The short version
- Equipment finance is the most accessible finance product for a new ABN because the equipment itself is the security. Lenders don't need two years of financials to hold an asset they can value and resell.
- With clean director credit, deals are writable from day one of the ABN. From around six months of trading, low-doc terms open up and pricing improves.
- Expect a deposit of 10 to 20% and a rate premium over what an established business pays. Both fall away as trading history builds.
- Clean deals settle in three to seven business days, which matters when the equipment is the thing standing between you and revenue.
A business that registered its ABN eight months ago and needs a $60K oven, a coffee machine or a van sits in a strange spot. The banks want two years of financials that don't exist yet. The revenue that would justify the purchase can't start until the equipment arrives. Equipment finance exists for exactly this gap, and it is the one lending market where "we've only been trading a few months" is a workable answer rather than a refusal.
This is the equipment-specific version of a broader question — what a new business can actually borrow in year one is covered in our guide to startup finance options for a new ABN. Here the focus is the deals that fund machinery, vehicles and commercial equipment for businesses under twelve months old — what lenders actually look at, and how to set the deal up so the next one is cheaper.
Why equipment finance works when nothing else does
Equipment finance sits inside the broader asset finance category, and the logic that carries the whole category does the heavy lifting for new businesses: the lender's security is the asset, not the trading history.
A lender writing a $55K commercial kitchen package for a four-month-old café is not underwriting two years of profit. They are underwriting a director who pays their debts and an asset with a resale market if everything goes wrong, with a deposit putting real skin in the deal. The standard structure is a chattel mortgage: the business owns the equipment from day one and the lender registers a security interest on the Personal Property Securities Register until the loan clears. Ownership from day one also means the GST on the purchase is claimable on the next BAS for a GST-registered business, which on a $55K package is roughly $5K back inside a quarter.
The lenders that write these deals are mostly not banks. Dedicated asset-finance lenders run credit policies built for exactly this profile, and several have genuine appetite for new ABNs where the director's file is clean. That is the practical reason a broker earns their keep on these deals: the difference between the right new-ABN lender and a polite decline is not visible from the outside.
What lenders assess when there are no financials
Four things carry the assessment, in roughly this order.
Director credit history does the most work. With no business track record, the lender reads the director's personal file as a proxy for how the business will behave: clean repayment history, with existing commitments under control. A director with a strong personal file and a deposit can write a deal in the ABN's first month. A director with recent defaults will find the market short at any ABN age.
The asset comes second. Mainstream equipment with a deep resale market — commercial kitchen equipment from known brands, vehicles, trailers, standard machinery — is easy security. Highly specialised or install-heavy items are harder: custom fit-out, joinery, signage and software sit at the bottom of the list, because their resale value collapses the moment they're installed. If the purchase mixes both, expect the lender to fund the equipment readily and the fit-out reluctantly or not at all.
ABN and GST registration age set the tier. Day-one deals exist but price highest and lean entirely on the director. From around three to six months of trading, more lenders engage. From six to twelve months, bank statements showing real deposits open low-doc assessment, where the statements stand in for financials. GST registration helps at every stage because it signals genuine trading intent.
The deposit closes the gap. Ten to 20% is the working range for new ABNs. It reduces the lender's exposure on day one, and it also reads as commitment: a director who won't put 10% into their own equipment is a signal lenders act on.
What it costs and how the deal is structured
Pricing for new-ABN equipment finance sits above the established-business market, and the honest framing is a premium for missing history rather than a penalty. Indicative bands in August 2026: an established business on full-doc with a prime asset borrows in the 7 to 8.5% range, while a new ABN with a clean-credit director and a new mainstream asset typically lands somewhere between 9.5 and 13%. Older assets, weaker files or day-one ABNs push above that. Terms run three to five years. Balloons are available but used sparingly on new-ABN deals, because the lender wants the loan tracking ahead of the asset's depreciation, not behind it.
Buying from a dealer is simpler than a private sale: the lender pays the dealer directly and the paperwork is standard. Private-sale equipment is still financeable with most specialist lenders, with extra steps — proof of ownership, a PPSR check on the seller, sometimes an inspection. Allow a few extra days.
The tax mechanics are the standard chattel mortgage set: GST credit on the next BAS, depreciation under Division 40, interest deductible. The instant asset write-off may apply depending on the threshold in force for the year — the cap has moved repeatedly, so confirm the current figure on the ATO's simpler depreciation page or with your accountant before building it into the numbers.
A worked example
A dessert bar trading for eight months needs a $58K equipment package: a deck oven, two display fridges and a commercial coffee machine, all new, all from a dealer. The director's personal credit file is clean and the business banks about $32K a month in card takings. The deal writes as a five-year chattel mortgage with 15% down ($8,700), assessed low-doc on six months of bank statements, at an indicative rate just under 11%. The lender pays the dealer directly and the deal settles in five business days. The business claims the roughly $5,270 GST credit on its next BAS. Repayments land around $1,070 a month — measured against the revenue the oven enables, the financing cost is not the number that decides this deal.
Eighteen months later, with two years of trading and a clean repayment record on the first facility, the same business refinancing or adding equipment would price 2 to 3% lower and likely without the deposit.
Setting up the next deal
The first equipment facility is also the start of the business's credit file, and it compounds.
Perfect repayment conduct on facility one is the strongest evidence a young business can show the next lender. On-time BAS lodgements and a business account free of dishonours do the rest, with personal and business banking kept fully separate. By the two-year mark the business is pricing as an established borrower, and the finance conversation stops being about the director's personal file and starts being about the business.
Aurelius Capital writes equipment finance across a panel that includes the lenders with real new-ABN appetite, and structuring the first deal well is most of the work. If you're pricing equipment and the ABN is young, the application form is below — most enquiries get a response within four business hours.