Rental Return Calculator

Equipment rental profitability · 3-way financial model · SR
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Set the machine, the rate and how busy it will be — the four checks tell you whether the deal pays. New here? Start with the overview.

How this works
1Choose the machineCost, R&M, insurance, financing and resale values load from the master data.
2Set the dealMonthly rate, hours, lifetime and how busy the machine will be each year.
3Read the four checksGreen means the deal clears your target. Red means it does not — change the rate and look again.
  • Free · no sign-up
  • Runs in your browser
  • 40 currencies, live rates
  • Full PDF report by email

Machine & Deal Inputs

Runs entirely in your browser. Your numbers are not sent anywhere — nothing leaves this page unless you ask us to email you the PDF report.

1 The machine
What the machine costs you. Loaded from the model data — change it here for this deal.
2 The deal
Time utilisation by year (%)
How busy the machine is each year. 70% means it is on hire seven months in ten.
3 Your targets
The four checks at the top of the results are measured against these.
4 Label the report optional
Where should we send the PDF?
This is the only part of the calculator that sends anything to us. We email you the whole calculation as a PDF \u2014 headline numbers, targets, the what-if matrix and all the financial tables \u2014 and keep a copy so we can answer questions about it. We guarantee your details are never shared with anyone else.

Cash position over the machine's life

What-If: Return at Different Rates & Utilisation Levels

Sweet spot — ROI target met and profitable every year Only one of the two Neither
Each cell is the yearly return on the machine. A cell is only green when the deal clears your ROI target and the profit & loss is positive in every year — a machine can hit its lifetime return on the resale value alone while losing money each year, and that is not a deal worth doing. Rows are rates ±20% around the current rate; columns are Year-1 utilisation.

Financial Summary of Rental Term

Service Meter & ROI

Balance Sheet

Cashflow

How to read this page

Every number below the inputs updates from what you type. Work down the page: the four checks tell you whether the deal works, the cards tell you what to charge, and the tables show where the money actually goes.

The four checks

Return on investment, payback, time utilisation and financial utilisation, each compared with the target you set on the left. OK means the deal clears that target; FAIL means it does not. All four matter — a deal can hit its ROI target and still take too long to pay back.

Breakeven rate vs suggested rate

The breakeven rate is the monthly rate that just covers the machine at your Year-1 utilisation. The suggested rate is the traditional rule of thumb: 5% of acquisition cost per month. Real market rates usually sit between them.

Time vs financial utilisation

Time utilisation is how much of the year the machine is out on hire. Financial utilisation is annual rental revenue ÷ acquisition cost — the share of the machine's price you recover each year. A machine can be busy and still not earn.

The what-if grid

Rows are rental rates ±20% around yours; columns are how busy the machine is. Each cell is the yearly return over the whole term.

Green is the sweet spot: the deal clears your ROI target and the profit & loss is positive in every year. Amber means only one of those holds — usually the return is fine but one or more years run at a loss, with the resale value doing the heavy lifting. Red means neither. The line above the grid gives you both the lowest rate that meets the target and the rate that reaches the sweet spot.

Financial summary

A year-by-year profit and loss for the machine: rental income and the sale at the end, less repair and maintenance, insurance, depreciation, financing, overhead, indirect cost and tax. Bracketed figures are negative.

Service meter, balance sheet, cashflow

Hours accumulated and the return if you sold in that year (the sale prices are editable). Then what the machine is worth on the books, and when the cash actually turns positive — which is where the payback month comes from.

Frequently asked questions

Where do the default numbers come from?

Each model in the list carries master data: acquisition cost, repair and maintenance per hour, insurance, financing, overhead, indirect cost, depreciation lifetime, WACC and resale values by year. Pick a different model and everything reloads. You can override any of it in the Admin panel, and anything you save stays in your own browser.

How is payback calculated?

Month by month, the calculator adds rental income and subtracts running costs and interest, starting from the negative of the acquisition cost. Payback is the first month where that running total turns positive, including the machine's sale value at the end of the term. If it never turns positive, you see Never.

How is depreciation handled?

Straight line over the model's lifetime, on 90% of acquisition cost by default — the remaining 10% is treated as residual. You can change the basis in the Admin panel. Depreciation affects the profit and loss and the balance sheet, not the cash position.

What rate should I charge?

Start at the breakeven rate, then look at the what-if grid. The sentence above the grid gives you two numbers: the lowest monthly rate that meets your ROI target, and the rate that also keeps the yearly profit & loss positive throughout. Aim for the second one. Below the first, the deal loses money however you present it.

Weekly and daily rates are derived from the monthly rate using the divisors on the left — by default a week is a third of a month and a day a fifteenth.

Can I work in a currency other than SAR?

Yes. Use the currency selector at the top right; 40 currencies are available and rates are fetched live, with a cached fallback if the rate service is unreachable. The underlying model always works in the base currency, so switching back and forth never changes your answer.

Are my numbers stored anywhere?

No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere while you work — you can open your browser's network tab and check.

The one exception is Email me the full PDF report. If you use it, your inputs and results are sent to us so we can build the PDF, and we keep a copy so we can answer questions about it. We guarantee it is never shared with anyone else.

Can I add my own machines?

Yes. Choose + Add new model in the Model list, fill in the parameters and save. Models you add are stored in this browser only — they are not uploaded and other people will not see them. If you would like a machine added to the master list for everyone, send us the specification.

Is this financial advice?

No. It is a model, and every model is only as good as the assumptions behind it. Treat the output as an indication for discussion, check the assumptions against your own cost base, and take proper advice before committing capital.

Last reviewed: 19 August 2026.