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Course 166 · Money course 37

Compare Buying, Leasing and Repairing Equipment

Produce an equipment financial decision model with service-equivalent alternatives, timed costs, downtime, residual value and a conditional recommendation. Use complete original records and independently checked changed-input practice.

Before you start

Recommended preparation: Compare Suppliers and Recommend a Purchase.

Compare Suppliers and Recommend a Purchase See everything you’ll need

Free download · Original practice data · No external account required. Download the starter pack

What you’ll leave with

An equipment financial decision model with service-equivalent alternatives, timed costs, downtime, residual value and a conditional recommendation.

Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.

Your project

Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.

Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.

  1. Get your materialsDownload practice filesSupplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.
  2. Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
  3. Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Course handbook

Know the route before you begin.

Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.

Who this is for

Learners ages 14+ and adults studying future or current business decisions through fictional cases; no financial transaction is required.

Prepare before lesson one
  • Recommended preparation: Compare Suppliers and Recommend a Purchase.
  • Use paper or a local spreadsheet and calculator. Supplied records contain no real identities or accounts.
  • Preserve original financial files in your own tool; My Proof stores a project description, checklist and optional work link.
Your final project

Finish with proof you can use.

An equipment financial decision model with service-equivalent alternatives, timed costs, downtime, residual value and a conditional recommendation.

Save a project record in My Proof
See project checklist and review criteria

Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.

What to include

  • A service-equivalence screen with usable capacity and a changed-demand exclusion.
  • A dated four-column cash-cost ledger with separate resale and maintenance rows.
  • A present-cost table with factors, signed cash flows and final rounding.
  • A contribution-based downtime row linked to service and present cost.
  • A three-scenario sensitivity table with explicit dependent rows.
  • A conditional capital decision brief with calculations and reversal triggers.

Review and revise

Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.

  • Service: every candidate is screened against usable demand.
  • Finance: dated signed costs and present factors reconcile.
  • Risk: downtime/residual scenarios update all dependencies.
  • Decision: conditional grounds, triggers and unresolved real terms are explicit.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas

The rules behind the steps.

01

Gate service first

Apply usable demand before ranking prices.

02

Date every amount

A future receipt is not an upfront rebate.

03

Make preference conditional

Name uncertain inputs and reversal conditions.

What do these words mean?
Key words

Key terms worth knowing.

Present cost
Signed future costs discounted to a common current date.
Residual
Assumed terminal resale receipt.
Contribution
Revenue less variable cost for a job.
Service equivalence
Ability to meet the same usable output and horizon.
Your route

6 lessons.
One useful project.

Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.

  1. 1
    Up next

    Define equivalent service

    Screen alternatives against usable annual service before comparing price.

  2. 2
    16 min

    Map buy, lease and repair costs

    Place acquisition, operating and residual cash flows at their stated dates.

  3. 3
    19 min

    Calculate present cost

    Discount each signed cash cost by its own period and compare equivalent alternatives.

  4. 4
    14 min

    Price downtime and maintenance

    Convert lost jobs into contribution losses without confusing sales with profit.

  5. 5
    16 min

    Stress-test utilization and resale

    Revise linked service, downtime and residual assumptions rather than choosing on one forecast.

  6. 6
    19 min

    Write a capital-purchase brief

    Make a conditional equipment recommendation supported by service and dated-cost evidence.

Use the tools

Tools to help you practice.

See all tools
ZIP · practice files

Compare Buying, Leasing and Repairing Equipment practice files

Supplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.

Text worksheet

Your course project worksheet

A downloadable text worksheet with each lesson’s working output, space for your answers, and the shared final-project checklist. Save your own copy.

Source transparency

Sources and further study.

Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.

Open Stax: Discounted capital decisions
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Read discounted cash flow and comparison limits. Course compares present costs for equivalent service, not a promised return.

Access: Public primary page body opened and relevant sections read through the web reader on 2026-10-01; no account required for reading.

Reuse: Original Life Starter cases, datasets and questions; no source exercise or worked dataset reproduced. Links support further reading.

SBA: Manage your business — lease or buy
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Read the actual redirected public body at lease/buy section: service needs, upfront cash, maintenance and lease-term review. Tax/accounting claims in the source are not adopted as universal rules.

Access: Public primary page body opened and relevant sections read through the web reader on 2026-10-01; no account required for reading.

Reuse: Original Life Starter cases, datasets and questions; no source exercise or worked dataset reproduced. Links support further reading.

Open Stax: Time value and present values
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Read time value, lump-sum/annuity and timing discussion. Original three-year cost ledger and 8% assumption are supplied here, not source examples.

Access: Public primary page body opened and relevant sections read through the web reader on 2026-10-01; no account required for reading.

Reuse: Original Life Starter cases, datasets and questions; no source exercise or worked dataset reproduced. Links support further reading.

Ready when you are

Start with the first useful move.

You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.

Start lesson one