Printer and copier leasing glossary
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Leasing a business printer comes with its own vocabulary.
These plain English definitions explain the contract, device, service, and finance terms Australian businesses meet when leasing a printer or copier, whether on the Mid North Coast with a Toshiba eStudio or anywhere else in the country, so you can read a quote with confidence.
Lease pricing starts from $160 a month ex GST on a 36 to 60 month term, with maintenance and genuine toner included.
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by Cyrus Dickie, Founder
Lease mechanics
How a printer or copier lease contract is structured, billed, and measured.
- Operating LeaseAn operating lease lets a business use equipment such as a printer for a fixed term and return it at the end, without taking ownership.
- Finance LeaseA finance lease is an agreement under which a business effectively finances the purchase of equipment and carries most of the risks of ownership.
- Cost Per Page (CPP)Cost per page (CPP) is an industry billing model where each page a leased printer produces carries a separate charge, common on managed print contracts.
- Meter ReadingA meter reading is the page count recorded by a leased printer, used across the industry for volume tracking and, on some contracts, per page billing.
- Lease TermA lease term is the fixed contract period, stated in months, during which you pay to use the equipment. Most business terms run 36 to 60 months.
- Auto Renewal ClauseAn auto renewal clause automatically extends a lease unless the customer gives written notice inside a set window before the end date.
- End of Lease BuyoutAn end of lease buyout is an industry option on some leases, a final payment transferring ownership of the device. Our agreements do not offer one.
- Printer LeaseA printer lease is a finance style agreement to use a device over a set term, usually 36 to 60 months, with service and toner bundled into one monthly payment.
- Printer RentalA printer rental is an agreement to use a device for a set term while ownership stays with the provider, with no ownership at the end.
- Printer HirePrinter hire is short term use of a device, usually under 12 months, for a project site or an event. We do not arrange it.
- Coterminous LeaseA coterminous lease aligns the end dates of devices added at different times, so a whole fleet finishes and renews on one date.
Devices and specifications
The hardware terms and spec-sheet language used to choose the right office machine.
- Multifunction Printer (MFP)A multifunction printer (MFP) is a single office device that combines print, copy, scan, and fax in one unit, in place of several separate machines.
- A3 vs A4 PrinterA3 and A4 are paper sizes. An A3 multifunction printer handles both sizes, while an A4 desktop cannot print A3 at all. A3 is roughly double the size of A4.
- OCR (Optical Character Recognition)OCR is the technology that reads the text off a scanned page, turning a picture of a document into words a computer can search and edit.
- Duplex PrintingDuplex printing is the ability to print on both sides of a page automatically in one pass. It cuts paper use and is standard on most office printers.
- Pages Per Minute (PPM)Pages per minute (ppm) is the rated output speed of a printer, measuring how many A4 pages it produces in a minute. Higher ppm suits busier offices.
- Scan to Folder and Scan to EmailScan to folder sends a scanned document straight to a shared network or cloud folder. Scan to email delivers it as an email attachment.
- Secure Print ReleaseSecure print release holds a print job at the device until the user authenticates with a PIN, so confidential pages never sit on a shared output tray.
- Self Encrypting Drive (SED)A self encrypting drive (SED) is a printer hard drive that encrypts every stored document automatically, so data stays safe even if the drive is removed.
- Duty CycleDuty cycle is the maximum monthly page volume a printer is built to handle reliably, used to match a device to your actual print volume.
- Print Volume BandA print volume band groups a business by its monthly page count, from small office to enterprise, to match it to the right printer class.
Managed print and service
The service wrapper around the device, from monitoring to maintenance models.
- Managed Print Services (MPS)Managed print services (MPS) is an arrangement where one provider supplies, maintains, and supports your whole print fleet under a single contract.
- Print FleetA print fleet is the full set of printers and copiers a business runs across one or more sites under a single service arrangement.
- Remote DiagnosticsRemote diagnostics is the secure, automated monitoring of a leased printer so faults and low toner are caught before they cause downtime.
- Break-Fix MaintenanceBreak fix is a reactive support model where you pay for each service call and part only when something breaks, with no ongoing contract.
- Fleet ConsolidationFleet consolidation is bringing the printers at every office a company runs under one supplier, one agreement and one invoice.
- Centralised BillingCentralised billing puts every leased printer, at every office, on one invoice broken down by site instead of one bill per location.
Finance and accounting
How a lease is treated for budgeting, tax, and GST in an Australian business.
- PPSRThe PPSR is the national register that records who has a financial claim over equipment, so a buyer can check whether a machine is already financed.
- OpEx vs CapExOpEx is the day to day cost of running a business. CapEx is one-off spending on owned assets. A printer lease is generally OpEx.
- Residual ValueResidual value is the estimated worth of leased equipment at the end of the term, and it determines who carries the end of lease risk.
- GST on Printer LeasesPrinter lease payments attract GST at 10%. Quotes are usually shown ex GST, and GST-registered businesses can generally claim the GST back.
- Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)Total cost of ownership (TCO) is the full cost of running a printer over its life, covering device, service, toner and finance, not just the purchase price.
- Instant Asset Write Off (IAWO)Instant asset write off (IAWO) is an ATO scheme letting eligible small businesses deduct an asset's full cost in the year it is first used, not depreciate it.
Service and coverage
Local-service concepts that matter when you lease in regional NSW.
- Next Business Day Onsite ResponseA service commitment to dispatch a technician to your premises by the close of the next working day after a confirmed service request.
- Authorised Dealer and Service CentreA Toshiba authorised dealer is approved by Toshiba to supply and service its products with genuine parts and manufacturer support.
- Service Area and Coverage AreaA service area is the geographic boundary within which a provider commits to onsite maintenance at the contracted service level.
Cyrus Dickie
Founder, LeasemyPrinter (Global Document Solutions Pty Ltd)
You deal with the founder directly, from first quote to ongoing support, since 2010.
Authored by Cyrus Dickie, Founder at LeasemyPrinter (Global Document Solutions Pty Ltd). In the industry since 2010.
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