Wheatmead Funding, a small-business funding broker in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, offers this calculator for equipment and other asset purchases. Enter the price, your down payment, an annual rate and a term in months; it returns the monthly payment and the total cost including the down payment. It does not show approval or the rate a partner would offer.
What to enter
- Price: the full purchase price from the seller's quote, including installation if it will be financed.
- Down payment: the cash you hand over at purchase. The financed amount is the price minus this.
- Rate: the annual rate from a real offer. Without one, try a few values to see the range.
- Term: the number of months the payments run.
What the down payment changes
Every dollar you put down is a dollar not financed, so the monthly payment falls and so does the interest paid over the term. The total cost shown includes the down payment, so you can compare a large down payment against a small one on equal terms.
To see the down payment's effect on its own, enter a rate of zero. A $40,000 purchase with $8,000 down over 60 months then shows a payment of about $533.33, because $32,000 divided by 60 is $533.33, and a total cost of $40,000. Add any rate and the gap between total cost and price is the interest. These are illustrative figures only, not an offer or a typical deal.
Checking the arithmetic yourself
The payment uses the standard amortization formula: the financed amount times the monthly rate, divided by one minus (1 + monthly rate) raised to the negative number of months. The monthly rate is the annual rate divided by 12. Total cost is the payment times the number of months, plus the down payment.
What this calculator does not do
- It does not size a working capital need or a general business loan amount.
- It does not include fees, taxes, insurance or an end-of-lease purchase price.
- It does not show whether a partner would approve the purchase, or what rate it would offer.
- It does not model leases where you never own the equipment.
Where the rate comes from
Only a partner's offer gives you a real rate. Rates depend on the equipment, the business's record, credit history and the term, so no calculator can predict one.
Why Eau Claire County, WI owners price this first
Restaurants and retailers are the two sectors with their own pages here: the county had 263 food service and 382 retail employers in 2023 (U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023). Both buy equipment that partners finance readily. See restaurant financing, retail store financing, and equipment financing for loans, leases and EFAs. The rest of Wheatmead's guides are listed on the resources page.
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