Calculating Equipment Rental Rates

Equipment Rental Rate Calculator

Calculate daily, weekly, and monthly rates based on ROI and overhead.

Recommended Rental Rates

Daily Rate $0.00
Weekly Rate (4x Daily) $0.00
Monthly Rate (3x Weekly) $0.00

How to Calculate Equipment Rental Rates

Determining the correct price for rental equipment is a balance between recovering your initial capital investment, covering ongoing maintenance, and generating a healthy profit. If your rates are too high, your utilization will drop; if they are too low, you will fail to cover the true cost of depreciation.

The Rental Rate Formula

This calculator uses the Annual Cost Recovery method. The formula is broken down as follows:

  1. Annual Depreciation: Purchase Price divided by the Economic Life of the asset.
  2. Total Annual Cost: Annual Depreciation + Annual Maintenance, Insurance, and Storage.
  3. Break-even Daily Rate: Total Annual Cost divided by total rented days (365 days × Utilization %).
  4. Final Rental Rate: Break-even rate + (Break-even rate × Profit Margin %).

Real-World Example

Imagine you purchase a mini-excavator for $45,000 with an expected life of 5 years. Your annual insurance and service costs are $3,000. You expect to rent it out 50% of the year (182.5 days).

  • Annual Depreciation: $9,000
  • Annual Overhead: $3,000
  • Total Annual Cost: $12,000
  • Break-even Rate: $12,000 / 182.5 = $65.75 per day
  • With a 30% Profit Margin: $85.47 per day

Standard Industry Multipliers

In the equipment rental industry, it is standard practice to offer discounts for longer terms. A common rule of thumb used in this calculator is:

  • Daily Rate: Base calculation based on ROI.
  • Weekly Rate: 4 times the daily rate (giving the customer 3 days free).
  • Monthly Rate: 3 times the weekly rate (effectively 12 times the daily rate).
function calculateRentalRates() { var price = parseFloat(document.getElementById('purchasePrice').value); var life = parseFloat(document.getElementById('economicLife').value); var overhead = parseFloat(document.getElementById('annualOverhead').value); var utilization = parseFloat(document.getElementById('utilization').value) / 100; var margin = parseFloat(document.getElementById('profitMargin').value) / 100; if (isNaN(price) || isNaN(life) || isNaN(overhead) || isNaN(utilization) || isNaN(margin) || life <= 0 || utilization <= 0) { alert("Please enter valid positive numbers in all fields."); return; } // Calculation Logic var annualDepreciation = price / life; var totalAnnualCost = annualDepreciation + overhead; var rentalDaysPerYear = 365 * utilization; var dailyBreakEven = totalAnnualCost / rentalDaysPerYear; var dailyRate = dailyBreakEven * (1 + margin); // Industry standard multipliers var weeklyRate = dailyRate * 4; var monthlyRate = weeklyRate * 3; // Display Results document.getElementById('dailyResult').innerText = '$' + dailyRate.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2}); document.getElementById('weeklyResult').innerText = '$' + weeklyRate.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2}); document.getElementById('monthlyResult').innerText = '$' + monthlyRate.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2}); document.getElementById('breakdownText').innerText = "To cover costs, you need to earn $" + totalAnnualCost.toLocaleString() + " annually across " + Math.round(rentalDaysPerYear) + " rental days."; document.getElementById('resultsDisplay').style.display = 'block'; }

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