Equipment Financing Companies: Your Top 3 Options

Equipment financing companies provide business loans specifically for the use of equipment purchases. Once the equipment is purchased, it acts as collateral on the loan. If the business has to default on the loan, the equipment financing company will then recoup their losses by liquidating the equipment. These are the basics of how this type of loan works.

Some lenders are better for certain kinds of loans or even specialize in them, and we’re going to go over your best options for equipment financing below.

The best equipment financing companies to work with are:

1. Crest Capital
2. Balboa Capital
3. Currency Capital

In this guide, we’ll walk through a complete review of all three of these top options to help you choose the best equipment financing company for your business.

Equipment financing is a type of business loan for businesses that need to purchase equipment, but they can’t or don’t want to pay for it outright.

As the name suggests, an equipment financing loan is a lump sum of funding provided to a business for the purpose of purchasing equipment. Over the term of the loan, the business pays a set amount monthly that includes interest. The lender considers the purchased equipment to be collateral for the loan.

If your business fails to repay the loan, the lender can collect the purchased equipment and resell it to recoup their lost funds.

Equipment financing companies can provide much-needed relief to a business’s cash flow. Even if your business is able to purchase a new piece of equipment with cash on hand, equipment financing companies allow you to access affordable, long-term financing so that you can invest your company’s cash into other opportunities and expenses.

Not to mention, many small businesses don’t have the cash on hand to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a piece of needed equipment. And that’s especially true if a piece of necessary equipment unexpectedly breaks.

Equipment financing companies answer this common business problem, and the best equipment financing companies do so quickly and offer the most affordable terms.

To make your search for the best equipment financing company for your business that much easier, we’ve compiled a list of the three best options. We’ve whittled down the list of winners based on their minimum requirements, equipment financing terms, and required application documents.

Here are the best equipment financing companies:

Crest Capital is one of the most well-regarded equipment financing companies on the market. They offer a long list of different equipment financing structures that can address pretty much any preference or need a small business could have. For such top-of-the-line equipment financing, though, Crest Capital has some pretty lofty requirements.

Is Crest Capital the right equipment financing company for your business?

Let’s take a look at the details to find out:

As mentioned, Crest Capital sets minimum requirements for borrowers that are difficult for some small business owners to reach. To be eligible for this equipment financing company, you’ll need:

• At least two years in business
• 650 personal credit score

Granted, Crest Capital doesn’t name a minimum annual revenue, which might make it easier for some businesses to be eligible for their equipment financing. That said, the time in business and personal credit requirements that Crest Capital names will still filter out a fair amount of business owners hoping to secure equipment financing through them.

Another perk is that you can check your eligibility online without impacting your credit if you’re looking for $250,000 or less in funding.

Crest Capital is so generally well-renowned thanks to the stellar equipment financing terms they offer up to small businesses. Crest Capital equipment financing can offer the following ranges of terms:

• $5,000 to $1 million or more in loans
• Two- to six-year terms
• Rates as low as 5%

That’s right—this equipment financing company is able to offer up terms good enough to maybe even compete with bank equipment financing providers.

The documents you’ll need to offer up for the equipment financing application process through Crest Capital will depend on how much financing you’re applying for.

If you’re applying for $250,000 or less, then you’ll just have to provide the following four documents for your application:

• Proof of ownership
• Bank reference
• Equipment quote
• Equipment seller’s contact information

That said, if you’re applying for more than $250,000 in equipment financing, then you’ll have to provide the following documents, as well:

• Two years of financial statements
• Two years of business tax returns
• Financial statements of all 20%+ owners
• List of current loans and leases

If you’re looking for the best equipment financing companies to work with, then you should definitely include Balboa Capital on your shortlist. This lender isn’t solely an equipment financing company—they offer working capital loans as well. Nonetheless, their most popular form of funding is equipment financing and, as a result, is where Balboa Capital shines brightest.

One of the main reasons that equipment financing from Balboa Capital is so sought after is their corporation-only guarantee option. But be sure to note: Balboa’s equipment financing actually works like a combination of equipment financing and leasing. Balboa Capital technically owns the equipment as the borrower pays it off. But when they do pay the equipment off, the borrower will then have full ownership.

Let’s take a look at the numbers on how Balboa stacks up to other equipment financing companies:

Compared to Crest Capital minimum requirements, Balboa Capital’s are actually pretty manageable. To be eligible for equipment financing from this company, you’ll need:

• $100,000 in annual revenue
• 600 personal credit score
• At least one year in business

Though Balboa Capital does name a minimum annual revenue unlike Crest Capital, the lower personal credit and time-in-business requirements will make Balboa much more accessible for many business owners.

Despite their relatively lax minimum requirements, Balboa Capital will offer up some pretty ideal equipment financing terms:

• $2,000 to $500,000 loans
• Two- to five-year terms
• Rates from 3.99% to 25%

Especially notable are the interest rates that Balboa Capital attaches to their equipment financing: Single-digit interest rates are practically unheard of in the world of non-bank financing.

Much like Crest Capital, Balboa Capital will require different documents for your equipment financing application based on how much financing you are applying for.

If you’re applying for $250,00 or less, it could be funded in the same day you apply, and you’ll just need the following paperwork:

• Certificate of Good Standing
• Voided business check
• Copy of your driver’s license

If you want more than $250,000, it will take several days to fund, and you’ll also need to hand over more detailed documentation:

• Two-year balance sheet
• Two-year profit and loss statement 
• Two years of business tax returns

Note that with Balboa Capital, no owners will have to hand over their financial statements as they would with Crest Capital.

Next up on our list is Currency Finance. This top equipment financing provider is an alternative lender based out of Los Angeles that provides equipment financing in as little as 24 hours. That said, the repayment terms that Currency offers could be significantly shorter for borrowers than they would be with other equipment financing companies.

Let’s take a look at the details on what Currency Finance equipment financing can offer your business:

If you’re a new business looking for the right equipment financing company, then Currency Finance could very well be your top option. Currency Finance doesn’t name a minimum time in business requirement, but their other requirements include:

• $120,000 annual revenue
• 620 personal credit score

So, if you’re running a new business, but you have high annual revenue and solid personal credit to work with, then Currency Capital might be your only equipment financing option.

Now, the equipment financing terms that Currency offers up will look different from what Crest and Balboa are able to offer. The repayment rates that Currency offers can be a lot shorter.

Let’s take a look at the details:

• $5,000 to $500,000
• Six-month to seven-year terms
• Rates as low as 6%

You should know that Currency Capital could stick you with a shorter repayment term, especially if you’re taking on a smaller amount of debt.

Perhaps the biggest draw of Currency Finance equipment financing is that if you’re applying for equipment financing of less than $150,000, then you’ll need virtually no paperwork to apply.

To apply for less than $150,000, you’ll simply need:

• An equipment quote to finalize funding

And that’s it.

If you’re applying for $150,000 or more, though, you’ll have to hand over:

• Two years of business tax returns
• Three months of bank statements
• An exact equipment quote
• Profit and loss statements
• Balance sheet
• Debt schedule

If you want a quick application process, then a small equipment financing loan from Currency Finance is a go-to option. However, if you need more equipment financing than $150,000 and you need it quick, then perhaps consider other lenders.