Quick answer
Printing businesses usually borrow for digital and wide-format presses, finishing equipment, paper stock for large jobs and working capital while trade and corporate clients pay on account. Equipment finance or a sale and leaseback suits machinery; invoice finance or a line of credit suits slow-paying accounts. Lenders look closely at how quickly your press will lose value, customer concentration and gross margin. Banks suit established printers with property; non-bank lenders fill the gaps.
Key points
- Lenders treat a press as security only as far as its resale value goes, and older offset gear can be worth surprisingly little
- The ATO's 2023–24 printing benchmarks put cost of sales at about 26% to 46% of turnover, rising as printers get bigger
- Election campaigns, end of financial year and Christmas create short, intense peaks that need paper and wages paid up front
- Owned equipment can be refinanced through a sale and leaseback to release cash for a newer machine
Short answer: most printers borrow for two things, machines and paper. Machines are best funded against themselves, over a term that matches how long they’ll stay useful. Paper, ink and wages for a big run are best funded with something flexible that shrinks again once the client pays. The trouble starts when the two get mixed up.
How does a lender look at a print shop?
“Printing” now covers very different businesses: a commercial offset printer, a digital print shop doing short runs, a signage and wide-format operation, a label and packaging specialist, a screen printer doing uniforms. Lenders don’t treat them identically.
What they’re all trying to work out is the same:
- Where the work comes from. A list of repeat trade and corporate accounts is reassuring. One client making up half your sales is not.
- Whether your gross margin is holding. The ATO’s printing benchmarks, based on 2023–24 tax returns, show cost of sales running from about 26% to 43% of turnover for the smallest printers, 30% to 43% for those turning over $200k to $500k, and 33% to 46% above $500k. If your paper and ink costs are creeping well above your band, a lender will ask why.
- What the equipment is worth. More on this below, because it shapes nearly every printing loan.
- Which direction the business is heading. Lenders are more comfortable with growth in packaging, labels, signage and personalised digital work than with a pure offset shop relying on shrinking catalogue and stationery orders.
Why does the age of your press matter so much?
A lender funding a press is really lending against the price that machine would bring on the second-hand market. That figure, the residual value, varies enormously.
| Equipment | Typical lender attitude |
|---|---|
| New digital press from a major brand | Strong resale market; standard equipment finance terms |
| Wide-format and UV flatbed printers | Generally well regarded, especially popular models |
| Finishing gear (guillotines, folders, laminators) | Fundable, but lower value per item |
| Older offset presses | Can be costly to remove and ship; resale value may be modest |
| Highly customised or rare machines | Lenders lean on your trading strength or other security |
That’s why a printer with a ten-year-old offset press may find it easier to borrow against property or debtors than against the press itself. It also explains why lenders sometimes ask for a balloon to be kept small on fast-changing digital gear.
Equipment finance, a chattel mortgage or a finance lease can all fund new machinery. Our equipment finance calculator shows how term and balloon change the repayment, and business.gov.au has a sensible overview of leasing versus buying.
Can you unlock cash from machines you already own?
If you own modern equipment outright, a sale and leaseback lets a lender buy it from you and lease it straight back. The machines stay on the floor, the business gets a lump of cash, and you make lease payments. Printers use this to fund the deposit on a newer press, clear an ATO debt or buy another shop’s client list.
It works best on recognised brands with an active second-hand market. For older gear, a secured business loan against property is often a better fit.
Planning a new press or a big run and want to know what’s realistic? Run it past us here. It’s a one-minute form, and asking costs nothing on your credit record.
When do printers get squeezed for cash?
Printing has peaks that arrive fast and leave a bill behind them.
- Election campaigns. Corflutes, how-to-vote cards, letterbox drops and posters, often ordered at short notice. Victoria votes on 28 November 2026, and campaign printing ramps up in the weeks before. Political clients can be slow to pay once polling day is over, so agree terms before the paper arrives.
- End of financial year. Annual reports, catalogues and EOFY sales material in May and June.
- Christmas. Retail promotions, packaging, labels and corporate gifts from September through November.
- School and university terms. Course materials and enrolment packs at the start of each year.
Each peak means buying paper, ink and casual labour before you can invoice. A business that runs well most of the year can still hit a wall in October. Our page on funding a large order and the cash flow gap calculator help size the shortfall.
Which finance fits which printing need?
- New press or finishing line: equipment finance or a chattel mortgage, secured on the machine.
- Cash locked in trade accounts: invoice finance, which advances most of each approved invoice and grows with your sales.
- Peaks, paper and wages: a business line of credit you draw down for the season and clear afterwards.
- Buying a competitor’s client base or a whole shop: a business acquisition loan.
- Moving to a bigger factory: fit-out funding or a property-secured loan, depending on whether you lease or buy.
Keep the machinery on its own facility and the cash flow funding on another. Mixing them tends to cost more and makes the short-term borrowing harder to repay.
What risks will a lender raise?
- Technology change. A press bought today may be overtaken within a few years. Lenders prefer terms that finish well before the machine becomes obsolete.
- Paper supply and pricing. Paper costs have moved sharply in recent years, and quotes given months ahead can leave a printer exposed. Show that your pricing passes on increases.
- Customer concentration. Agencies and resellers often place work for many end clients, but if one agency supplies most of your jobs, the lender will see that one relationship as the real risk.
- Bad debts from small clients, event organisers or campaigns that end abruptly.
Paperwork worth assembling first
- At least half a year of statements from your main trading account.
- BAS for the last few quarters and your latest financial statements.
- An aged debtors list, with your largest accounts highlighted.
- A list of current equipment, with make, model, year and any finance owing.
- Supplier quotes for the machine you want.
- Purchase orders or emails confirming the big job behind the request.
- Your ATO portal statement if there’s a tax balance.
Worked example: a signage printer before an election
All figures are invented. A signage and wide-format printer in Melbourne’s north turns over about $1.4m. In August it wins orders from several candidates for the state election, worth about $180k in total, with delivery staggered through October and November. It also needs a second UV flatbed printer to meet the volume.
The flatbed, quoted at $210k, goes on a chattel mortgage over five years. For the substrate, ink and casual staff, the owner opens a $120k line of credit, drawing it down in September and October. Candidates pay half on order and the balance before delivery, a condition the owner insisted on after a bad experience at a previous campaign. By mid-December the line of credit is back near zero, and the new flatbed is already busy with Christmas retail work.
Ready for the next big run?
The printers that grow comfortably are the ones that line up their machines and their cash before the rush, rather than during it.
Whether it’s the next press or the next peak, we can help you weigh it up. The enquiry form is brief, sixty seconds or so, and your credit score is left alone when you send it. Nobody circulates it to a crowd of lenders. One of our specialists reads it and rings you back. Careful, honest numbers on turnover, equipment and the sum required let us put the strongest match in front of you first.
Frequently asked questions
Can I finance a used printing press?
Often, yes, but expect lenders to want an independent valuation or a dealer invoice, and a shorter term than for new equipment. The older and more specialised the machine, the more a lender will lean on your trading history and other security rather than the press itself.
What's the best way to fund a big print job before the client pays?
If the client is a business or government body paying on 30 day terms, invoice finance can release most of the invoice once it's issued. For the paper and ink before you invoice, a line of credit or a deposit from the client is usually the cleanest answer. Ask large clients for a part payment up front; many will agree.
Do lenders see printing as a declining industry?
Some parts of printing have shrunk, and lenders know it. They respond well to printers who show where their growth is coming from, such as packaging, labels, signage, wide-format or short digital runs, and who have a spread of repeat customers rather than one or two big accounts.
Can I borrow against equipment I already own outright?
Yes. A sale and leaseback lets a lender buy your existing equipment and lease it back to you, releasing cash while the machines stay in the factory. It works best with modern, well-known brands that have a clear resale market.
Will a bank lend to a printing business?
Yes, particularly to printers with several years of profitable accounts and property security. Banks are often the cheapest option and worth approaching first. If the bank is cautious about the industry or your equipment's age, non-bank and specialist equipment lenders often have more flexibility.