The Real Problem
You Bought the Equipment Outright. Now You Need the Cash Back.
Three years ago paying cash felt responsible. Now there's a contract to staff, an acquisition on the table, or a partner to buy out, and the money is bolted to the floor.
A bank will lend against it — slowly, with a lien on everything else you own and a covenant package that follows you for five years.
What you actually need is the equipment's value back in cash, with the equipment still running, and nothing else pledged.
Bobby’s Take
I've watched operators with millions in paid-off machinery pledge their building to fund the next contract. The equipment can hand that capital back — sell it to a lender, lease it straight back, and the floor never notices.
Bobby Friel, Founder, Basecamp Funding
Capital Stacking in Action
The Equipment Funds Layer One. Cash Flow Funds Layer Two.
A sale-leaseback prices off the appraised value of what you already own — a percentage of that value, set by asset class, age, and the strength of the file. That layer doesn't touch your line of credit, your receivables, or your building. The ramp, the hire, the inventory: that's a working-capital layer priced off revenue, stacked on top. Same desk, one application, two term sheets.
The machines never moved, the cash landed in days, and the building, the receivables, and the line of credit stayed untouched.the machines never moved
The $5.7M structure, one application
One application · one specialist desk
Funded Scenarios
Equipment We've Turned Back Into Cash for Operators Like You
Representative scenarios — illustrative, anonymized figures, not specific client transactions.
What operators tell us
“We had $6 million of equipment we'd paid for and a bank offering a line against it with a lien on the building and a covenant package. The desk sold the equipment to a lender and leased it back in nine days. Same machines, same floor, $4 million in the account, nothing else pledged.”
Operator · $26M precision manufacturer
Start Here
See What the Equipment Is Worth to a Lender — in About 60 Seconds
Set the equipment’s value, tell us a little about the business, and the specialist desk reads the file. No application fee. No credit ding to look. Real term sheet proposals priced to your equipment.
Soft-pull only · Two years of financials · Real term sheets, not estimates
Estimate Your Equipment Financing
Slide to the equipment cost — one machine, a line, a fleet, or a buildout.
Equipment amount
Your actual terms come from real term sheets.
How It Works
How an Equipment Sale-Leaseback Is Actually Structured
A sale-leaseback is a sale and a lease signed the same day: the lender buys equipment you own at a percentage of its appraised value and leases it straight back to you. Here's the real mechanic at this level.
On top of the equipment layer, the specialist desk stacks working capital or receivables financing into one structure — see commercial financing.
The Cost of Waiting
Every Quarter the Equity Sits on the Floor, Someone Else Funds the Growth
Pull the cash out of the equipment and move — the machines keep running either way.
Structure Your Capital Plan →Compare the Options
Equipment Sale-Leaseback vs the Alternatives
| Sale-Leaseback | Bank Term Loan on Equipment | Business Line of Credit | Sell the Equipment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Lender owns, you operate; buy back at term | You own it | You own it | Gone |
| What's pledged | The equipment only | Equipment + blanket lien + covenants | Blanket lien, personal guarantee | Nothing — and no equipment |
| Advance | A percentage of appraised value | A smaller percentage, after appraisal and committee | Sized off revenue, not the asset | Auction price, minus fees |
| Speed | Days | 60–90 days | Days | Weeks, plus the production you lose |
| Best for | Owned equipment, cash needed, operations can't stop | Bank-fit borrowers with time | Recurring operating gaps | Equipment you no longer need |
Bobby’s Take
“Operators ask me how come they should sell equipment they already paid for. Here's the math: a $6 million line of CNC cells makes exactly the same parts whether you own it or lease it. The $4 million inside it, though, is either sitting on the floor or buying your next contract. The lender doesn't want your machines. The lender wants the payment, and the machines are what make the lender comfortable. You keep the floor, you keep the production, and you get the capital back without pledging the building or signing a covenant package. That's not a loan against your equipment. It's your equipment finally paying you back.”
Bobby Friel · Founder, Basecamp Funding · 20+ years in banking and finance
Straight Answers
The Straight Answers Operators Ask For
Won't the lender want the building and a personal guarantee too?
No. The sale-leaseback is secured by the equipment the lender now owns. Your real estate, receivables, and line of credit stay yours. A personal guarantee is the exception, negotiated in the proposal, not a baseline.
What if I want the equipment back?
You set that in the proposal: fair-market-value purchase, a fixed purchase price, or a renewal. Nothing is decided at the end of the term that wasn't decided at the start.
My equipment is five years old.
Age sets the advance, not the answer. CNC, presses, heavy iron, and medical equipment hold value for a decade. The appraisal says what it's worth; the desk structures off that.
I already have a bank line.
A sale-leaseback doesn't violate most bank covenants because it isn't new debt on the balance sheet — the lease structure decides the accounting. Your CPA reads the proposal before anything signs.
How is this different from an equipment loan?
An equipment loan buys new equipment. A sale-leaseback pulls cash out of equipment you already own. Same desk; different direction of money.
Get the cash out of the equipment now, and keep every machine running.
The proposal sets the advance, the term, the payment, and the end-of-term option before anything signs. Your CPA reads it first; the floor never stops.
The Process
How a Sale-Leaseback Comes Together
Submit the file.
Two years of financials, current interims, the equipment list with serials and original invoices, and what the cash does.
The desk reads the equipment and the business.
Appraised value by asset class and age; cash flow for the lease payment.
Term sheet proposal in 24–48 hours.
Advance, term, payment, end-of-term option. A structure, not a rate quote.
Underwriting and documents.
The lender buys the equipment, you sign the lease. The equipment never moves.
Funded in 2–10 business days.
Cash in your account. The floor never stopped.
Self-Qualify
Who a Sale-Leaseback Fits — and Who It Doesn't
Before You Apply
What Kills a Sale-Leaseback Application
Straight talk on what stops a sale-leaseback before it starts — so you fix it before you submit.
By Industry
Equipment Sale-Leaseback by Industry
Every industry with owned, resaleable equipment has capital sitting on the floor — the production line, the fleet, the imaging suite, the iron. Explore the fit for yours.
Manufacturing
Pull the equity out of CNC, presses, and automation cells — the line keeps running.
Trucking & Logistics
Fleet equity into cash on a TRAC structure; the trucks stay on the road.
Construction
Owned iron funds mobilization and bonding on the next awarded job.
Healthcare
Imaging and OR equipment fund a partner buyout without a practice loan.
Distribution & Wholesale
Automation and racking equity funds the inventory the space was built for.
Technology
Owned servers and cooling fund the next cluster.
Run the equipment's value through the equipment financing calculator to see what a lease payment looks like against what the cash does.
FAQs
Equipment Sale-Leaseback — Questions Operators Actually Ask
You sell equipment you own to a lender and lease it back on a 24–60 month term. The equipment stays in place; the cash — a percentage of appraised value — lands in your account. At the end of the term you buy it back, renew, or return it, on terms set in the proposal.
$1M–$25M+ per transaction, driven by the appraised value and the asset class. Portfolios larger than that structure as multiple schedules.
A term sheet proposal comes back in 24–48 hours from a complete file. Funding runs 2–10 business days after you accept it.
No. It's a sale and a lease. That's what keeps it off the blanket-lien and covenant path a bank loan takes, and it's what decides the accounting — operating or capital — with your CPA.
Anything with a resale market and a serial number: CNC and production machinery, fleets and trailers, construction iron, medical and imaging, food processing and packaging lines, servers and cooling. Custom one-offs and fast-obsolete gear don't.
That depends on the structure and your situation; your CPA decides. On a true (operating) lease the lease payments are generally deductible and the lender takes depreciation; on a capital lease you keep the depreciation. The proposal spells out which, before you sign. Run the ownership side in the Section 179 calculator.
Section 179 calculatorTwo years of financials with interims, the equipment list with serials and original invoices, and the story — what the cash does and when.
The payoff comes out of the proceeds at funding, if the numbers carry it. If you owe most of the value, that's an equipment refinance, not a sale-leaseback.
The Operator's Guide
The Operator's Guide to Equipment Sale-Leasebacks
What a sale-leaseback actually is
A sale-leaseback is two transactions signed on the same day. First, you sell equipment you own to a lender at its appraised value. Second, you lease that same equipment back from the lender for 24 to 60 months. The equipment never leaves your floor. What changes is the name on the title and the cash in your account. It's the oldest structure in equipment finance, and it's the one most operators have never been offered, because a bank would rather lend against the equipment and take a lien on everything else.
What the equipment is worth to a lender
The lender appraises the equipment by asset class and age — a CNC cell, a tractor, an imaging system, and a packaging line all carry value differently — and advances a percentage of that value. Original invoices and serial numbers matter because the lender has to take clean title. Equipment with an existing lien can still work: the payoff comes out of proceeds at funding, as long as the numbers carry it.
Operating lease or capital lease — and why your CPA cares
The lease comes back one of two ways. A true, or operating, lease treats it as a rental: payments are generally deductible, the lender holds depreciation, and at the end you buy at fair market value, renew, or return. A capital lease treats it closer to ownership: you keep depreciation and buy at a fixed price. Neither is right by default. The proposal names which one, your CPA reads it, and nothing signs until the accounting matches what the business needs.
Where the sale-leaseback sits in the capital stack
The sale-leaseback is the asset layer. It prices off the equipment and touches nothing else. On top of it the specialist desk stacks a working-capital layer priced off revenue for the ramp, the hire, or the inventory, and a receivables layer if the contract has net terms. One application, one desk, each layer priced in its own wheelhouse — a structure that reaches $20M+ without a blanket lien on the business.
The file the desk reads
Two years of financials with current interims. The equipment list with serials and original invoices. And the story: what the cash does and when it has to be in the account. From a complete file the term sheet proposal comes back in 24–48 hours. From an accepted proposal, funding runs 2–10 business days.
Financing the Growth? Cover the Risk That Comes With It.
A new facility, more equipment, and a bigger crew change your risk profile the moment the capital lands. Our sister company, Insurance Service 365, handles commercial coverage for operators scaling exactly like this — so the growth you just financed is protected.
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