Civil and construction businesses carry a particular tension: the machines cost a fortune, and the money comes in on progress claims weeks after the work is done. Financing plant is how most operators bridge that, turning a single large outlay into payments the jobs can carry. Here's how plant and equipment finance works in Australia, and the details specific to yellow goods rather than machinery generally.
Plant, yellow goods, earthmoving: the same thing in different words
Worth clearing up first, because the wording changes depending on who you are talking to and none of it changes the product.
Plant and equipment finance is the broadest of the terms and the one accountants and lenders tend to use. Earthmoving equipment finance describes the digging and moving end of it. Construction equipment finance is the same ground from the builder's side rather than the civil contractor's. Yellow goods is what the industry itself calls the machines, after the colour most of them are painted.
All four describe money secured against the machine. Ask for any of them and you will get the same conversation, so use whichever one is natural to you.
What gets financed
The category commonly called yellow goods covers most of it:
- Earthmoving: excavators, loaders, dozers, graders, scrapers, skid steers
- Compaction and roadworks: rollers, pavers, profilers
- Lifting and access: telehandlers, elevated work platforms, cranes
- Site support: dumpers, water carts, generators, light towers, site huts
- Concrete and materials: agitators, pumps, crushers, screening plant
- Trucks and floats that move the gear between sites, covered on our truck loans page
Our equipment finance page covers the wider category, and machinery finance covers industrial and manufacturing machinery. Builders searching for construction equipment finance will find the same products described here; the machines differ more than the lending does. For a single machine type see excavator finance, crane and lifting equipment finance, forklift finance or farm equipment and tractor finance.
Attachments are financeable too
A point that surprises people: buckets, hammers, augers, grabs, tilt hitches and other attachments can usually be financed, either bundled into the finance for the machine they go on or funded separately. Attachments are often what makes a machine profitable on a particular job, and they add up quickly. If you're buying a machine and the attachments together, say so at the start, because bundling them into one facility is generally simpler than going back for a second approval a month later.
Getting paid on progress claims
The cash flow shape of civil work is the reason structure matters here. You mobilise, you work, you claim, and you wait. Finance for the machine has to sit comfortably inside that cycle, not fight it.
Two things follow. First, the term matters as much as the rate: a payment that suits a busy quarter can hurt in a quiet one, and stretching the term to keep payments comfortable usually beats a shorter term you have to fund out of reserves. Second, if the underlying problem is the gap between doing the work and being paid for it, equipment finance is the wrong tool for that part; working capital is a separate conversation, and our business loans page covers it.
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Hours, age and condition
Age is the most common question in earthmoving equipment finance, and the answer is usually less about years than people expect. Yellow goods are valued on hours as much as years. A ten-year-old excavator with low hours and a full service history can be an easier proposition than a five-year-old machine that has been flogged. What lenders look at:
- Hours, and whether they're consistent with the age
- Service history, documented
- Brand and model, because a deep local parts and resale market reduces the lender's risk
- Condition and any recent major work, undercarriage especially
Older machines usually attract a shorter maximum term rather than a refusal, since the finance is expected to run out before the machine's working life does.
Buying at auction, from a dealer, or privately
Auctions move a great deal of plant, and they punish the unprepared: you bid without knowing the final price and settlement is quick. Pre-approval before the sale is what makes it workable, so you know your ceiling and the funds can settle inside the auction house's terms.
Dealers are the simplest path, with a clear title, an invoice and often warranty or a service package.
Private sales need a check of the Personal Property Securities Register against the machine's serial number to confirm nothing is owing. The register covers plant, not just vehicles, and you can search it at ppsr.gov.au. Any existing finance is paid out at settlement and the interest released.
Hire-to-buy and ex-rental machines are common in this category. If you've been hiring a machine and want to own it, that purchase can generally be financed like any other; just be clear on what the hire payments have and haven't contributed toward the price.
Building a fleet rather than buying one machine
Most civil businesses do not buy plant once. They add a machine, then a float to move it, then a second machine, then the site gear around them, and each purchase gets arranged separately as it comes up.
That is worth doing deliberately rather than by accident. Several facilities taken on at different times carry different terms, different end dates and different lenders, which makes the total commitment harder to see and harder to refinance later. Where you can see the next two purchases coming, raising that at the first one gives the lender a clearer picture and often produces a cleaner structure.
Some lenders will set a pre-approved limit you can draw against as you buy, rather than assessing each machine from scratch. That suits a business in a growth phase, and it is worth asking about before you are three machines in and juggling four agreements.
The structures used
Chattel mortgage is the usual choice for a business buying plant to keep: you own the machine from day one, the lender registers a security interest. See chattel mortgages explained.
Finance lease or hire purchase where ownership timing or tax treatment suits better; see finance lease versus hire purchase.
Rental or operating lease where the machine is for a defined project, or where you expect to swap it out before it ages.
The choice affects ownership, the treatment of payments and what happens at the end, so settle it with your accountant before the finance is written.
What lenders assess
- The business: time trading, ABN and GST registration, and the type of work you do
- Serviceability, from financials, BAS or bank statements
- The machine as security: hours, age, condition, brand, resale market
- Credit history, with directors' guarantees standard on commercial lending
- Contract or work pipeline in some cases, particularly for a first large machine
- Any deposit or trade-in
Contractors and newer businesses often can't produce full current financials. Low doc business loans are assessed on bank statements, BAS or an accountant's declaration instead, and who qualifies for a low doc business loan sets out the criteria. If you're a sole trader or you run through a company or trust, how your business structure affects finance covers who borrows and who signs.
The tax side
Plant bought for business use generally attracts deductions for depreciation and for the interest component of the finance, and in some years an immediate write-off applies to eligible assets under a threshold, tested against the asset's total cost rather than the business-use share. We've explained the mechanism in how the instant asset write-off works. The rules change; confirm what applies with your accountant before timing a purchase around it.
Where a broker fits
Plant and equipment finance is where lender appetite diverges most: on machine age, on hours, on auction and ex-rental purchases, on how a civil contractor's income is read, and on whether a young business with a solid contract can be approved for its first big machine. Matching the deal to a lender that wants that profile is the work. Our equipment finance page sets out what we arrange, Australia-wide, and asset finance explained covers how the category fits together.
This article is general information only and is not financial, tax or legal advice. Lender criteria vary and change; confirm the tax treatment of any purchase with your accountant.
Damo Treadgold is the director of Treadgold Finance, an FBAA-accredited finance broker on the Sunshine Coast, arranging equipment, machinery, vehicle and business finance Australia-wide.
FACT REGISTER: MED. Claims: a PPSR search against a machine's serial number reveals a registered security interest before a private purchase and the register covers plant as well as vehicles; any existing finance is paid out at settlement and the interest released; plant bought for business use generally attracts deductions for depreciation and for the interest component of the finance; in some years an immediate write-off applies to eligible assets under a threshold, tested against the asset's TOTAL cost rather than the business-use share. | Source: ppsr.gov.au and the PPS Act 2009; ATO capital allowance provisions. | Could change: write-off thresholds are amended regularly. No rate, fee or dollar figure appears on the page. | Verified: 28 October 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between plant and equipment finance and earthmoving equipment finance?
Nothing, in practice. Plant and equipment finance is the broader term that accountants and lenders tend to use, earthmoving equipment finance describes the digging and moving end of it, construction equipment finance is the same ground from a builder's perspective, and yellow goods is what the industry itself calls the machines. All describe money secured against the machine.
Can attachments be financed with the machine?
Usually yes. Buckets, hammers, augers, grabs and tilt hitches can be bundled into the finance for the machine they go on, or funded separately. Attachments are often what makes a machine profitable on a particular job and they add up quickly, so raise them at the start rather than going back for a second approval a month later.
How do lenders value used plant?
On hours as much as years. A ten-year-old machine with low hours and documented service history can be easier to finance than a much newer one that has been worked hard. Lenders also weigh brand and model, because a deep local parts and resale market reduces their risk, and condition including any recent major work, with the undercarriage the item that matters most on tracked machines.
Can I finance plant bought at auction?
Yes, and auctions move a great deal of it. The difficulty is timing rather than eligibility, since you bid without knowing the final price and settlement is quick. Pre-approval before the sale gives you a firm ceiling and funds that can settle inside the auction house's terms.
How should finance be structured around progress claims?
So that it sits inside the cycle rather than fighting it. You mobilise, work, claim and wait, which means the term deserves as much attention as the rate: a payment comfortable in a busy quarter can hurt in a quiet one. If the real problem is the gap between doing work and being paid, that is working capital rather than equipment finance, and a different conversation.
Can I finance several machines under one arrangement?
Often yes, and it is worth asking before you are several purchases in. Separate facilities taken on at different times carry different terms, end dates and lenders, which makes the total commitment harder to see and harder to refinance. Some lenders will set a pre-approved limit you draw against as you buy rather than assessing each machine from scratch.
