LEASING
Why You Probably Shouldn't Lease
If you’ve been in business for more than a decade, you probably remember when leasing your office hardware was the "smart" play. It was the gold standard for staying current without draining your bank account.
But the tech landscape has shifted. What was once a savvy financial move has largely become a ball and chain for modern businesses. Here is why we’re telling our clients to ditch the lease and own their gear—along with the few times it still makes sense to sign on the dotted line.
The Way We Were: Why Leasing Used to Rule
Back in the 2010s and early 2020s, leasing was king for two main reasons:
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Moore’s Law was Relentless: Computers used to become obsolete in about 24 months. Leasing allowed you to "refresh" every three years and keep your team from throwing their slow machines out the window.
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Massive Upfront Costs: Hardware was expensive, and liquid cash was often tied up in other areas of growth. Spreading that cost over 36 months was the only way many SMBs could afford a fleet of high-end machines.
Why The Post-Covid Era Has Changed the Game
So, why has the "lease-everything" model lost its luster? It comes down to longevity and taxes.
Hardware Doesn’t "Die" Like It Used To
Thanks to the shift toward efficient AI-integrated silicon, a high-end laptop purchased today after 2026 is likely to remain high-performing for 5 to 6 years.
When you lease, you’re often forced to return a perfectly good machine at the 3-year mark just as it’s hitting its stride. By owning, you get those "bonus years" of productivity for $0 per month.
The Power of Section 179
The tax code remains a buyer’s best friend. Under Section 179, businesses can often deduct the entire purchase price of qualifying hardware in the very first year it’s put into service. Instead of slowly deducting lease payments, you can take a massive bite out of your tax bill right now.
The "Self-Insurance" Secret (Skip AppleCare)
Many of Mann's savviest clients are "self-insuring." Instead of paying $299+ per device for AppleCare+ or extended warranties—which often goes unused—they take that total amount (roughly $9,000 for a 30-person team) and keep it in a hardware reserve fund. Statistically, you’ll rarely spend that full $9k on out-of-warranty repairs over three years. You keep the difference, rather than giving it to the insurance provider.
The 5-Year Financial Showdown: Leasing vs. Buying
Let’s look at a typical 30-person startup in 2026 with a premium hardware budget ($1,800/unit).
The Comparison:
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The Lease: A 36-month "Fair Market Value" (FMV) lease. At month 36, they return all 30 units and start a new lease.
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The Real-World Buy: The company buys 30 units upfront. Over 5 years, they replace 15% of the fleet (5 units) to account for coffee spills or "power user" upgrades.
The Verdict
Even when you account for the "chaos factor" of broken hardware, buying saves your business over $55,000. Leasing forces you into an "all or nothing" refresh cycle that treats a perfectly functional 3-year-old laptop as if it’s obsolete, charging you a premium for the privilege of giving it back.
The Rare Exceptions: When You Should Still Lease
We aren't "anti-lease" across the board. There are still a few scenarios where it’s the right move:
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Rapid Scaling: If you’re a startup hiring 50 people next month and need to preserve every cent of venture capital.
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Short-Term Projects: If you’re spinning up a temporary department for a 12-month contract.
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Bleeding-Edge AI Work: If your team does heavy local LLM training, you actually need the 18-month refresh cycle because that specific tech is still moving at light speed.
The Bottom Line
Computers are no longer "rapidly depreciating liabilities"—they are durable tools.
Buying your hardware gives you more control, better tax advantages, and a significantly lower total cost.