Fieldhill Loans, a small-business funding service in Columbus, IN, offers this equipment payment calculator for machine shops and manufacturers in Bartholomew County, IN. Enter a price, down payment, rate and term to estimate the monthly payment and total cost including the down payment. It is an estimate only; partners set actual rates and terms.
What the calculator does
It is an equipment loan calculator. From four inputs, the machine's price, your down payment, an annual rate and a term in months, it works out a fixed monthly payment on the amount financed and the total cost of the machine: every payment added up, plus the down payment.
It does not compute anything else: no lease payments, no tax effects, no break-even on the work the machine will run. Those steps are explained below as by-hand arithmetic. The rate you enter is your own assumption or a figure from a quote; Fieldhill does not supply rates.
A sample machining-center calculation
Hypothetical figures only, not an offer: a used vertical machining center priced at $120,000, with $15,000 down, so $105,000 is financed. Entering 8.5 as the annual rate and 60 months as the term gives a monthly payment of about $2,154.24 and a total cost of about $144,254.15, of which about $24,254.15 is interest.
Stretching the same hypothetical figures to 84 months lowers the payment to about $1,662.83 but raises the total cost to about $154,677.80. A longer term is easier on monthly cash and dearer overall, and it only makes sense if the machine will still be earning in year seven.
Steps the calculator does not do: work them by hand
Will the machine pay for itself?
Estimate the hours a month the machine will run on paying work and the margin per hour after material, tooling and power. Multiply. If the result does not clearly exceed the monthly payment, the purchase depends on more work than you have.
Lease or buy?
For a lease quote, add up every lease payment plus any end-of-lease purchase price, and compare that total with the calculator's total cost. The calculator itself does not compute lease payments.
Installation and tooling
Rigging, foundation work, electrical upgrades and the first set of tooling can add a meaningful share to the machine's price. Add them to the price input only if the partner will finance them; otherwise plan to pay them from cash.
CNC machine loan calculator inputs: what to enter
- Price: the quoted price of the machine, plus any financed extras.
- Down payment: cash, or the trade-in value of an old machine, paid at the start.
- Rate: an annual figure from a quote, or a range you want to test.
- Term: months; try the machine's realistic working life and a shorter option.
Where to go next
Financing the machine itself is covered on the equipment financing page, and the wider shop picture on manufacturing and machine shop funding. The Fieldhill post on financing a metal shop in Bartholomew County, IN walks through a full setup. Further checklists sit on the guides page.
By Fieldhill Loans · Updated
