Aspenhollow Business Capital, based in Olympia, WA, offers this equipment payment calculator for cafés pricing an espresso machine, grinders or other equipment. Enter price, down payment, rate and term to see the monthly payment and total cost including the down payment. Results are estimates, not offers; partners set actual rates and terms.
The four inputs
- Equipment price: the quoted price, including anything the seller will put on the same invoice
- Down payment: what you pay up front, if anything
- Rate: a yearly rate; use the rate on an actual offer when you have one
- Term: the number of months
Use the same inputs for every option you compare.
The two results
The monthly payment on the financed amount (price minus down payment), and the total cost, which adds every payment to the down payment. The total is the number to compare across offers; a lower payment over a longer term costs more in total at the same rate.
A hypothetical comparison
For illustration only, not an offer: a café prices a two-group machine and two grinders at $24,000. Run it twice with the same rate, once with $4,000 down over 48 months and once with nothing down over 60 months. The second shows a smaller payment and a larger total cost. Which is right depends on how much cash the café needs to keep for payroll and stock.
Reading the result
Look at the total cost first, then the payment. The difference between the total cost and the equipment price is what the financing costs you over the term. Try two or three terms with the same rate: a shorter term raises the payment and lowers that difference. Then check the payment against your weakest month of card sales, not your average one; the payment has to clear in the weak months too.
What this calculator does not compute
It does not handle a balloon payment, lease buyouts, fees, or taxes. For an equipment finance offer with a balloon, ask the partner for the full payment schedule, balloon included, and add it up by hand. For a lease, add the lease payments and the buyout yourself and compare that sum with the calculator's total cost.
Beyond espresso machines
The same calculator works for any single piece of equipment: a grinder, a walk-in cooler, a lift, a mower. Commercial espresso machine financing is explained on coffee shops and cafés, and every structure on the equipment financing page. Other guides are on the resources page.
By Aspenhollow Business Capital · Updated