Service
Machinery finance, for the plant your production runs on.
CNC machines, presses, packaging lines and workshop plant. Machinery finance has its own questions: imports paid in stages, installation costs, and machines that earn for decades. We structure the funding around how the machine actually arrives and earns.
- Founded by two former bankers
- Commercial and business finance specialists
- Perth based, working Australia wide
- MFAA member
Production machinery is its own conversation
Rockwall Finance arranges machinery finance for manufacturers, fabricators, processors and workshops across Perth, WA and Australia wide. Machinery sits apart from vehicles and yellow gear in how it is bought and assessed: machines are often imported and paid in stages, installation and commissioning are a real part of the cost, the equipment can be highly specialised, and a good machine earns for twenty years or more. The finance should follow those facts rather than fight them.
We are brokers with a credit background, and machinery deals reward it. A lender assessing a CNC machining centre wants to understand resale value and the business behind it; a lender assessing a custom packaging line wants the covenant story because the resale market is thin. Knowing which lenders are comfortable with which machinery, and how to present the deal, is the work.
What we finance
- CNC machines, lathes, mills and machining centres
- Presses, brakes, rollers and fabrication equipment
- Welding, laser, plasma and waterjet cutting equipment
- Packaging, processing and production lines, including food grade
- Printing, timber, plastics and materials handling machinery
- Workshop plant: hoists, compressors, generators and tooling
Imported machines, funded in stages
A large share of production machinery comes from overseas, and the payment pattern rarely fits a standard equipment loan: a deposit to the manufacturer at order, a balance at shipping or arrival, then weeks before the machine is installed, commissioned and earning. Lenders generally cannot settle an equipment loan on a machine that has not landed. The clean structure funds the import stage first, through trade finance or a progress arrangement, then converts to the equipment facility once the machine is commissioned. We line both stages up with the supplier's payment schedule at the start, so the deal never stalls mid ocean.
Used machinery and long working lives
Quality machinery holds value the way few assets do, and lenders recognise it: well known brands of used machine tools and fabrication equipment are financed at ages that would rule out a vehicle entirely, with the term set against remaining productive life. Auction and private sale purchases are routine with ownership and encumbrance checks. The honest caveat is specialisation: a standard lathe has a deep resale market and funds easily, while a one off custom line leans on the strength of your business instead, which changes the lender and sometimes the structure.
The machine inside the bigger picture
A new machine usually means more than a machine: a bigger power supply, a workshop rearrangement, more stock and work in progress to feed the extra capacity. We fund the machine through the structures on our equipment and asset finance page, usually a chattel mortgage, and where the growth needs working capital alongside it, a business overdraft or invoice finance against the growing order book completes the picture. Manufacturers replacing machines on a rolling basis should ask about a master asset finance facility, an approved limit each purchase draws against, so the next machine is a drawdown rather than an application.
Frequently asked questions
What machinery can be financed?
Most income producing machinery: CNC machines, lathes and machining centres, presses and fabrication equipment, welders and laser or plasma cutters, packaging and processing lines, food production equipment, printing machinery, sawmilling and timber equipment, and general workshop plant like hoists and compressors. Lenders care about whether the machine holds value and can be resold, so standard well known machinery funds easily while highly customised or installed plant narrows the lender field and may need a stronger covenant behind it.
Can I finance imported machinery?
Yes, with structure. Imported machinery usually involves a deposit to the overseas manufacturer, a balance on shipping or arrival, and a gap of weeks or months before the machine is installed and earning. Lenders generally cannot settle an equipment loan on a machine that has not landed, so the import is often funded with a trade finance or progress structure that converts to the equipment loan once the machine arrives and is commissioned. We arrange both stages together so the deposit, the shipping balance and the final facility line up with the supplier's payment schedule.
Can installation and commissioning costs be included?
Often, yes. Delivery, installation, electrical work, programming and commissioning are real parts of a machine's cost, and many lenders will wrap a reasonable proportion of them into the facility, particularly where the total still sits sensibly against the machine's value. Where the soft costs are large relative to the machine, the balance can be funded as working capital alongside the equipment loan. The aim is one clean funding plan for the machine as it will actually run, not just its invoice price.
Is it better to lease or buy manufacturing machinery?
Most Australian manufacturers buy through a chattel mortgage, owning the machine from day one, claiming interest and depreciation, and generally claiming the GST at the next BAS. A finance lease suits some tax and balance sheet positions, and rental can make sense for short term capacity or fast moving technology. The deciding factors are how long the machine stays productive, your tax position and your balance sheet preferences, which is a decision we work through alongside your accountant before the structure is locked.
Get started
Want to talk it through?
Book a meeting or make an enquiry. We'll tell you whether it's fundable, how we'd structure it, and which lender we'd take it to. No obligation.