choose your equipment financing partner wisely.

It goes back to when I was a kid. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts over the years, I was the guy with the Tonka® trucks. So I kind of gravitate to heavy equipment, construction machinery, and related. Usually when we finance a piece of construction equipment, we get information on the make, model, specs, a picture or three, and similar. Even now, in my adult years, I imagine these immense machines, with giant tires (or maybe even tank treads) moving, pushing, and shoveling earth. I won’t say whether I have a toy truck or three in my desk drawer or not. And if I did, I’m not going to say whether they come out at lunchtime…

One thing I do like is the number of companies that come to us to lease a dump truck or finance a backhoe. In fact, over the last few years, heavy equipment financing has really taken off as the economy improves, and Crest Capital has sort of become known as a prolific heavy equipment financing company (amongst other types of industrial machinery – CNC machines still lead the pack).

Recently, a client mentioned financing and the holidays, and is where I got the title to this post – he said “I felt like the bank was Scrooge, with a long list of legalese. My wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I actually blurted out something like ‘I want a heavy equipment financing company that doesn’t make it hard’. Well, my gift to myself was I found you, and my wife is probably getting me the camera I wanted, so it’s a good December.”

That’s what I like to hear. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to check my desk drawer before I make my Christmas list…

As you probably know, Section 179 (the “buy equipment and get a sweet tax break” tax deduction) got a nice boost this year. In fact, the maximum deduction this year has been raised to 500k. That’s five hundred thousand dollars that you can deduct from your company’s income this year (assuming you buy that much equipment, of course).

Here’s the upside for you – no matter what type of company you are, you use equipment in your business. Machinery, vehicles, tools, software, office machines, chairs, tables, store fixtures… you name it.

Knowing this, it’s almost a given that there is some type of equipment in your company that could use an upgrade. And, as any smart businessperson knows, good equipment is profitable. Even something that is not “obvious”, like new chairs and desks, can have a marked effect on employee productivity.

With all of this said, there’s 500,000 reasons why you would want to buy new (or new to you) equipment THIS year. The deduction is good only if you buy and put the equipment into service by midnight, 12/31/2013. After that, you have to go by whatever rules Section 179 will follow for 2014. And there’s a good chance it’s not the same “half a million” number (if you look at the history of Section 179, you’ll see it has varied quite a bit over the years.)

So the time to act is 2013, and, as the autumn air tells us, 2013 is fast drawing to a close. So again, this is my reminder to all businesspeople – the Section 179 deduction is super-generous this year, and it definitely should be taken advantage of.  It’s a “use it or lose it” proposition, so Fletch suggests you definitely look around your company and see what could use an upgrade. You Uncle Sam will reward you handsomely for doing such.