When you have a small business to equip, you’re looking at a wide array of associated costs, not least among them is your IT infrastructure. There are a variety of financing and leasing options, and you may think that buying everything outright is simpler. There are many reasons to explore your financing and leasing options and certain traits you need to be on the lookout for when choosing a financing partner.

One stop shopping simplifies acquiring the use of software and maintenance |
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Combining the financing of your hardware and software acquisition into one extended financing plan simplifies the acquisition of the use of software by providing you with one payment obligation for the financing of your entire IT solution; which may include the hardware and licensed software running in your business and related installation and maintenance costs.
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There are many options for financing and leasing
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Lease |
Bank loan or credit card |
Cash |
Capital cost
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Net present value of lease payments is typically less than original equipment costs
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100% of equipment cost, plus finance charges
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100% of equipment cost
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Initial cash expenditure
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Minimal
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Bank loan: large down payment Credit card: none
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100%of equipment cost
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Payments
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None for 30 days, followed by low fixed monthly payments
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Monthly payments of capital and interest
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Entire cost paid up front
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Impact on available cash or credit
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Unaffected
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Decreased credit availability
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Decreased cash availability
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Tax implications
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May be deductible as operating expense
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5-year depreciation; Longer than useful life of technology
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5-year depreciation;longer than useful life of technology
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Disposition
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Simply return equipment to lessor
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Customer bears cost & risks
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Customer bears cost & risks
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Bottom Line
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Align cost with usage, minimal risk
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Less available credit; obsolescence risks
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Less available cash;obsolescence risks
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What to look for in a financing partner |
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Your IT infrastructure is too important to leave to chance. Factors to consider include:
- Know which VAR or vendor provides which services, and schedule regular calls to stay abreast of their new offerings.
- Shop around and compare rates and services.
- Acquaint yourself with rates and approval times, so there are no surprises at the end of the financing process.
Most importantly, finance wisely by seeking out a company that provides financing for your entire turnkey solution, which may include, hardware, software licensing, maintenance, and installation.
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HP Financial Services – total turnkey solutions |
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HP Financial Services provides all those services listed above, allowing you to get the financing for your hardware, software, maintenance and other services all in one place, through one trusted vendor. HP Financial Services offers competitive rates, and can assist in acquiring everything you choose for your small business IT infrastructure. Small businesses may even take advantage of ‘paperless leasing’ from HP Financial Services, for IT solutions with an original acquisition cost, in the aggregate, of up to $150,000 (USD). What could be quicker and easier than that?
Beyond the savings on up-front investment, the fixed monthly expenses, and technology refresh options, leasing and financing has a host of other advantages:
- Ease of disposal – When your IT equipment reaches the end of its lifecycle, HP Financial Services offers a fee-based service that will coordinate the disposition of such IT equipment, in accordance with applicable environmental and safety laws.
- Limited paper work – Complete the majority of the leasing and financing process online; from application to applicable leasing and finance documentation.
- Quick decisions – Your company gets the credit decision in minutes from HP Financial Services.
- Live support – HP Financial Services’ Rapid Response Center is ready and waiting to help.
However, what really sets HP Financial Services apart from the crowd is that HP Financial Services allows you to have a heterogeneous IT infrastructure. If you want servers and notebooks from a vendor other than HP, and desktops from a third, that’s what you get. HP Financial Services is your one stop for financing and lifecycle management services: one financing partner for the life of your business.
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