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Equipment Financing Guides
Crest Capital has financed equipment, vehicles and software for small and mid-sized businesses since 1989, in amounts from $10,000 to $500,000. These guides explain the parts of equipment financing that trip people up: how a lease is taxed and booked, what Section 179 and bonus depreciation do for a financed purchase, how a lender reads an application, and what a blanket lien does to a business. Each one can be read in a few minutes.
Taxes and Section 179
Taxes, Depreciation and Lease Accounting
What the IRS and the accounting rules each make of a financed purchase, and what that is worth in the year you buy.
Lease Accounting and Tax Treatment
Finance vs. operating leasesHow the IRS and GAAP each classify a lease, who takes depreciation and Section 179, and what lands on the balance sheet under ASC 842.
Read the guide →Bonus Depreciation vs. Section 179
The current rulesWhat each deduction does for financed equipment under current law, how the two combine, and what changed after the 2023 phase-out.
Read the guide →Section 179 Qualified Financing
One-page flyer (PDF)How financing and the Section 179 deduction work together in the same year, on one printable page.
Open the flyer →Section 179 Calculator
Estimate your deductionEnter an equipment cost and see the estimated first-year deduction and the tax savings it produces.
Open the calculator →Credit and Approval
How Equipment Financing Credit Decisions Work
What a lender weighs, why time in business matters so much, and what happens once you are approved.
The Five Cs of Credit
What lenders weighCharacter, capacity, capital, collateral and conditions, and how personal credit figures into a closely held company’s application.
Read the guide →Can a Startup Get Equipment Financing?
Time in businessWhy most commercial lenders wait for two years of operating history, what the exceptions cost, and where a new business can start.
Read the guide →What to Expect When You Sign
Documents and fundingWhat the finance agreement contains, how signing works, and what happens between signing and the seller being paid.
Read the guide →Banks, Liens and Rates
Bank Loans, Blanket Liens and Rates
The terms behind the rate are what decide what a loan costs a growing business. These guides read the fine print for you.
Blanket Liens
The clause behind the low rateWhat a blanket lien is, why a bank attaches one to a loan, and how it can block the equipment financing you need two years later.
Read the guide →Bank Loans vs. Equipment Financing
What the rate does not tell youCovenants, compensating balances, annual requalification and liens: the conditions that follow a bank loan, and the ones that do not follow equipment financing.
Read the guide →How Equipment Financing Rates Work
Fixed rates, collateral, timingWhat moves a rate, why a fixed rate suits equipment, and why waiting for a lower one rarely pays.
Read the guide →Equipment Financing 101
Terms in plain EnglishApplications, approvals, finance agreements and leases, collateral, soft costs and terms, in the order you meet them.
Read the guide →The Hidden Costs of Not Replacing Equipment
Downtime and repairsThe repair bills, lost output and missed work that an aging machine quietly adds up to.
Read the guide →About Crest Capital
The Company Behind the Guides
Crest Capital Fact Sheet
Founded 1989, AtlantaWhat Crest Capital finances, in what amounts, for whom, and how the company is structured.
Read the fact sheet →Industry Commentary
Trade pressPresident Mark French on credit risk, fraud and residual values, as quoted in Equipment Finance News.
Read the commentary →Awards and Recognition
Dated and attributedThird-party awards and rankings, each with its source and year.
See the awards →For Equipment Sellers
Sell More Equipment by Offering Financing
If your company sells equipment, vehicles or software, a monthly payment on the quote closes sales that a cash price loses. Crest Capital runs a free program for sellers: you enroll once, your customers get payment options under your name, and Crest handles the credit, the documents and the funding. See how the dealer program works, or enroll your company.
Ready When You Are
See What Your Business Qualifies For
Checking takes about 2 minutes, involves no personal-credit inquiry, and gives you an instant answer.
About 2 minutesNo personal-credit inquiryInstant answer