Lease vs. Buy Comparison

What it does

A side-by-side money comparison of two ways to get equipment: taking out a loan and owning it, versus leasing it. It figures the all-in cost of each path and recommends the cheaper one. "Residual value" is what the equipment is worth (to you) at the end if you own it; "NPV" (net present value) discounts future payments so a dollar paid years from now counts less than one paid today.

When to use it

When a vendor offers both a lease and a purchase and you cannot tell which is really cheaper. Crop-agnostic. You need the purchase price, the quoted lease payment and term, your loan rate and term, and an honest estimate of residual value.

What you enter

Equipment Price($)

Lease Monthly Payment($)

Lease Term(months)

Loan Interest Rate(%/yr)

Loan Term(months)

Residual Value($)

What you get

Buy Total Cost($)

Lease Total Cost($)

Recommendation

Monthly Buy Cost($)

Monthly Lease Equivalent($)

Buy NPV($)

Lease NPV($)

Savings with Best Option($)

Reading the result

The Recommendation is decided on NPV, not the raw totals — that is the right call because it accounts for the timing of payments. So trust Buy NPV vs Lease NPV over Buy Total vs Lease Total when they disagree. Savings with Best Option shows the gap. Watch the residual value: a high owned-resale value swings it toward buying, and if you are unsure, run a low and a high residual to see whether the recommendation flips. This ignores tax treatment differences between leases and loans, so confirm with an accountant on a close call.

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