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Financing office furniture
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Financing office furniture: A comparison of buying, leasing and renting

Do you want to expand your company, do you need to modernize your office or have you just founded a company? Regardless of which of these plans you are currently facing, the purchase of office equipment is usually a major investment. Buying is no longer the only option for procuring office furniture and technology. A growing number of leasing and rental offers are an attractive alternative to buying. So let's take a look at the (financial) advantages offered by the various financing options.

The classic approach - buying office equipment

Buying all the office equipment is still the most frequently chosen option, as for many people it is the only known way of procuring their office equipment.

Advantages when buying office furniture

If you decide to purchase office equipment, you become the owner of the products you buy, unlike with leasing or rental models. This means that you can decide what to do with the products at any time. If the office furniture is no longer needed, it can be resold afterwards, provided it is in good condition.

Even if the prices for leasing and rental models continue to fall, a comparison of the acquisition costs with the monthly leasing and rental rates shows that buying office furniture tends to be cheaper. However, this usually only applies from a useful life of 5 years or more.

Disadvantages when buying office furniture

In contrast, the high one-off investment costs place a much greater burden on the company's liquidity. Especially for companies with low liquidity, this can become a competitive disadvantage in an increasingly competitive business environment.

As the owner of the products, you are fully responsible for the products. Repairs, maintenance or the disposal of equipment that is no longer required must be carried out or organized by the owner. This leads to additional financial and time expenditure.

Advantages

  • Buyer becomes owner of the purchased products
  • Purchase cheaper for a long time

Disadvantages

  • High initial investment
  • Responsibility for repairs, maintenance or recycling

Leasing of office furniture

Leasing is already established as an alternative to buying cars. In the meantime, however, leasing offers are also becoming increasingly common in other areas. In addition to office equipment such as office furniture and technology, production machinery can also be leased from individual providers.

Advantages of leasing office furniture

  • One of the main reasons for leasing is to avoid high capital expenditure. This allows liquidity to be retained in the company. The free financial resources can instead be invested in strategically important projects and the growth of the company.
  • At the end of the current leasing contract and the conclusion of a new one, you usually receive new products and thus remain up to date. This is particularly important in the area of technology, such as laptops or smartphones.

Disadvantages of leasing

  • Leasing contracts usually run for several years. There is a contractual commitment for the entire duration and termination is usually not possible. Exiting the leasing contract, for example if you no longer need individual items of office furniture, is usually complicated and involves high additional costs.
  • The lessor remains the owner of the leased products. However, the lessee, i.e. your company, is usually responsible for the care and maintenance of the leased office furniture. Additional costs must therefore be taken into account. In addition, all leased items must be returned to the lessor at the end of the term. Resale and therefore liquidation is not possible.

Advantages

  • Avoidance of high initial investments
  • Latest technology at the end of the term and conclusion of a new contract

Disadvantages

  • Long terms without flexible exit options
  • Responsibility for repairs, maintenance or recycling
  • No resale possible as lessor remains owner

Renting office furniture - The flexible approach

Even though rental as such is not a new model, it has only been gaining in importance as a form of financing for office equipment in the business environment for a few years. However, more and more companies, whether young start-ups or established DAX companies, are now using the flexible rental model.
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Advantages of renting office furniture

  • The low financing risk is also one of the main arguments for renting. Instead of high acquisition costs, only low monthly rental installments have to be paid.
  • Renting office furniture offers a high degree of flexibility. Any additional products required can be rented quickly, and furniture that is no longer needed can be returned at short notice. This avoids a high capital commitment.
  • The lessor remains the owner of the products. As the landlord, Lendis ensures that the rented office furniture is in perfect condition throughout the rental period. Tenants do not have to worry about anything else.

Disadvantages of renting

  • Especially for short-term projects with a time horizon of 12 to 60 months, renting is only marginally more expensive than buying. However, if the office furniture is to be used for a longer period of time, the purchase costs will still be cheaper on balance.
  • Depending on the contract, rental furniture is also returned to the landlord at the end of the rental period, which rules out resale.

Advantages

  • Low monthly instead of high initial investment
  • Landlord takes care of repairs, maintenance and utilization
  • High flexibility to rent additional products or replace devices with the latest technology

Disadvantages

  • Higher costs for very long rental periods
  • No resale possible as landlord remains the owner

Buying vs. leasing vs. renting - a comparison of depreciation and tax treatment

The different ways of financing office furniture also lead to different tax treatment of the expenditure.

Tax treatment on purchase - depreciation is a question of value

Office furniture is classified as a low-value asset*. How purchased office furniture is (or can be) depreciated depends in principle on the purchase value of the item:

  • One-off depreciation in the same year: Goods with an acquisition value of less than €800 (excluding VAT) can be written off in full in the same year.
  • Over 5 years: All other independently usable assets under € 1000 can be depreciated as a collective item
  • According to the depreciation table: Assets with an acquisition cost of over € 1000 are depreciated according to the depreciation table. The depreciation period for office furniture is 13 years.
  • Please note: If you depreciate goods as a collective item, you cannot immediately depreciate goods under €800 in the same year. This is only permitted in the next calendar year

* Goods that are part of the company's fixed assets and are independently usable, depreciable and movable. For example, an office chair can be a GWG, but not a printer.

Tax treatment of rent and leasing - Fully deductible as a business expense

Provided that you do not become the beneficial owner of the products, the monthly installments are counted as operating expenses for both rental and leasing. The following applies to operating expenses: these can be claimed in full in the period in which they are incurred to reduce profits.

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