Three plain-talk calculators for owners in the trades — built by a business banker, written in shop language. No jargon, no sales pitch. Just the math the way an underwriter sees it.
Underwriters live on one ratio: DSCR — your cash flow divided by everything you owe each year. Most banks want 1.25× or better. That means for every $1.00 of loan payments, you need $1.25 of cash flow. Run yours before you ever sit down across the desk.
Use last year's tax return or year-to-date financials. Rough is fine — this is a first look, not an application.
Cash flow available to pay debt (per year)
What you owe (per year)
Cash flow ÷ total yearly debt payments
One plain-talk money lesson for owners, in your inbox every week — ratios like this one, equipment math, and cash flow, all in shop language. Drop your email and you're in.
Same machine, three very different price tags. Compare the total cost of each path — not just the monthly payment — and see how much cash each one leaves in your operating account the day you sign.
Start with the machine. Then set the terms you're being quoted for each option.
If you finance it
If you lease it
Your cash's other job
Total dollars out over the term, including tax, interest, fees, and buyout.
Cost isn't the whole story. Financing and leasing keep cash in the business for payroll and slow months; paying cash owns the machine free and clear with zero payments hanging over a bad quarter. Tax treatment differs too — that's a CPA conversation, and it's worth having before you sign.
One plain-talk money lesson for owners, in your inbox every week — equipment decisions like this one, loan ratios, and cash flow, all in shop language. Drop your email and you're in.
If the phone stopped ringing tomorrow, how many months could your cash carry payroll, rent, and the notes? That's your runway — and it's the number that decides whether a slow season is an inconvenience or an emergency.
Monthly figures. Use a normal month, not your best one.
Money out, per month
Stress-test it
In a downturn, job costs fall with the work — but payroll, rent, and payments don't. The stress test cuts revenue and job costs, and holds the rest flat.
In a normal month
The cushion target is three months of the bills you can't pause — payroll, rent, insurance, and debt payments. Job costs aren't in it, because when work stops, they mostly stop too.
One plain-talk money lesson for owners, in your inbox every week — cash flow and runway, loan ratios, and equipment math, all in shop language. Drop your email and you're in.