Tag: RBA

Interest Rates Update: Reserve Bank June Decision

The CPI data for April, released by the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) on 31 May surprised the markets. The increase in headline inflation despite a continued fall in the underlying rate, changed expectations more towards a June rate rise rather than a hold. But despite the April spike, there were still strong economic data and convincing reasons in favour of holding rates steady. Reading the actual statements from the RBA, including especially from the Governor Philip Lowe, rather than relying purely on media headlines, may be useful in getting a better understanding of what’s happening with rates. At this critical time of year with temporary full expensing ending and the new financial year about to start, business owners will no doubt value as much intel as possible to assist with finance decisions. In this update, we provide a rundown on the information available to date from the RBA – the decision release and an address by Dr Lowe. Noting... Read More Caret Right

Pause or raise? RBA interest rates options for upcoming decision

With both a pause and a rise in interest rates possible at the next RBA meeting, Business Finance updates on rates to assist operators with finance decisions. The Reserve Bank (RBA) Board has announced ten rate rises consecutively since May of last year. But based on discussions at the RBA Board’s March meeting, a pause in those increases may be upcoming. There was discussion of a pause at the December meeting, as revealed in the minutes. Governor Philip Lowe backed that up at the time with remarks that all options were on the table. But the economic conditions prevailing by the February meeting meant the pause was not discussed. However, the minutes of the March RBA Board meeting do reveal that the option of pausing interest rate increases will be discussed at the upcoming April meeting. The optimism around that revelation may be moderated by the discussion at the same meeting, that it is likely that more increases will be... Read More Caret Right

RBA March Monetary Policy Statement – interest rates up but pause closer

As was expected, the RBA lifted interest rates a further 0.25% on 7 March meeting, said more increases likely but also indicated a pause was closer. The RBA Governor, Dr Philip Lowe made the ‘pause’ comments in a speech at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit, held the day after the RBA Board meeting. The content of that speech is informative as it expands on comments in the monetary policy statement and covers more ground. Comments and ‘ground’ which may be of assistance to business owners in the midst of making those vital acquisition decisions in the lead-up to the end of the financial year. Having as much intel as possible as to what may lay ahead in business conditions may provide be vital to those finance decisions. Interest rates are critical to commercial loans and with rates set to move higher, using an experienced broker to secure the cheapest rates can be an astute decision. The current cash rate is... Read More Caret Right

February RBA Meeting Minutes reveal uncertainties re interest rates and inflation

The uncertainties discussed by the RBA Board at its February around interest rates and inflation may present reason to expedite new asset purchases with finance. These uncertainties were detailed in the Minutes of the 7 February meeting which were posted to the Reserve Bank website on 21 February. While most will obtain information on RBA decisions through media reports, it can often be worthwhile referring directly to the source documents to gain a better perspective and greater insights. Meeting minutes contain a lot more detail and cover a wider range of topics than are included in the statement issued by the Board to announce its monthly interest rates decisions. This additional information may be beneficial to business owners and operators in acquiring a more broad-based view of the outlook for their sector or the Australian economy in general. Most importantly, the minutes may offer a greater understanding of the RBA’s thinking and reasoning around interest rates. Rates are key to... Read More Caret Right

RBA discusses both halting and hiking interest rates. So what’s next?

With the minutes of the RBA December meeting revealing the Board considered a larger hike and a hold, businesses may wonder what’s ahead for interest rates in 2023. Since the first of this current cycle of interest rate rises in May 2022, the RBA Board has constantly included a remark that further interest rate rise would be expected. But when delving further than the media release statement and into the more detailed minutes of the meeting, greater insights into the Board’s decision-making process is revealed. But sometimes more information is not always helpful. The December board meeting minutes detail the arguments that were discussed for returning to the earlier larger rate hikes of 0.5%, of continuing the run of 0.25% increases and holding the cash rate steady at the 2.85%. The possibility of a stop to rate rises would be good news while another large increase could put plans for acquiring assets with finance into limbo. One economics reporter described... Read More Caret Right

RBA Continues with Interest Rates Increases

Pressure mounts on businesses to seek cheaper interest rate business and asset finance as the RBA continued increasing interest rates with its December decision. The RBA December decision to raise the cash rate again makes it the eighth consecutive increase this year. Raising the cash rate from that historic low 0.1% to the now 3.1% over those eight increases. Quite a significant amount of increases in a relatively short time. A fact which has been acknowledged by RBA Governor Philip Lowe in recent remarks and statement. The cash rate is now at its highest in around 10 years. The repercussions through lending markets has been increases in interest rates by banks and non-bank lenders. But those increases can vary across and within different loan markets and for finance applicable for different industry sectors. Taking this all into consideration along with high inflation, the tight labour market and rising costs, the importance of understanding what’s happening with interest rates and having... Read More Caret Right

Update on Commercial Loans: news on deadlines, alerts & support

Important reminder for business owners on tax measure and Director ID deadlines, support for flood and storm victims and commercial loans interest rates updates. While there are many issues for business operators to contend with at the moment – the tight jobs situation, rising prices, continued supply chain disruptions and floods and storms, there are also deadlines for important business matters to be noted and adhered to, some with a sense of urgency. Urgent Action Required - Director ID If you are a director of a company and you haven’t yet acquired your Director ID number, then take note. The deadline to have this unique number as per the ASIC regulation is 30 November 2022. The ruling was announced a few years ago but it appears that many directors have been unaware of the requirement. The requirement is that anyone who is a company director must get their own individual number as a form of verifying identity with federal government... Read More Caret Right

Interest Rates Update: Latest Economic Indicators

With the RBA Board set to meet on 1 November, a number of data sets and other economic indicators have been released which may have an impact on interest rates. These are events and data which may be used by the RBA to guide cash rate decisions. The figures and trends may also influence the individual outlook and forecasts by lenders in setting their own interest rates on a range of business loans and finance. Staying across the economic indicators and statistic as released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) can be utilised by business owners, operators and decision-makers to establish asset acquisition strategies and make other business plans. The ABS releases data covering general economic indicators such as inflation and employment as well as industry-specific data. All valuable intel for astute business operators. Employment Figures Released The rate of unemployment has been falling over recent months and the latest figures reported by the ABS reveal the rate has... Read More Caret Right

Are your commercial loans up to economic challenges?

With construction activity contracting and a global recession probable, assess the effectiveness of commercial loans and seek better solutions at cheaper rates. The Australian economy was the standout on the global stage with its remarkable bounce back and recovery following the peak of the pandemic. But it didn’t take long for inflation to start rising and rising and rising and the RBA to step in and hike interest rates and the outlook to deteriorate, especially globally. The Governor of the RBA, Philip Lowe has been commentating for several months on the uncertainty surrounding the global economy. This can be seen in daily finance news headlines with what is happening in the UK and the USA and as a result of the ongoing war on Ukraine. Domestically, Treasurer Chalmers says the chances of a recession on a global basis is now probable, but he does remain optimistic for Australia. Supply chains continue to disrupt many industries along with ongoing labour shortages.... Read More Caret Right

RBA Increases Interest Rates at October Meeting

The RBA announced another rise for interest rates at its October meeting which may have impacts for business finance and motivate businesses to act on acquisitions. The signs were there that the Reserve Bank Board would call for another cash rate rise in October, but the commentary has been increasing for the central bank to commence easing up on rate hikes. Governor Philip Lowe in the accompanying monthly statement acknowledged that rates had been increased substantially in a short time period. This was noted as being a factor which the Board reflected on in making the latest decision. That decision was to increase the official cash rate from 2.35% by a further 0.25% to 2.6%. This follows on from four monthly rises of 0.5% and the 0.25% increase in May. Placing the cash rate at the highest it has been in 9 years. While the October rise was less than the 50 basis points that some expected, there are strong... Read More Caret Right

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Our Lenders

Trusted by 60+ lenders Australia-wide

Westpac
Liberty
Automotive Financial Services
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Commonwealth Bank
Pepper Money
Morris
National Australia Bank
RACV
Get Capital
Prospa
Grow
Selfco Leasing
Scottish Pacific

FAQs
Business Finance FAQs

Yes, subject to the specific guidelines of individual brokers. Many brokers will offer services to all types and sizes of commercial set-ups while some may specialise in working for only some types of operations. Some brokers may also specialise in certain industry sectors or with specific financial products.

Commercial loans all offer tax deductible elements. These vary with the different products including Chattel Mortgage, Leasing, Rent to Own and Commercial Hire Purchase. Interest payments are all tax deductible. With Leasing and Rent to Own the repayments are tax deductible. With Chattel Mortgage a tax benefit is realised through depreciation.

The interest rates vary with the different funding products. Rates will change across the market with changes in the cash rate by the Reserve Bank. Rates will differ depending on the individual application and credit rating. Rates can vary for equipment in different industries. Credit providers will advertise their best rate for good credit rating applicants.

Yes. Having a current ABN is an essential requirement to be eligible for commercial funding products. Additional documentation on the financials of the operation and other details will be requested as part of the application process. If not all documents are available, ABN holders may seek No Doc or Low Doc options.

The same products apply across all industries and types of operations. But the funding offers can vary across different industry sectors for some credit products. This may occur with equipment and machinery in particular. Interest rates on equipment funding may be different from one industry to another. This may be due to risk assessment of the sector or the individual guidelines of a particular lender. Vehicle funding interest rates would be less subject to industry variations.

The type of credit product best suited to a commercial enterprise will depend on:- accounting method used; balance sheet approach; approach to tax; and financial objectives. The most popular options are Vehicle Leasing and Chattel Mortgage. Operators are advised to discuss choice of product for suitability with their accountant.

Cash flow support may be sought through an Overdraft Facility or a Secured or Unsecured Funding Option. All may be sought to support an operation with ongoing expenses to support cash flow.

New start-ups with an ABN are eligible to apply for all types of commercial loans. As most will not have all the documents for the application, they may seek No Doc and Low Doc options through specialist providers and brokers. Funding can be sought for vehicles, trucks, equipment and other purposes.

To be eligible for commercial loan, applicants must hold an ABN and identification are essential requirements. GST registration is not essential. A selection of documentation, docs, is requested. This may include tax returns, BAS returns, trading figures, bank statements, balance sheets and annual accounts.

Refinancing may be considered for many types of commercial funding arrangements. These may include asset acquisition funding, overdrafts as well as general secured and unsecured arrangements. Refinancing may be sought for a range of purposes including to achieve a lower interest rate, restructure repayment schedule or as part of a business-wide review of financials.

In general terms, any equipment which is for use in a commercial operation may be eligible for commercial funding. The ATO sets out eligibility for tax deductible asset acquisitions. The type of equipment will vary depending on the industry. It can include heavy machinery and equipment right through to general equipment such as computers, IT and photocopiers. Lenders may have their own guidelines as to what equipment they will fund.

Commercial financing is available through major and second tier banks and a wide range of non-bank lenders. Brokers offer services to assist operators to source funding to suit their requirements.

Rates are offered following an assessment of the application. The rate will be based on the credit rating of the applicant, the amount being applied for, aspects of the goods or purpose of the funding and other aspects. Rates offered vary across the lending market and are subject to the individual guidelines of the credit provider. Changes to monetary policy by the Reserve Bank can impact the interest rates market.

Features and structure of commercial loans should be assessed in relation to the accounting methods and objectives of the company. Consulting with an accountant can assist with this process. The best option is the one that suits the individual objectives and goals.

No. ABN holders and sole traders that are not incorporated are still eligible for commercial loans. Some lenders will have guidelines around application approvals. Small enterprises may seek a credit provider that accepts applications from their type of operation or seek assistance from a broker.