Finance the fleet. Protect what comes next.

The machine in front of you matters. So does the position your business will be in when the next machine, contract or opportunity arrives.

Fleet finance is a game of Tetris.

Every purchase occupies space somewhere. The question is which lender should carry it, what capacity remains afterwards and which pieces you may need to move next.

A lender can approve today's excavator and still be the wrong place for it. If that decision uses up the bank you need for working capital, a property purchase or a larger fleet program, the cost may only become clear later. MFG looks at the equipment, the existing debt and the direction of the business before recommending where a transaction should sit.

Heavy equipment in operation — Equipment and lender strategy considered together.

Know where the debt can go before it needs to.

James and Dan bring a credit team's thinking to the business owner's side of the table. With a new client, we first get across the fleet, existing facilities, financial position, upcoming purchases and the relationships already working well. That gives us a basis for discussing the next transaction and the ones likely to follow it.

We usually assess what the major banks could support first, including your existing house bank. Then we look beyond them at appropriate second-tier banks, non-banks, specialist and private lenders. The order changes when timing, asset type or the business's circumstances call for a different path.

Understand

What do you own, what do you owe, and where is the business heading?

Test the bank path

Which facilities and limits could a major bank support, and what would they require?

Map the wider market

Where else could a transaction sit, and which options should remain available?

You get a working debt-placement roadmap: where we would start, what a lender may need to see, which approvals or limits we might pursue and what capacity we aim to preserve. It is a plan to test with lenders, not a promise of approval. We keep reviewing it as your fleet and business change.

“How much time have we got?”

It is one of the first questions we ask because timing changes the options.

If the equipment is needed tomorrow, a lender built for a quick decision may be the right call. If there is time to prepare, a major bank or established facility may provide a better long-term position. We keep fast lenders available for the transactions that genuinely need them.

Rate is part of that decision, but it is not the whole decision. Policy, security, approval conditions, payout flexibility, exposure and the next likely purchase can matter just as much. We want to keep your powder dry where it counts.

Tumeke Civil with a Kobelco excavator — Replacement planning across a working fleet.

Place debt with purpose.

Spread exposure carefully.

Using appropriate lenders can prevent the fleet from becoming overcapitalised with one institution. Each lender should have a reason to be there.

Protect the house bank.

A strong banker is an asset to the business. Equipment finance should support that relationship and preserve room for the things the bank is best placed to fund.

Keep options open.

Replacement cycles, new contracts and acquisitions are easier to approach when borrowing capacity has been considered before the opportunity arrives.

Already have a great banker? Good. Introduce us.

We work alongside bankers, accountants and business owners. Sometimes the best answer is to use an existing bank facility. Sometimes it is to place a machine elsewhere so that banking relationship remains strong for the next requirement.

The cheapest rate is only one number.

Rate matters. So do the limit, the security a lender wants, the approval conditions and the room left for the next purchase. If rate is the only number on the table, you do not know what you are giving up.

What does half a per cent look like?

Monthly repayment on a $500,000 amount financed over five years:

Illustrative repayments for a $500,000, five-year loan
Interest rate	7.0%	7.5%	8.0%	8.5%
Per month	$9,901	$10,019	$10,138	$10,258

Illustration only: fixed annual rate, equal monthly principal and interest repayments, fully repaid over 60 months, with no balloon, deposit or fees. Rounded to the nearest dollar. Actual finance structures and repayments vary.

About $118 a month separates 7.0% and 7.5% in this example. Over five years that still adds up, so price deserves attention. It should be weighed against what each approval allows the business to do.

What else should be on the table?

Imagine a lower-priced offer with a $2 million ceiling, and another lender prepared to consider a $5 million fleet facility at a slightly higher rate. Those figures are hypothetical. The question is whether the larger facility is affordable and worth its total cost and security requirements for the work your business expects to win.

That is where James and Dan work as your outsourced finance procurement team: laying options beside one another, explaining the conditions and working with your banker and accountant before you commit to the next piece of debt.

CapacityWhat will this lender consider now, and what might remain for the next asset or contract?
SecurityIs the lender funding the equipment, or asking for broader business or property security?
ConditionsWhat reporting, covenants, payout terms or restrictions come with the approval?
Bank relationshipsAre we supporting your house bank, or using up the capacity you need it to provide elsewhere?

Already have a great banker? Good. Introduce us. We can work together, look beyond one lender’s policy and help you compare the cost of the debt with the opportunities it may unlock.

Keep your free kicks for when they count.

When, how and why we use low doc.

A low doc approval can be a useful tool. It should not be the automatic answer to every equipment purchase. Our usual starting point is to review the financials and test what appropriate banks and other lenders could support through a properly prepared application. That can leave simpler approval options available for the times they earn their place.

When the opportunity outpaces the paperwork.

An asset is available now and needs to be working quickly. If a full financial assessment cannot meet the timing, we may make a pragmatic choice to use an eligible low doc facility. We still check the repayments, the asset and what that choice leaves available for later.

When growth has moved ahead of the accounts.

The business has real work for another asset, but the latest financial statements may not yet reflect that growth. After assessing what financial-statement-based lending can support, we can consider low doc for a further purchase where the work, cash flow and total debt commitments make sense. It is not a way to ignore affordability.

When smaller assets belong elsewhere.

A fleet may have major machines financed through its bank while also buying light vehicles, generators or workshop equipment. An appropriate low doc lender can sometimes carry those smaller purchases and keep the larger facilities available for core fleet needs.

Low doc still has lender criteria and documentation requirements. Speed, rates, fees, security and limits vary by lender and transaction. Some low doc and full financial products may price similarly; we compare the actual terms rather than assume either path is cheaper. The aim is to place each asset deliberately and keep useful options open.

What many broker conversations are missing: credit experience.

Talk to the people who have sat on the other side of an equipment finance application.

James and Dan spent years assessing businesses and working through credit requests before becoming brokers. When you talk us through a new contract, an uneven year of trading or an ambitious fleet plan, we can discuss how a bank is likely to interpret the financials and where its credit team may want more detail.

That makes for a different conversation. We can work through a full financial application with you and your accountant, test the existing debt commitments against the proposed borrowing, identify likely questions about cash flow or security and decide whether the business is ready to approach a major bank. If it is not, we can tell you what we think needs attention and consider another lender or a later application.

We know how credit teams work because we have done the work ourselves. We can give you a considered view of what may be achievable and make a better-prepared submission. The lender still applies its own policy and makes the credit decision.

Finding the right broker changes the conversation.

A loan can get one machine on site. If you buy equipment regularly, you also need someone who can see what that loan does to the next purchase and the one after it.

Before choosing a finance partner, ask who will actually read your financials, understand your bank's policy and speak to a credit team when an application needs more work. Ask whether they will learn your contracts, people, assets and existing debt before deciding which lender to approach. And ask who will still be there when you need the next facility.

James and Dan began on the credit side of the desk. They can examine a full financial application with your accountant or CFO, identify the questions a lender is likely to ask and work through how to present the business accurately. Their job goes beyond placing the loan in front of them: it is to help you understand the funding options available as the business develops.

The best time to talk might be when you are not buying.

If a contract win or fleet expansion is on the horizon, we would rather meet before you need the first machine delivered. When the business has time to prepare, we can review the financials with you and your accountant, assess existing commitments and ask lenders what facilities or master limits they may consider.

Sometimes a period of steady trading gives a lender a clearer picture than a rushed application during rapid expansion. It is never an automatic approval, but it can give us time to resolve questions, establish relationships and explore capacity before new commitments change the numbers.

You do not need a purchase order to start the conversation. Tell us where you want the business to go, and we can begin mapping what funding it might take to get there.

Approval is a moment.The fleet strategy continues after settlement.

Crezzco crushing equipment at a quarry — Funding decisions grounded in the assets at work.

Know the machine. Know the lender. Know what settlement takes.

Equipment transactions come with real operational detail: asset type and age, valuations, private sales, imports, payouts, trade-ins, securities, documentation and delivery dates.

MFG works through those details directly. We understand how lenders assess different equipment and how to present a transaction properly. We also stay involved after approval to get the documents, security and settlement requirements across the line. More importantly, we continue to look at where the fleet and the business are going next.