Asset finance in Australia: compare lenders for any business asset

Compare asset finance with a broker

A bank will quote the assets it likes and the customers it already knows. A dealer will quote its own brand. An asset finance broker puts the same invoice in front of the lenders on their panel, including the specialist funders that do not take applications from the public, and comes back with the structure and the rate. The quote is an enquiry, not a string of full applications, so it is not the same as a credit-file hit from every lender you could have called.

Your Finance Guide introduces you to a licensed broker. The broker provides the credit assistance and is paid by the lender. Your Finance Guide is free to use. Licensed brokers who meet our criteria pay Your Finance Guide a partnership fee to receive enquiries from this site. The fee is paid by the broker, not by you, and is not added to your loan. Brokers are usually also paid a commission by the lender when a loan settles. Full details are in our Credit Guide. The asset finance broker page explains the commission, and the Credit Guide is the disclosure. If you already know the asset is equipment rather than a vehicle, the equipment finance guide is the deeper page. If it is a car, ute or truck, start at vehicle finance.

Who qualifies: full doc, low doc, a new ABN, bad credit

Full doc is the bank path. The lender wants the ABN, the asset mostly for business, and financials. ANZ asks for applicants aged 18 or over who are Australian citizens or permanent residents with a current ABN. NAB wants a valid ABN and GST registration. CommBank publishes 12 months of trading. Westpac wants the business based, registered and operating in Australia. Larger amounts usually need two years of financials and tax returns.

Low doc replaces the financials with bank statements. The asset still secures the contract, the rate is usually higher, and the ceiling is lower. It suits a business that is trading but does not have tidy accounts, not a business with no revenue. Low doc business loans explain the same idea for unsecured lending. On asset finance the security does more of the work, which is why a low doc equipment file is often easier than a low doc cash-flow loan.

A new ABN is the hard case. Under 12 months, most bank policies say no, and the non-bank lenders that will look at it want a deposit or a director with something else to show. Bad credit is a specialist conversation: the banks do not publish a credit policy for asset finance, and brokers place defaults and thin files with lenders who price the risk, often with a deposit. A clean recent bank statement and an asset that is easy to resell matter more than the headline rate.

Tax: the instant asset write-off and GST credits

Two tax facts get mixed up. The instant asset write-off, for a small business using simplified depreciation, writes off an eligible asset that costs less than $20,000. Most vehicles and machines cost more, so they go into the small business pool instead: 15% in the first year and 30% of the balance after that. The write-off guide has the threshold and the pool.

GST is separate. A registered business claims the GST in the purchase price on a chattel mortgage or hire purchase, or on each rental under a lease. A passenger car is capped. For 2026-27 the car limit is $69,883 and the GST credit stops at $6,353. A truck built to carry a tonne or more is outside the cap. The tax benefits page works an example. This is general guidance, not advice for your entity.

Broker, bank or dealer

Your own bank is the simple path when it already holds the transaction account and will price the asset. It will not always be the cheapest, and it may not take a short ABN or an older machine. Dealer and manufacturer finance can undercut everyone on that brand's new stock. Kubota's published 0% to 8.10% offers are the pattern: they apply to Kubota machines, on Kubota's terms, and they are not a rate you can take to a rival excavator. A broker is how you see the bank, the manufacturer and the specialist lenders on one invoice.

Dealers are paid to sell the asset. Brokers are paid by the lender to arrange the finance. Neither number is your rate. Ask for the comparison on the same term, balloon and fees, and read the equipment finance comparison before you treat a dealer's repayment as the market.