As the year rolls to an end, many businesses scramble to use their unspent annual budget before December 31st. Even government organizations feel the urgency. This panic mindset is the “use it or lose it” phenomenon.
Spend Smart
Nobody wants excess budget left over on the plate. It shows up a lack of efficiency-bound goals and can lead to budget cuts for the following year.
But in their haste, a lot of this money goes to waste. Companies end up settling for unnecessary and low-quality purchases just to spend the surplus.
Just to illustrate this point, here are some instances (taken off public records) of wasteful “use it or lose it” spending in Washington DC:
- The US Army spent $ 30,900 on an expandable paintball arena.
- The Department of Transportation spent $ 20,000 on a new grand piano.
- The Department of Interior spent $ 162,800 on a bronze sculpture for Skagway, Alaska. It cost three times more than the city’s median household!
For businesses that are still in the growth phase, spending surplus 4Q budget like this on nice-to-have instead of need-to-have products and services is a luxury they simply cannot afford.
That same money can buy tools, trucks, and heavy equipment. These things have the potential to make a significant difference to their bottom line in the years to come.
Get a Return on Your Budget
What’s more, when you combine the expenditure on core equipment before December 31st with the generous allowances of Section 179 in 2018 (click HERE to learn more about Section 179) it’s a win-win situation all round. The excess budget goes toward high value equipment. Additionally, you can deduct the full purchase price of up to $ 1,000,000 during the same tax year!
At Custom Truck One Source, we are here to help our customers step back, pause and decide on how their 4Q leftover budget can be best spent to increase their core value, expand fleets and grow their business.
With 26 locations spread across United States, we are the nation’s leading supplier to contractors across a variety of markets. We operate in utilities, forestry, railroad, construction, propane, oil and gas and many other equipment industries.
As a one-stop shop that takes care of all your heavy equipment and financing needs, we’re looking forward to help you solve your “use it or lose it” dilemma and make financially sound choices before 31, December, 2018.
Act now because time is running out!
