Financing program
Equipment Financing
Equipment financing spreads the cost of the hardware your service depends on across the years it will run, and the equipment itself carries most of the underwriting weight.
What is equipment financing for a food business?
Equipment financing pays a vendor directly for commercial kitchen equipment, refrigeration, POS systems, or vehicles, and you repay in fixed monthly payments over 2 to 7 years. The equipment secures the loan, so approval leans on the asset and your deposit history rather than a long balance sheet.
Estimates, not offers: Amounts, terms, and funding times are estimates based on programs commonly available in food service. Actual terms vary by program, lender underwriting, time in business, revenue, and credit profile. Nothing here is an offer of credit or a guarantee of approval. See source and method.
Pick a state to see whether this program is offered there, and what changes if it is limited.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Typical amount | 5,000 to 500,000 |
| Term | 24 to 84 months |
| Time to funding | 1 to 5 business days |
| Documents | Application, equipment quote, bank statements |
| Cost structure | Fixed monthly payment |
Estimates, not offers: Amounts, terms, and funding times are estimates based on programs commonly available in food service. Actual terms vary by program, lender underwriting, time in business, revenue, and credit profile. Nothing here is an offer of credit or a guarantee of approval. See source and method.
Where it fits
- /Replacing a failed walk-in, hood, or line
- /Opening a second location's kitchen
- /Adding delivery vehicles or refrigerated trucks
How the program works
- /Applies to new and used commercial kitchen equipment, refrigeration, HVAC, POS systems, and vehicles.
- /Financing can cover soft costs such as delivery, installation, and freight.
- /Structures include equipment finance agreements, capital leases, and fair market value leases.
What it looks like in practice
A 40 seat bistro replaces a failed walk-in cooler in 3 days instead of waiting on a savings cycle.
A catering company adds 2 refrigerated vans ahead of wedding season.
Cost of capital calculator
Equipment payment and total cost, side by side
Put the quote and the offered rate into both columns, then change the term in one of them. The payment moves one way and the total cost moves the other, and the gap between the two columns is what the longer term actually costs.
Start from a common setup
Load a starting point, then edit any field in either column. Presets are examples, not offers.
Scenario A
Use the rate on a written offer, not an estimate.
Scenario B
Use the rate on a written offer, not an estimate.
Sensitivity: move one driver at a time
| Annual rate | Monthly payment | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0% | $1,269.36 | -$8,110 |
| 15.8% | $1,576.52 | +$2,947 |
| 30.5% | $1,922.67 | +$15,409 |
| 45.3% | $2,304.94 | +$29,171 |
| 60.0% | $2,719.55 | +$44,097 |
| Term length | Monthly payment | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 24 months | $2,118.31 | -$2,968 |
| 36 months | $1,494.64 | — |
| 48 months | $1,185.02 | +$3,074 |
| 60 months | $1,001.00 | +$6,253 |
| 72 months | $879.76 | +$9,535 |
| 84 months | $794.37 | +$12,920 |
Change is measured against total cost of financing in the scenario the sliders control. Moving a slider edits that column, so the side-by-side updates with it.
Side by side
Scenario A costs $6,253 less on total cost of financing.
The arithmetic
payment = P x i / (1 - (1 + i)^-n), where P is the amount financed, i is the annual rate divided by 12, and n is the number of monthly payments. Total cost = (payment x n) - P.
Sources
- 1Amortizing payment formula: P x i / (1 - (1 + i)^-n)Standard time value of money identity. The same closed form used by the PMT function, with i as the monthly rate and n as the number of monthly payments.
- 2Bank prime loan rate, the base most business term financing is priced againstFederal Reserve, H.15 Selected Interest Rates. Published daily by the Federal Reserve. Enter the current prime rate when pricing a variable rate offer.
- 3Annual percentage rate definition, 12 CFR 1026.22Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z. APR is the nominal annual rate that discounts a payment stream back to the amount advanced. We solve it numerically from the payment schedule and multiply the periodic rate by the number of periods per year.
Education only: this calculator runs your own inputs through published arithmetic so you can compare equipment financing scenarios before you talk to anyone. It is not a quote, a promise to lend, an approval, or an indication of offers to come. Real terms come from a funding partner in writing after underwriting.
Availability: Program availability varies by state, and not every program is offered everywhere we operate.
Compare all 6 programs
How equipment financing compares against every other program on amount, term, speed, cost structure, and what underwriting expects. Compare total dollars repaid rather than the monthly payment.
| Typical amount | Term | Time to funding | Cost structure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment Financing | 5,000 to 500,000 | 24 to 84 months | 1 to 5 business days | Fixed monthly payment |
| Working Capital | 10,000 to 500,000 | 3 to 18 months | 1 to 3 business days | Fixed daily, weekly, or monthly payment |
| SBA Loans | 50,000 to 5,000,000 | 10 to 25 years | 3 to 12 weeks | Amortized interest, lowest payment of any program |
| Business Line of Credit | 10,000 to 250,000 | Revolving, reviewed periodically | 2 to 7 business days | Interest on the drawn balance only |
| Merchant Cash Advance | 5,000 to 250,000 | Repaid as card volume arrives | 1 to 3 business days | Factor rate, highest total cost |
| Buildout and Expansion | 50,000 to 2,000,000 | 36 to 84 months | 1 to 4 weeks | Fixed payment, often with a draw schedule |
Estimates, not offers: Amounts, terms, and funding times are estimates based on programs commonly available in food service. Actual terms vary by program, lender underwriting, time in business, revenue, and credit profile. Nothing here is an offer of credit or a guarantee of approval. See source and method.
| Time in business | Credit | Revenue | Collateral | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment Financing | Month 1 with a down payment, common by month 6 | Options below 600, best terms above 700 | No minimum when the quote and asset are strong | The equipment itself |
| Working Capital | 6 months of deposits | Options below 600, pricing improves above 650 | About 15,000 per month in deposits | General business lien, no specific asset |
| SBA Loans | 2 or more years, exceptions for acquisitions | 660 and above with clean recent history | Documented profit and debt service coverage | Business assets, often real estate, plus a personal guarantee |
| Business Line of Credit | 12 months | 650 and above for most limits | Consistent monthly deposits across 12 months | General business lien |
| Merchant Cash Advance | 4 to 6 months of card processing history | Options in the low 500s | About 10,000 per month in card volume | Future card receivables |
| Buildout and Expansion | 12 months, or a funded project with an executed lease | 650 and above for most structures | Sized to the project and the operator contribution | The project, with 10 to 30 percent operator contribution |
Estimates, not offers: Amounts, terms, and funding times are estimates based on programs commonly available in food service. Actual terms vary by program, lender underwriting, time in business, revenue, and credit profile. Nothing here is an offer of credit or a guarantee of approval. See source and method.
Every request
- /Completed program application with ownership details
- /3 to 6 months of business bank statements
- /Time in business and entity details
Equipment and buildout
- /Vendor quote including delivery, installation, and freight
- /Contractor bids and the draw schedule on construction
- /Executed lease for the space
SBA and conventional term
- /3 years of business and personal tax returns
- /Interim profit and loss statement and balance sheet
- /Debt schedule and personal financial statement
- /Purchase agreement and seller financials on an acquisition
Equipment Financing by business type
Guides and calculators for equipment financing
Equipment Financing questions
Can I finance used restaurant equipment?
Yes. Used and refurbished commercial equipment can be financed, though terms are usually shorter than for new units and some lenders require the seller to be a dealer rather than a private party.
How fast can equipment financing fund?
Most equipment requests fund in 1 to 5 business days once the application and equipment quote are in. Emergency replacements such as a failed walk-in are often decisioned the same day, with funds released once the vendor quote clears.
Do I need a down payment?
Programs commonly cover 80 to 100 percent of the equipment cost, and soft costs such as delivery and installation can often be included. Larger tickets, used equipment, and newer businesses more often require 10 to 20 percent down.
Does equipment financing require a hard credit pull?
Submitting a request does not require a hard pull. A specific lender will tell you what it needs before pulling anything.
Can I finance equipment for a business under a year old?
Often yes, because the equipment secures the transaction. Terms will be shorter and a down payment is more likely.
What equipment qualifies?
Ovens, fryers, hoods, walk-in coolers and freezers, dish machines, refrigeration, HVAC, POS systems, furniture, delivery vehicles, and refrigerated trucks.