Business IT leasing: which model should you choose to finance your IT fleet?

Financing your IT fleet without tying up capital

Renewing an IT fleet is a heavy investment for most companies. IT leasing avoids this large purchase by spreading the cost of the equipment over its period of use, through a monthly rent that covers financing and can include maintenance and support as an option. For a company, it is a way to keep capital available for other priorities while accessing an up-to-date IT fleet.

But not all IT leasing options are equal. This guide reviews the different models, their respective advantages, and the criteria to examine before choosing a partner.

The different IT leasing options

At Leasetic, business IT leasing comes in several options, suited to different needs:

• Traditional leasing: a standard contract over a fixed term (generally 24 to 36 months), with a renewal option at the end of the contract.
• Adaptive leasing: a contract that can be adjusted along the way, to keep up with changes in headcount or in the company's needs without renegotiating a new contract at every change.
• Leaseback: the company sells its existing fleet to Leasetic and then leases it back, which immediately frees up cash without interrupting use of the equipment.
• Device as a Service (DaaS): an all-inclusive subscription covering equipment, configuration, maintenance and end-of-life management.

How much does IT leasing cost?

Rents vary according to the type of equipment, its condition (new or refurbished) and the term of the contract. As a guide, ranges observed on the IT leasing market are generally between €15 and €40 per month for a standard workstation, and can rise to €60 to €80 per month for more demanding configurations or server equipment. By comparison, buying an equivalent workstation outright generally costs between €800 and €1,500, an expense that leasing spreads over the term of the contract rather than paying it all at once. These orders of magnitude vary widely depending on the composition of your fleet, the share of refurbished equipment included and the associated services (maintenance, support): the most reliable starting point remains an assessment of your actual needs rather than a standard price.

Why choose IT leasing rather than buying?

Preserving cash

Leasing turns a capital expenditure (CAPEX) into a predictable operating expense (OPEX). For an SME, this means keeping its investment capacity available for other strategic priorities rather than tying it up in equipment that depreciates quickly. Rents are also generally deductible as operating expenses, a tax advantage not to be overlooked when weighing leasing against buying.

Continuous access to up-to-date equipment

The contract renewal cycle makes it possible to regularly benefit from high-performance equipment, without having to handle the resale or disposal of old equipment yourself.

Maintenance and support as an option

Technical support and maintenance can be added to the contract as an option, which lightens the load on internal IT teams for low-value tasks.

New or refurbished leasing: a choice that matters

Business IT leasing is not limited to new equipment. At Leasetic, refurbishment is carried out by our partners Idem for computers and Seensys for smartphones and tablets, and as a reseller we also offer Foxway remanufacturing solutions, available in three grades. According to an ADEME study from September 2022, acquiring a refurbished laptop rather than a new one avoids 43 to 97% of the device's annual environmental impact, that is, on average 127 kg of raw materials and 27 kg of CO2 avoided per year and per device. A fleet that includes refurbished equipment can therefore significantly reduce the company's carbon footprint, a criterion increasingly examined in CSR assessments such as EcoVadis.

To measure this impact concretely, our Colibris tool documents the fleet's carbon footprint device by device, built directly into the billing flow.

How to choose your IT leasing partner

A few criteria to examine before committing:

• Contract flexibility: can it evolve with your needs without excessive penalties?
• Transparency about the equipment: are the grades, warranties and origin of the refurbished equipment documented?
• End-of-contract management: are collection, asset recovery and equipment traceability organised?
• Proof of CSR impact: does the partner offer real measurement of the fleet's carbon footprint, or only general commitments?

These criteria help distinguish a simple equipment lessor from a true circular IT financing partner.

A concrete example

At SPIE France, the switch to scalable leasing with Leasetic made it possible to resell 1,747 of the 3,067 PCs collected in 2021, with transparent sharing of the residual value of the returned equipment. According to Sylvain Fischer, CIO of SPIE France: "With Leasetic, we have gained visibility, agility, profitability and peace of mind." Read the full case study.

Frequently asked questions

How long does an IT leasing contract last?
Generally 24 to 36 months for traditional leasing, with longer terms (up to 60 months) possible on options that include refurbished equipment. Adaptive leasing makes it possible to adjust the contract along the way without waiting for it to end.

What happens to the equipment at the end of the contract?
Three options are generally possible: renewal of the fleet with up-to-date equipment, return, or referral to our Store for resale to employees at a preferential price.

Is IT leasing only for large companies?
No. The options are suited both to growing SMEs (from 50 employees), which avoid tying up capital to equip new employees, and to large accounts that manage multi-site fleets and are looking for a single point of contact.

What is the difference between IT leasing and IT lease-purchase (crédit-bail)?
In practice, the two terms are often used interchangeably. Lease-purchase generally includes a purchase option at the end of the contract, while long-term rental systematically provides for the return or renewal of the equipment, with no automatic buy-back. At Leasetic, most options work on this second model, focused on use rather than ownership.

Is leased equipment less powerful than a new purchase?
No: for identical equipment, performance is the same as when buying. The confusion often comes from refurbished equipment, whose performance depends on the grade chosen. Properly graded refurbished equipment retains performance close to new for most office uses.

Is there a minimum commitment to rent IT equipment?
It depends on the option chosen. Traditional leasing contracts generally involve a commitment of 24 to 36 months. Adaptive leasing offers more flexibility during the contract, without necessarily reducing the initial commitment period.

Want to estimate the impact of switching to IT leasing for your fleet? Try our carbon footprint comparator, or talk to our experts to build the option that suits your company.

Further reading: discover our approach to circular IT financing, our guide to Device as a Service (DaaS), how we organise asset recovery and reverse logistics at the end of the contract, our criteria for choosing reliable refurbished equipment, the full scope of professional IT equipment rental, and our approach to the IT circular economy in business.