Asset Finance for Doctors: Cars, Equipment and Fitouts Through the Practice
Asset Finance for Doctors: Cars, Equipment and Fitouts | Switchboard Finance
Whitecoat · Medical Asset Finance
Asset finance for doctors: cars, equipment and fitouts through the practice
Doctors rarely upgrade just one thing. In a typical 18–24 month stretch you might replace a work car, install a new diagnostic device and refresh a consulting room — all while keeping sessions full and Medicare and private billings flowing. This guide shows how to run those upgrades through your practice with smart asset finance structures so repayments track your clinic income instead of choking it.
We’ll walk through how lenders see medical professionals, the difference between funding a car, a device and a fitout, and how to avoid the classic trap of signing three separate deals that don’t talk to each other. The aim is simple: a calm, predictable cashflow plan where every upgrade has a clear purpose and repayment strategy.
Along the way we’ll link you to deeper explainers on medical fitout finance, equipment upgrades and clinic cashflow tools like lines of credit and working capital loans, so you can build a complete Whitecoat finance ladder for your practice.
1. Three upgrade buckets: car, equipment and fitout
When we talk “asset finance for doctors”, we’re really talking about three different buckets: your work car, income-producing medical equipment, and the clinic environment itself. Each behaves differently for tax and cash flow, which is why lenders and accountants treat them differently even if they all sit inside one practice entity.
The car tends to be the most visible upgrade, but the big performance jumps in a practice usually come from clinical devices and a fitout that makes patients feel calm and staff efficient. Thinking in buckets lets you plan upgrades in a logical order instead of saying yes to whatever the next rep offers you.
Once you’ve mapped your buckets, you can match each to the right kind of asset finance structure and term length, so that repayments line up with how that asset actually earns money for the practice.
- Car: usually a 3–5 year term, often with a residual, driven by both personal and professional use.
- Equipment: often 5–7 years, matched to clinical usage, service contracts and expected technology life.
- Fitout: longer-life asset where the real return shows up in patient flow, practitioner retention and higher-fee work.
- Lock in income-producing devices that support your current billings.
- Upgrade or add a work car that matches your schedule and image.
- Use a carefully planned fitout to lift capacity and case complexity.
Dr Sarah upgrades her work SUV through the practice on a five-year term, finances a new ECG and spirometry bundle over six years, and uses a separate fitout facility to refresh two consult rooms. Because each facility has its own term and repayment profile, her monthly commitments stay aligned with how each asset generates billings instead of spiking all at once.
2. How lenders view doctors and practice structures
Medical professionals are generally seen as low-risk, but lenders still care about how your practice is structured. A sole trader GP with a simple ABN looks different to a specialist operating through a service entity and trust, even if their personal income is similar. Getting this structure right on the application makes approvals smoother and opens up better low doc options.
Most doctors we work with sit somewhere between two extremes: either everything runs through one personal ABN, or there is a multi-entity setup with a company, trust and service agreements. In both cases, lenders want to see stable billings and bank statements that show a consistent pattern of Medicare and private receipts.
Rather than sending a stack of PDFs to five different banks, a broker can translate your structure into lender language once and then match you with funders who understand medical risk — particularly those comfortable with low doc asset finance for established practitioners.
- 2+ years of practice billings is usually the sweet spot for strong low doc options.
- Clean bank statements often matter more than perfectly polished financial statements.
- Using the practice entity correctly can keep borrowing away from your home loan.
- Confirm which entity actually receives your consulting and procedure income.
- Map how funds flow from that entity to you personally and to any other entities.
- Decide upfront which entity will own the car, the equipment and the fitout.
Dr Amir runs consulting through a company and trust structure but still had his previous car loan in his personal name. For the next upgrade we move the facility into the service company, structure the repayments around his consulting days, and leave his personal borrowing capacity free for home plans.
3. Matching terms, tax and cashflow for doctors
The biggest mistake we see in medical asset finance is using the same term and structure for everything. A car with heavy kilometres, a high-end ultrasound and a bespoke reception fitout all age differently. If they share one generic deal, you either overpay interest or face a painful balloon event at the wrong time.
The starting point is asset life. Clinical devices with service contracts deserve terms that roughly follow their productive life, while cosmetic fitout elements might justify a longer tail. Your accountant will help decide whether a chattel mortgage or another structure is appropriate for each piece, but the lender still needs to see the cashflow story.
Getting the structure right is also what lets you benefit from ATO rules on depreciation and potential temporary incentives, which is why these deals should be built around advice, not just the latest offer from a bank or equipment rep.
- Shorter terms = higher monthly repayments but faster equity and flexibility for future upgrades.
- Longer terms = lower monthly repayments but more total interest and exposure to technology obsolescence.
- Match car terms to your expected replacement cycle and kilometres.
- Match equipment terms to warranty/service periods and technology risk.
- Match fitout terms to lease length and your medium-term clinic plans.
Dr Nguyen finances a new MRI on a seven-year term, a consulting-room refresh over five years, and a work wagon over four. The repayments line up with the clinic’s long-term lease and projected case volumes, so she can say yes to new referrer relationships without wondering if the next BAS quarter will hurt.
4. Building a Whitecoat upgrade plan for the next 3–5 years
Once you understand your buckets, structure and terms, you can turn one-off finance decisions into a proper Whitecoat upgrade plan. Instead of reacting to offers from equipment reps or car dealers, you decide which upgrades move the needle for your patients and your earnings, then slot finance in around that plan.
For many doctors, that plan combines asset finance with a small clinic safety net in the form of a business line of credit or working capital loan. That way, your major assets sit on term facilities while day-to-day ups and downs are handled by flexible business lending rather than personal credit cards.
The goal is a calm, repeatable pattern: assets that earn, loans that match, and a safety net that protects the practice from the inevitable curve balls — from staff turnover to delayed rebates.
- Year 1–2: prioritise one major clinical device and your primary work car.
- Year 2–3: layer in a targeted fitout and secondary devices that support higher-fee work.
- Year 3–5: refresh key assets in line with technology and demand, not panic or lender pressure.
- Step 1 – Use low doc asset finance for high-impact devices.
- Step 2 – Tie in a car upgrade with low doc vehicle finance.
- Step 3 – Add a staged fitout using fitout finance that matches your lease.
- Step 4 – Support cashflow with smart use of invoice finance or a clinic LOC if needed.
Dr Priya maps out a four-year ladder: year one is a new laser device, year two a work car upgrade, year three a reception and waiting room refresh, and year four a second procedure room. Each step has its own facility and clear repayment plan, so she can see exactly how many treatments per week each upgrade needs to cover itself.
Common questions doctors ask about asset finance
For most doctors, a dedicated asset finance facility is a better fit than a generic unsecured business loan when you’re funding cars, devices or a fitout. The loan is tied to a specific asset with a clear term, which usually means sharper pricing and more flexibility at upgrade time.
A standard business loan can still make sense for softer costs such as marketing, staff training or software subscriptions, but it’s rarely the most efficient place to park a $150k device or a full clinic renovation.
In practice, many medical clinics use a mix: asset finance for anything with a serial number, and business lending tools like a working capital facility for the rest.
Many doctors do use a chattel mortgage for their work car because it allows the practice entity to own the vehicle from day one while the lender takes security over it. That often lines up neatly with how the car is used and how your accountant wants to treat depreciation and GST.
But it’s not the only option. Depending on your structure and how much private use is involved, other products can sometimes work better, especially if you’re looking at salary packaging or novated arrangements through a hospital or health network.
The key is to decide on structure with your adviser first, then let the broker source lenders that support that structure instead of being talked into whatever the dealer is pushing on the day.
Whether a finance lease or an operating lease is better comes down to how long you expect to keep the device and how important off-balance-sheet treatment is to your practice.
A finance lease behaves more like a traditional loan with a clear path to ownership, while an operating lease is closer to a long-term rental with options to upgrade at the end of term. High-tech devices that date quickly often suit an operating-style approach, whereas core imaging or diagnostic equipment you’ll rely on for many years may justify a path to full ownership.
Because the accounting and tax treatment is different, most doctors make this call in conjunction with their accountant, then use a broker to line up lenders that support the chosen structure at competitive pricing.
A balloon payment is a lump sum due at the end of the term that reduces your regular monthly repayments along the way. For doctors who plan to upgrade cars regularly, a balloon can keep cash flow gentle while matching the loan to the car’s expected resale value.
The risk comes when the balloon is set too high or the term is too long, leaving you owing more than the car is worth. That’s when upgrades feel like a trap instead of a choice.
A good rule of thumb is to set balloons conservatively and line the term up with how many kilometres you expect to do, so you have equity when it’s time to step into the next vehicle.
Residual value is the lender’s view of what an asset should be worth at the end of the term, and it influences both your repayments and what happens if you refinance or sell early.
The comparison rate is designed to show the true cost of a facility once fees are taken into account, not just the headline interest rate. Two offers with similar interest rates can look very different once you compare the total cost over the life of the agreement.
For doctors running busy clinics, it’s usually worth having someone model a few scenarios — especially when choosing between “no deposit, higher residual” and “smaller residual, faster equity” structures for high-value equipment and fitouts.
