Printer Lease vs Buy: How to Decide for Your Business

When leasing makes sense

• Your business wants one predictable monthly cost instead of a large upfront outlay.
• You want maintenance, parts and toner bundled in so there are no surprise service bills.
• You expect to upgrade to newer technology every few years rather than run one device until it fails.
• You would rather keep cash and finance facilities free for core business needs.

When buying makes sense

• You have capital available and prefer to own the asset outright.
• Your print volume is low and stable, so a simple desktop device may serve for years.
• You are comfortable arranging your own service, toner and repairs as they come up.
• You do not need to refresh equipment on a regular cycle.

How to decide between leasing and buying

1. Estimate your monthly print volume so the device is sized to the work.
2. Add up the true cost of owning, including toner, parts, callouts and downtime, not just the purchase price.
3. Compare that against an all inclusive monthly lease over a 3 to 5 year term.
4. Factor in how often you want to upgrade and how your accountant treats each option.
5. Request a like for like quote so you are comparing the same device on both paths.

What a lease includes that ownership does not

A printer lease folds the device, scheduled service, genuine parts and toner into one monthly figure from $160 per month ex GST.

For industry context, Quocirca Print Services 2024 benchmarks Australian managed print click rates at around 0.8 cents per mono page and roughly 6 cents per A4 colour page for SME volume bands.

That figure describes the wider market, not how LeasemyPrinter bills: toner, parts and service labour are included in the monthly set plan, and paper is the only separate cost.

Owned hardware adds callout fees, consumable orders and downtime that are easy to underestimate.

On the purchase path, the Australian Taxation Office set the instant asset write off threshold at $20,000 for assets costing less than $20,000 that were first used or installed ready for use between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026, for small businesses with aggregated turnover under $10 million.

That window has closed and the 2026 to 2027 threshold is not yet law.

Above the threshold the deduction is spread over time, through the small business pool or the asset effective life depending on the rules the business uses.

Confirm current year treatment with your accountant.

At the end of a lease term you can upgrade to a current model rather than running ageing equipment.

The indicative cost band table on this page shows where each device class lands per month, so you can weigh both paths against your own volume before requesting a like for like quote.