Equipment Line of Credit Australia: A Guide for Repeat Buyers
Equipment Finance
Revolving equipment facility · One approval · A limit that refills
If you buy gear through the year, the application is the tax, not the finance. This guide is written for the business that is tired of lodging a fresh deal every time a machine, a vehicle or a fitout item needs paying for, and wants to know how a standing equipment limit actually works.
Quick Answer
An equipment line of credit is a business facility that refills as you repay it: the principal you pay down returns to the available limit, so one approval funds purchase after purchase without a new application each time. The limit is written on business strength rather than any single asset.
Also called: an equipment line, a revolving equipment facility, an equipment finance line, an equipment facility limit, a revolving asset finance line.
What is an equipment line of credit?
An equipment line of credit is a pre-approved business limit used repeatedly for equipment purchases without starting a fresh application for every eligible transaction. The limit survives each purchase and rebuilds as principal is repaid, which is why the product is also described as an equipment line or a revolving equipment facility. It works like any other credit facility in that the limit is agreed up front, and it differs from ordinary equipment lending in that the limit does not end with the purchase.
Two things matter more than the label. The first is that the facility itself carries no inherent asset age or class restriction, so second-hand plant sits alongside new machinery, commercial fitout items and imported assets under the same limit. The second is that the money is never general cash: every drawdown is tied to a specific business-use asset and a specific supplier invoice. That is the line separating this product from everything sold as a working capital limit, and it is why the rest of this guide stays on equipment.
| Where you are right now | Whether the facility fits | Where to go on this page |
|---|---|---|
| You buy gear several times a year and are sick of applying each time | This is the buyer the product is built for | How one approval covers many purchases |
| You want to know whether the limit actually comes back | Yes, and it is the defining feature | How the limit refills |
| You are buying one machine, once | Usually the wrong tool; a per-asset deal normally prices better | When the premium is worth it |
| What you actually need is cash through the trading account | This facility cannot do that job at any price | Which product funds what |
| You have a home loan or property purchase coming | Possible, but the size of the limit is a decision to make now | What an undrawn limit costs you |
| The machine needs a deposit now and the balance on delivery | Not the natural shape of this facility | Deposits and progress payments |
| You already paid for the equipment out of cash | A different question with a different answer | If the purchase already happened |
Equipment line of credit, business overdraft or business line of credit: which one is it?
These three get searched interchangeably and they do three different jobs. The distinction is not the interest rate. It is where the money goes and what triggers a drawdown, and getting it wrong is the single most common way a business ends up with a facility that cannot pay for the thing it was opened for.
| Question | Equipment line of credit | Business overdraft | Business line of credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| What does it fund? | A specific capital asset on a supplier invoice | The gap in the working cycle | General business spending you choose |
| Where does the money land? | With the supplier, paid direct | Your trading account, as available balance | Your trading account, as drawn cash |
| What triggers a drawdown? | Uploading a supplier invoice | Your account going below zero | You requesting a draw |
| Does the limit refill? | Yes, as principal is repaid on each transaction | Yes, as the account returns above zero | Yes, as drawn amounts are repaid |
| Is anything registered as security? | Yes, against each financed asset | Depends on how it is secured | Depends on how it is secured |
| What it cannot do | Give you cash to spend as you like | Carry a long capital purchase | Come with the asset security pricing of equipment lending |
If the row describing your problem sits in the second or third column, the honest answer is that this page is not the one you need. Start with the business line of credit guide, or with how an overdraft is read when you borrow personally if the question is really about the trading cycle. If you already know it is cash you need, the evidence pack for a line of credit request is the better starting point.
Does an equipment finance limit refill as you repay it?
Yes. The principal you repay returns to the available limit, so the facility refills while it is being used. That single mechanic is what makes an equipment line a different product rather than a convenient way of stacking loans, and it is the part most explanations of this facility either skip or hedge.
Under per-asset finance, repaying a loan releases nothing. The loan reaches the end of its term and stops existing. Nothing about having paid it off makes the next purchase easier, and the next purchase starts from a blank application. Under a revolving structure, every repayment quietly rebuilds headroom, so the act of paying for the last machine is also the act of funding the next one.
The arithmetic is worth stating plainly because it is the thing you can check yourself. Your available credit limit at any moment is the approved limit less the principal still outstanding across every live transaction. Principal returns to the limit. Interest does not. Each transaction typically amortises in full over a 5 year term, repaid monthly, with no balloon and no residual sitting at the end of any one drawdown.
Two consequences follow, and both are things owners tend to discover late. Early in the life of a facility the headroom is nearly all approval and very little repayment, so a business that buys hard in the first year can reach the ceiling faster than it expects. Later, once several transactions are amortising alongside each other, the limit rebuilds at a pace you can plan around. If you know your replacement cycle, you can read your own available headroom a year ahead without asking anyone.
Does one equipment limit mean one loan?
No. A standing equipment limit governs the total amount available, while individual asset purchases usually sit underneath it as separate transactions with their own agreement, term and repayment. The umbrella limit is pre-agreed capacity. It does not necessarily turn every truck, machine and fitout invoice into one undifferentiated loan.
That distinction matters when you come to sell, refinance or pay out a single asset, because what you are dealing with is that transaction rather than the whole facility. So the practical question at setup is not only "how big is my limit?" but "what individual agreement, rate, term and repayment sits underneath each purchase, and what happens to the limit when one of them is paid out early?"
How does one approval cover many equipment purchases?
One credit assessment sets the limit, and eligible purchases after that transact against it without a fresh application. The assessment happens once, at the front. What follows is not a series of loans that each have to be argued; it is a series of later drawdowns against a decision that has already been made.
That is a different rhythm from the one most repeat buyers are used to. In the files we place, a business buying four or five times a year under per-asset finance is effectively re-underwritten four or five times a year, with a credit enquiry and a fresh document request each time. Under a standing limit, the underwriting is front-loaded and the buying is not. Businesses running a rolling replacement cycle feel this most, which is the same pattern behind fleet finance and behind the way a manufacturer sequences a loan pack across a year rather than a quarter.
What repeated applications actually do to your credit file
Every application is a credit enquiry recorded against the business, and usually against the director as well. Credit bureaus record the enquiry itself, separately from whether it turned into a loan, and note that a number of enquiries in a short period can be viewed less favourably than the same enquiries spread out. That is the mechanism, and it is the one repeat buyers feel without being able to name it.
One enquiry is unremarkable. Several inside a short window read to the next assessor as a pattern, and the pattern they read is not "this business is growing", it is "this business has been shopping". The assessor cannot see which enquiries became approvals. So the deal that gets declined or repriced is often not the deal that was weak; it is the fourth deal of the year, sitting behind three enquiries that made the file look busier than the business is. A standing limit moves all of that to the front: one assessment, one enquiry footprint, and then settlements that add nothing to the file. If enquiry conduct is already a live issue, that is a separate diagnosis and the business credit report guide is where to start.
Is this equipment finance with no credit check?
No, and it is worth being direct about that, because "no credit check" is advertised widely enough that people arrive expecting it. There is no legitimate business equipment finance in Australia with no credit assessment at all. What a revolving facility changes is the frequency, not the existence: the check happens once, at the front, and eligible purchases after that do not each generate a new one.
That distinction matters more than the marketing suggests, because for a repeat buyer the damage was never the single check. It was the accumulation. If what is driving your search is a file that already looks over-shopped, the fix is fewer applications rather than a lender who claims to skip them, and it is worth tidying what is already on the file before adding anything to it.
How does an equipment purchase settle after you upload the invoice?
The supplier invoice is uploaded against the facility and the supplier is paid direct, which is the whole settlement path. You do not receive funds and then pay the seller. The invoice is the instruction, the drawdown is priced against the standing limit, and the payment goes to the supplier named on it.
A security interest is then registered against the financed asset on the national personal property securities register, the same as under any other secured equipment lending. The detail of that sequence sits in the write-up on invoice upload settlement and PPSR registration; the general settlement mechanics for equipment sit in the equipment finance guide.
Because the invoice is the instruction, the way you are buying matters more than most buyers expect. A dealer invoice is the easy case. An auction, a private seller, a fitout spanning several trades, a deposit on a machine that has not been built yet, or a machine coming from overseas all put pressure on the same single point: whether a compliant invoice for the full amount exists at the moment payment is needed.
| How you are buying | What the invoice-upload path needs | What to confirm before you commit |
|---|---|---|
| Dealer or supplier invoice | One invoice to the borrowing entity for the full amount | Nothing unusual; this is the standard path |
| Auction purchase | The auction house invoice, issued after the hammer | The payment window in the auction terms against the settlement window your facility can meet. An auction bid is unconditional |
| Private sale | A seller able to issue a proper invoice to the entity | Whether the seller can invoice at all, and what the lender requires to verify ownership, value and any existing security |
| Commercial fitout | Invoices that identify financeable assets rather than building works | How multiple trade invoices are grouped, and which line items are treated as equipment and which are not |
| Supplier deposit up front | Payment against part of an amount, before delivery | Whether a deposit can be drawn at all, or whether you fund it and draw the balance later |
| Staged or progress payments | More than one payment event against one asset | Whether purchase order finance is the better route for the build phase. Raise it before signing the supply contract |
| Imported machine | An invoice that survives currency, freight and a long lead time | Whether associated import costs sit inside the financed amount or fall outside it |
Derived from the invoice-upload mechanic described above. Every row is a question to put to the lender before you commit, not a statement of any lender's policy. Not an offer, not a quote, and subject to assessment of the individual business.
Buying at auction or from a private seller
Auction buyers are the archetypal repeat equipment buyer, and they carry a risk dealer buyers do not: an accepted bid is unconditional. There is no finance clause. The auction house sets a payment window that begins when the hammer falls and does not move because your finance is still moving. The facility suits this buyer precisely because the approval already exists, but establish the settlement window your facility can actually meet before you register to bid rather than after you win.
Private sales run into a different wall. The mechanic assumes a seller who can issue an invoice to your entity. Where the seller is another business, that is ordinary. Where it is an individual selling a machine out of a shed, it may not be. On any second-hand purchase, a PPSR search before you pay is the step that protects you: an existing security interest travels with the machine, not with the seller, and a financed asset can be repossessed from a buyer who did not check.
Deposits, progress payments and machines that do not exist yet
A large amount of manufacturing and fitout equipment is not bought off a floor. It is ordered, built to specification, and paid in stages, often with a deposit on order and the balance on delivery months later. A single invoice, uploaded once, paid once, is not the natural shape of that transaction, and it is more useful to say so than to imply the facility stretches to cover it.
The product category that usually reaches for that job is purchase order finance, which funds the supplier against a confirmed order rather than against a delivered asset. In practice the two can work in sequence: purchase order finance carries the build phase, and the equipment line takes over once the machine is delivered and a full invoice exists. That is a structuring conversation rather than a form to fill in, and the moment to have it is before the supply contract is signed, because supplier payment terms are almost always locked before anyone looks at the finance. Businesses buying this way are usually better off sequencing the whole equipment, cashflow and property stack deliberately rather than solving each purchase as it lands.
What if you already paid a deposit or bought the equipment before arranging finance?
Do not assume an equipment line can simply reimburse a purchase that has already happened. A standing limit is cleanest when an eligible supplier transaction is funded against the available limit before the money leaves the business. Once cash has gone out, the question changes shape entirely, and the honest answer depends on the asset, the timing and the individual lender.
| What already happened | What to investigate now |
|---|---|
| You paid only the supplier deposit | Ask whether the chosen product can fund the remaining balance. Some asset finance structures require the financier to fund the full purchase and will not accept a customer deposit or trade-in proceeds |
| You paid the full invoice from cash | Ask about reimbursement, sale-and-leaseback or another refinance path rather than presenting it as a new supplier-invoice purchase |
| You covered the purchase on a card or overdraft | Ask whether eligible asset finance can refinance the short-term debt. That is a refinance question, not the ordinary drawdown process |
| The asset already carries finance | Get the payout figure, identify the registered security interest, and assess refinance, replacement or payout before committing to the next move |
| You traded in financed equipment | Coordinate the old payout, the trade value and the new settlement so the machine does not leave before the replacement funding is ready |
General structuring pathways only, not proof that any particular facility reimburses completed purchases. Availability and treatment vary by lender and by asset. Not an offer and not a quote.
How long does it take to get an equipment line of credit in place?
The approval is a single business credit assessment, so the time it takes is set by how quickly complete information reaches the assessor, not by how much you are asking for. That is the useful way to think about it, because it is the part you control. No timeframe is quoted on this page, because it varies by lender, by limit and by how clean the file is.
What is worth knowing is the shape of the sequence, so you can see where your own file is likely to stall. The facility is scoped and the limit is proposed. The application goes in with the document set for that limit tier. The bank feed link is established, which is a live connection rather than a document, so it depends on your bank and your accounting software cooperating. Credit assesses the business and the directors. The limit is offered, documents are signed, and the facility sits there available. Only after all of that does the first drawdown happen, and the first drawdown is fast because the approval is already done.
| What to prepare | Why it decides the timeline |
|---|---|
| Every operating business account | The document tier asks for all business accounts. A file arriving with one account missing goes back out |
| A working bank feed connection | It is a live link rather than a document, and it is the step most owners have never done before |
| A full list of existing facilities | Better disclosed at the start than discovered by credit halfway through |
| The trust deed, where the borrower is a trust | Routinely required and routinely forgotten |
| A realistic 12 month buying plan | The limit should be sized to a real purchasing cycle rather than a theoretical maximum |
| Any fixed external date | A supplier deadline, an auction, a fitout opening or a financial year end changes how the file is sequenced, and it does so far more usefully at the beginning than in the last week |
Two things slow files down more than anything else, and neither is the lender: incomplete bank statement coverage, and the bank feed connection, which is also the one condition that persists after settlement. Get the feed working early and the rest of the file is ordinary.
Is an equipment facility limit set on the business or on the asset?
The limit is written on business strength, not on any one asset, which is why the eligibility test reads as a business test rather than an asset test. Nothing in the qualifying shape below asks what you are buying. It asks how long you have traded, what you turn over, how you conduct your accounts, and whether the lender can keep seeing that conduct.
| Requirement | What the market typically looks for |
|---|---|
| Trading history | 2+ years |
| Annual turnover | $250k minimum |
| Credit conduct | Clean credit, no dishonours |
| Director credit score | Equifax 550+ (2.0 Comprehensive) |
| Bank data | Continuous bank feed link, maintained for the life of the facility |
Shorter trading histories circulate widely, and it is worth knowing why. Those figures usually belong to single-asset equipment loans, where a lender underwrites one purchase against one machine, and they get repeated as though they applied to a standing limit as well. A revolving facility is a different decision: the trading record has to carry a limit that will be drawn repeatedly over years, not a single amount against a single asset.
| Limit position | What the market typically looks for |
|---|---|
| Asset backed, bank feed in place | To $500k |
| Larger requests | Applications considered to $2m |
| Not asset backed | $100k cap |
| Minimum per transaction | $2k |
What documents does the limit you are asking for require?
The document tiers are the clearest signal that this is a business decision rather than an asset decision. Disclosure deepens as the limit rises, and the jump is not gradual: each tier asks for a different class of evidence, not more of the same.
| Limit sought | What the market typically asks for |
|---|---|
| To $500k | Application, 6 months bank statements across all business accounts, trust deed if applicable |
| To $1m | Property security supporting the request, no financials |
| Above $1m | Financials including aged payables and receivables, plus ATO portal |
Indicative market-typical non-bank shapes as at 26 August 2026. Not an offer, not a quote, not attributed to any lender, and subject to assessment of the individual business.
To $500k the file runs on an application and 6 months of bank statements, which is the ordinary shape of low doc asset finance rather than a full financial review. Above that, property security carries the middle tier and full financials plus ATO portal access carry the top. What a credit team is reading in each case is the trading record, and the same material that decides a limit here is what shows up when a lender checks a manufacturer's equipment file or a tradie file that mixes fitout and plant. Vertical makes less difference than owners expect: a gym fitting out a floor is read on the same axes as a workshop buying a machine.
From our broking, indicative
The cleanest repeat-buyer applications are not the ones asking for the biggest possible limit. They are the ones where the requested limit is tied to a real purchasing cycle and the next finance move is already visible.
- Size the limit to the equipment you realistically expect to buy over the next 12 months, not to a theoretical maximum.
- Include every existing equipment loan and business facility at the start, instead of letting credit discover one later.
- Get all operating bank accounts into the evidence pack before submission.
- Avoid unnecessary hard enquiries while the facility is being structured.
- If a home loan, refinance or commercial property purchase is coming next, model that borrowing before you lock in the equipment limit.
Practitioner judgement from Switchboard Finance as at 28 August 2026. General information only, not an approval rule, quote or offer. Individual lender policy and assessment still apply. Not financial advice.
Can you run an equipment facility alongside existing equipment loans?
Yes, an equipment facility can sit alongside per-asset equipment debt you already carry, and in practice most repeat buyers arrive with some. The facility does not replace the loans already running; it sits beside them as a concurrent facility, and the credit assessment simply reads the existing commitments as commitments.
What that costs you is headroom. Every live equipment loan already consumes serviceability, so the limit a business qualifies for is the limit left after the existing repayments are counted, not a limit calculated as though the balance sheet were clean. Facility stacking is not a problem in itself, but it is cumulative, and the more facilities that are running, the more the next limit is decided by what is already there rather than by what the business could otherwise support.
Does a limit you have not drawn still count against you elsewhere?
Commonly, yes. On the residential side this is close to settled practice: APRA's prudential practice guide on residential mortgage lending sets the expectation that a lender assesses a borrower's commitments using the approved limit on a line of credit or credit card rather than the balance actually drawn. Business lenders vary more, so it is a question to ask rather than an assumption to make, but the direction of travel is consistent enough to plan around.
The consequence surprises owners because it runs the wrong way round from how a limit feels. A facility feels like capacity you have gained. To the next lender, an undrawn limit can look like a commitment you have already taken on. So asking for a larger equipment limit than you need is not free: it can quietly reduce what you can borrow somewhere else, and the somewhere else is often personal.
That crossover matters if you are self-employed, because business facilities and personal borrowing are assessed by different teams out of the same underlying capacity. Existing ute and equipment debt already shows up in home loan servicing, and equipment finance specifically affects a one doc home loan in ways owners rarely anticipate. An undrawn overdraft is read the same way.
The practical version is a sequencing question, not a reason to avoid the facility. If a house purchase, a refinance or a commercial property move is anywhere in the next couple of years, decide the size of the equipment limit with that in view rather than after it, consider whether a facility you no longer use should be closed before you apply, and if the property move is the bigger one, think about which order to do them in. One caution on closing: what usually counts is that the limit is actually cancelled, not that the balance has been paid to zero.
What can shrink or stop an equipment facility once it is in place?
A standing limit is not a permanent one, and the main thing that changes it is the same thing that set it: the trading record the lender can see. Revolving business limits are commonly subject to periodic review, often annually, and that visibility is why the bank feed link is a condition for the life of the facility rather than a step at application. It is the part of the product least often explained before someone signs.
| What changes | Why it matters to the facility |
|---|---|
| A periodic review falls due | Revolving limits are commonly reviewed on a regular cycle, so the limit is re-tested against the business as it is then, not as it was at approval |
| The bank feed disconnects | It is a standing condition, not a one-off step. Feeds break on ordinary events: changing bank, opening an unlinked account, changing accounting software, an authorisation expiring |
| Credit conduct deteriorates | Dishonours and defaults were part of what set the limit, so they are part of what can move it. Dishonour fees and default interest are ordinary terms on these facilities |
| Turnover falls | Both the limit and the pricing band are read off turnover, so a sustained fall touches both |
| Commitments grow elsewhere | Serviceability is shared. New debt taken outside this facility still consumes the same capacity |
| The business moves into a restricted sector | Sector exclusions apply to the business, not just to the asset being bought |
| You stop drawing on it entirely | You keep paying on what is drawn while getting no value from the standing approval, and the undrawn limit may still be counted against you elsewhere |
General mechanics only. Individual facility terms, review triggers, fees and consequences vary by lender and are set out in your own credit contract. Not an offer and not a quote.
The practical version is short. Treat the bank feed as part of the facility rather than as admin, tell your broker before you change banks or accounting software rather than after, and do not size the limit on the best year you have ever had. A facility written on a realistic reading of the business is one that stays where you left it.
What happens when you sell or replace equipment bought through the line?
Do not sell a financed asset as though the lender's security disappears with the keys. Where a security interest is registered, organise the payout and release process before settlement with the buyer, because the registration is what a careful buyer will search and what will stop the sale if it is still sitting there. If you are replacing the asset, coordinate the sale, the payout and the next purchase so you do not lose the machine before the replacement funding is ready. For a repeat buyer this is part of the same capital cycle as the next drawdown, not an unrelated admin task at the end.
Is an equipment line of credit more expensive than financing each machine separately?
Usually yes, and the premium is banded on turnover rather than on the asset: indicatively about 11.95% p.a. above $10m of annual turnover, about 14.95% p.a. between $1.5m and $10m, and about 16.95% p.a. between $250k and $1.5m. Per-asset finance is priced per deal and per applicant, so a strong applicant buying a strong asset can often beat those bands on a single purchase. What you are buying with the difference is the standing approval.
| Annual turnover | Indicative rate, commission inclusive |
|---|---|
| Above $10m | About 11.95% p.a. |
| $1.5m to $10m | About 14.95% p.a. |
| $250k to $1.5m | About 16.95% p.a. |
Indicative market-typical non-bank ranges as at 26 August 2026, commission inclusive. Not an offer, not a quote, not attributed to any lender, and subject to assessment of the individual business. Your actual rate depends on assessment.
Two things soften the comparison. Establishment costs are typically absent on this structure, so the per-purchase set-up fee that shows up on a per-asset deal does not repeat here, though ordinary event fees such as dishonour fees and default interest still apply. And the banding cuts both ways: a business at scale is not paying the small-turnover rate, so the gap against a chattel mortgage narrows as turnover rises. The head-to-head against a chattel mortgage, deal by deal, is set out in the equipment line of credit versus chattel mortgage comparison, and the wider set of structures sits in lease versus rental versus chattel versus commercial hire purchase.
When is an equipment line of credit worth the extra rate?
The premium is worth paying when purchase frequency and settlement speed are worth more to the business than the rate difference on any single deal. That is the whole breakeven. A business buying once is paying for an option it will never exercise; a business buying repeatedly, often at short notice, is buying back an application cycle every time. Revolving equipment finance earns its price on the second, third and fourth purchase, not the first.
| Feature | Equipment line of credit | Per-asset equipment finance |
|---|---|---|
| Availability after repayment | Principal repaid returns to the available limit | Nothing is released; the loan simply ends |
| Approval frequency | Assessed at setup; eligible later purchases transact against it | A fresh deal is assessed for each asset |
| Credit enquiries | Fewer separate applications, so a smaller enquiry footprint | A new enquiry with every purchase |
| Limit basis | Written on business strength and shared across purchases | Sized to the single asset being financed |
| Settlement | Upload the supplier invoice against the existing limit | A new settlement process per deal |
| Balloon or residual | Typically not used; each transaction amortises in full | May be structured with a balloon or a residual |
| Pricing basis | Banded on business turnover | Priced per asset and per applicant |
| Ongoing data obligation | Continuous bank feed link for the life of the facility | Not inherent to the structure |
| Effect on other borrowing | The whole limit may be counted, drawn or not | Generally the actual repayment on the loans that exist |
Several things do not change between the two and are worth saying plainly, because they are often assumed to be differences. A security interest is registered against each financed asset either way. The business owns the asset either way, and the depreciation treatment is a matter for its accountant either way. And the credit assessment looks at the same director and business credit conduct either way. The differences that matter are in the table; the rest is the same product family.
Who should not use an equipment line of credit?
It does not suit the buyer taking one large asset once, the buyer optimising for rate above everything else, or a business in the sectors this category is not written for. Those are the clean exclusions, and the honest version of this page names them rather than treating every reader as a fit.
| Situation | Why the facility is the wrong tool |
|---|---|
| A single large asset, bought once | The revolving structure earns nothing if it is never redrawn; a per-asset facility usually prices sharper |
| Rate-first buyers | The convenience premium is real and is paid whether or not the limit is used again |
| A machine paid by deposit and progress claims | Not the shape of one invoice paid once; purchase order finance usually carries the build phase |
| Equipment already bought and paid for | That is a reimbursement, refinance or sale-and-leaseback question, see if the purchase already happened |
| Property development | Restricted sector; the category is not presented as a solution here |
| Mining exploration and mining services | Restricted sector; the category is not presented as a solution here |
| Primary agriculture | Restricted sector, see agribusiness finance |
| Under 2 years trading, or under $250k turnover | Outside the eligibility shape |
| A business that will not maintain a bank feed link | The link is required for the life of the facility, not just at application |
| A business that needs general working capital | Not an equipment facility question, see business line of credit |
The last row is the one that misroutes people most often. If the need is cash through the trading account rather than gear on an invoice, an equipment facility cannot do the job at any price, and the questions worth asking are about limit sizing, drawdown flexibility and cost of carry on a general facility instead.
What if the limit comes back smaller than you asked for?
This is a common landing point and it is not a decline. A limit below the request usually reflects something already on this page: existing commitments consuming serviceability, turnover sitting inside a lower band, incomplete bank statement coverage, or a feed that was never fully connected. Each has a different answer, and only one of them is about the business being too small.
The useful question is which constraint bound, because the response follows from it. If existing debt is the constraint, the honest options are to wait for amortisation to release capacity, to restructure what is already there, or to take a smaller limit now and revisit it. If disclosure is the constraint, moving up a document tier may open a materially larger limit than arguing about the current one. If the business genuinely sits under the eligibility shape, per-asset finance is available today and a standing limit is a next-year conversation rather than a closed door.
Is the $20,000 instant asset write-off law for 2026-27?
The legislative position and the Australian Taxation Office guidance now agree. As at 28 August 2026 the measure is law. The Parliament of Australia record for Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 2) Bill 2026 shows the bill as having received assent, and the Australian Taxation Office guidance page, updated 27 August 2026, states "This measure is now law", permanently setting the $20,000 instant asset write-off from 1 July 2026.
What that means for you is narrower than it sounds. Even where the threshold is law, it does not follow that a financed purchase automatically qualifies. Eligibility, asset treatment and the timing of any deduction are tax questions, they turn on your circumstances rather than on the finance structure, and they are for your accountant rather than your broker. Confirm the current position before you time a purchase around it.
If you would rather start from a checklist than a category, the tradie loan pack and the manufacturing loan pack set out what to have ready, and the commercial terms sit on the equipment finance page.
Sources and further reading
- Parliament of Australia, Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 2) Bill 2026, bill homepage and status. Read 28 August 2026. bill record on aph.gov.au
- Australian Taxation Office, guidance page on the instant asset write-off change, stating "This measure is now law", page updated 27 August 2026. Status line read 28 August 2026. guidance on ato.gov.au
- Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, Prudential Practice Guide APG 223 Residential Mortgage Lending, on assessing commitments against the approved limit of a line of credit or credit card. Read 28 August 2026. Cited for the residential side only. APG 223 on apra.gov.au
- Equifax Australia, explanation of how credit enquiries are recorded and read on a credit report. Read 28 August 2026. explainer on equifax.com.au
- Personal Property Securities Register, how the register protects buyers and lessees, and guidance on buying second-hand machinery or equipment. Read 28 August 2026. ppsr.gov.au, buyers and lessees and ppsr.gov.au, second-hand machinery
- Personal Property Securities Register, protecting your business assets. Read 28 August 2026. guide on ppsr.gov.au
- Switchboard Finance practitioner data, Nick Lim, as at 26 and 28 August 2026. Indicative market-typical non-bank shapes and ranges, not attributed to any lender.
An equipment line of credit is a structure, not a discount. It moves the underwriting to the front, holds the limit open on the strength of the business, settles each purchase against a supplier invoice, and rebuilds itself as the principal comes back. You pay a convenience premium banded on turnover for that, you carry an ongoing obligation to keep the bank feed connected, the facility is re-tested at review rather than fixed forever, and an undrawn limit can still be counted against you when you borrow elsewhere. Whether the trade is worth it turns on one question you can answer without a broker: how often do you buy?
Key takeaway: buy repeatedly and the refilling limit pays for the premium, buy once and per-asset finance almost always prices better.Frequently asked questions
With any line of credit you pay for the standing approval whether or not you use it again. On an equipment line that shows up three ways: a convenience premium on the rate, a bank feed link that stays connected for the life of the facility rather than just at application, and a lower ceiling where the facility is not asset backed. There is a fourth most people miss, which is that an approved limit you have never drawn can still be counted against you when you borrow somewhere else, including personally.
The main options for equipment finance in Australia are a chattel mortgage, a finance lease, a commercial hire purchase, an operating rental, and a revolving equipment line of credit. The first four finance one asset at a time and end when that asset is paid off. The fifth is a standing limit you draw against repeatedly. Which fits depends on how often you buy: once, per-asset finance usually prices better; repeatedly, the standing approval pays for itself. The structures are compared side by side in lease versus rental versus chattel versus commercial hire purchase.
The premise is worth questioning before the question is answered. Revolving equipment lines are mostly a non-bank and specialist lender product rather than a major bank one, so the easiest path is often not a bank at all. Easy also means two different things: quick to apply for, and likely to be approved. What actually decides approval is trading history, turnover, credit conduct and whether the lender can keep seeing your bank data, and no lender waives those. A broker compares that shape across lenders instead of applying one at a time and collecting enquiries.
Yes. On a revolving equipment line, the principal you repay returns to the available limit, so the facility refills while it is being used. This is the mechanic that separates it from a stack of separate loans: under per-asset finance, repaying a loan releases nothing and the loan simply ends. Your available credit limit at any moment is the approved limit less the principal still outstanding across every live transaction. Principal returns to the limit. Interest does not.
Yes, in the sense that matters. A revolving equipment line is credit assessed once at the front, and each eligible purchase after that settles against the approved limit without a fresh application. What you cannot get anywhere legitimate is equipment finance with no credit check at all. The check happens; it happens once instead of every time. That distinction is the whole point, because it is the accumulation of enquiries rather than any single approval that builds up on a business credit file.
Commonly, yes. On the residential side, APRA's prudential practice guide on residential mortgage lending sets the expectation that a lender assesses a borrower's commitments on the approved limit of a line of credit or credit card rather than the balance drawn. Business lenders vary more and it is a question to ask rather than assume. Asking for a bigger limit than you need can quietly cost borrowing capacity elsewhere, so if a property purchase is coming, size the limit with that in view. Existing equipment finance affects a one doc home loan the same way.
Indicatively 2 or more years of trading and at least $250k of annual turnover, as at 26 August 2026. Shorter histories circulate widely, and it is worth knowing why: those figures usually belong to single-asset equipment loans, where a lender underwrites one purchase against one machine, and they get repeated as though they applied to a standing limit too. A revolving facility is a different decision, because the trading record has to carry a limit drawn repeatedly over years. Market-typical shapes, not an offer.
No. An equipment line of credit is not a business overdraft. Each drawdown buys a specific asset against a supplier invoice and the supplier is paid direct, so the money never lands in your trading account as general cash. An overdraft does the opposite job, funding the working cycle rather than a capital purchase. If what you actually need is flexible cash rather than gear, a general business line of credit is the right page.
Without asset backing, the indicative ceiling on an equipment line of credit is around $100k. With asset backing and the bank feed link in place, the indicative limit is set to $500k, and larger applications are considered to $2m on stronger financial disclosure. There is also a floor: the indicative minimum drawdown is $2k per transaction, which is why the facility suits a business buying substantive gear repeatedly rather than consumables and small tools. Indicative market-typical shapes as at 26 August 2026, not an offer.
Yes, you can buy used equipment on an equipment line of credit. The facility itself carries no inherent asset age or class restriction, so second-hand plant, vehicles and fitout items settle against the limit like new gear. What changes with older assets is how an individual lender prices and terms that specific purchase, which is a question about the asset age cap rather than about the facility. On any second-hand purchase, run a the PPSR register search before you pay, because an existing security interest travels with the machine and not with the seller.
You do not need full financials for an equipment line of credit to $500k. That tier is typically an application, 6 months of bank statements across all business accounts, and the trust deed where the borrower is a trust. Requests to $1m are typically supported by property security instead of financials, and financials including aged payables and receivables plus ATO portal access start above $1m. Working without full financials is the norm at the smaller limits.
The facility settles against a supplier invoice made out to the borrowing entity, and an auction house issues exactly that, so the shape fits. What decides it in practice is the clock. Auction terms usually require payment within a short fixed window after the hammer falls, and that window does not move for finance. Confirm the settlement window your facility can actually meet before you bid, not after, because an auction purchase is unconditional and there is no finance clause to fall back on.
The standard settlement path is one supplier invoice paid direct to the supplier, so a deposit on order with the balance on delivery does not fit cleanly. Where a machine is built to order, staged, or imported on a long lead time, the product category usually reaching for that job is purchase order finance rather than an equipment line, sometimes with the equipment line taking over once the asset is delivered and a full invoice exists. Raise it before signing the supply contract; payment terms are usually locked before anyone looks at the finance.
Do not assume so. An equipment line is cleanest when an eligible supplier transaction is funded against the available limit before the money leaves the business. Once you have already paid, the question changes shape: it becomes a reimbursement, refinance or sale-and-leaseback conversation, and the answer depends on the asset, how long ago you paid, and the individual lender. It is worth asking rather than assuming either way, but do not buy first on the expectation of being paid back.
Yes. A security interest is registered against each financed asset on the national personal property securities register, the same as it would be under any other secured equipment lending. The revolving structure changes how the limit behaves, not how the security works. Each asset carries its own registration, and each registration is discharged in the ordinary way once that transaction is paid out. It matters at the other end too: if you sell a financed machine, arrange the payout and release before settlement with the buyer.
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