The Equipment tab in the Simple Budget allows you to define your total equipment costs at a high level, with an optional section for more detailed calculations if needed.
Forecasted Annual Equipment Costs
At the top of the page, you’ll find a summary section where you can directly enter your equipment costs:
Annual Equipment Cost (Recovered As Overhead) (editable)
Enter the portion of equipment costs that will be treated as overhead.Annual Equipment Cost (Billable On Estimate) (editable)
Enter equipment costs that will be charged directly to jobs.Annual Rental Equipment Cost (editable)
Enter any expected rental equipment expenses.Total Equipment Cost (calculated)
Automatically sums all entered values.
This section is the fastest way to define equipment costs in a Simple Budget.
Should you have manually entered data into this table but subsequently wish to calculate your equipment cost using the dedicated section below, you can reset the entered value to zero by clicking the reverse icon.
Calculate Your Equipment Costs (Optional)
Below the summary, there is an expandable section that allows for more detailed input:
Equipment List
Categories:
Owned / Paid Off
Financed
Leased
Rental Equipment
You can:
Click “+ Add Line” to add equipment items
When Adding a new line, you have to select the correct category, and depending on which one you select, you might be prompted to add different information
For equipment you own you will enter enter details such as:
Name
Current Value
Years to Own/Use
Estimated Sell Price
Annual Depreciation
Whether the cost is Overhead or Billable per hour/day
For equipment you financed you will enter:
Name
Monthly Payment
Current Value
Years To Own/Use
Est. Sell Price
Overhead/Billable
Select Recovery Cost Method
For equipment you leased you will enter:
Name
Monthly Payment
Annual Payments
Overhead/Billable
For equipment you rent you will enter:
Name
Forecasted Monthly Cost
Forecasted Annual Cost
Previous Annual Cost
Difference (against previous year if available)
Some of these fields are calculated automatically as soon as you add the monthly costs or payments
This section helps you calculate and justify your total equipment costs instead of entering them manually.
Move fields
If you have multiple equipment entries and want to position a specific one to be first or last, you can hover over the 3x3 dot square icon in the left side of the row. By clicking and maintaining, you can move the row position (drag and drop).
This functionality is available for all equipment categories within the Equipment List. You may find this functionality in other tabs of the budget process.
Recovery Cost Method (Financed Equipment)
When adding financed equipment, you can choose how the system calculates its annual cost using the Recovery Cost Method.
Depreciation
Distributes the equipment cost over its useful life. This reflects the true cost of using the asset, regardless of how it is financed. It provides a more stable, long-term view for profitability.
Loan Payments
Uses the actual annual loan or lease payments. This reflects the real cash outflow the business must pay each year, including financing costs.
Should you have manually entered data into this table but subsequently wish to calculate your equipment cost using the dedicated section below, you can reset the entered value to zero by clicking the reverse icon.
Calculate Your Equipment Costs (How it works)
You can either:
Enter totals directly in the top section, or
Use the detailed list to build those totals
The system will:
Aggregate values into the Total Equipment Cost
Reflect updates in the top summary bar
Feed this data into:
Overhead
Overhead Recovery
Sales Goal
Overhead vs Billable Equipment
For equipment owned, financed, or leased—it is important to define how its cost will be recovered in your budget.
Each piece of equipment must be assigned a recovery approach:
Billable (per hour/day)
Overhead
Billable Equipment
When equipment is marked as billable, its cost is charged directly to jobs.
Typically applied as a per hour or per day rate
The cost is recovered through project pricing
It does not contribute to overhead
Use this when:
Equipment is used specifically for jobs
You want clients to directly pay for its usage
Overhead Equipment
When equipment is assigned to overhead, its cost becomes part of your overall business expenses.
It is not charged directly to jobs
Instead, it is recovered through your overhead recovery method
It increases the total overhead that must be distributed across your operations
Use this when:
Equipment supports general operations
It is not practical to track usage per job
Why This Matters
This decision directly affects your entire budget:
Equipment marked as overhead increases total overhead cost
Higher overhead means:
Higher recovery requirements
Higher break-even
Higher sales goal
Equipment marked as billable reduces overhead burden
But requires accurate pricing in estimates to ensure recovery