What counts as payback month?
It is the first projected month where the running cumulative cash impact becomes positive after the upfront purchase hit in month 0.
Free seller tool
See what happens to your cash flow month by month if you buy a piece of equipment with cash. Model higher sale amounts, more monthly jobs, lower labor time, and the hourly improvement you expect from the purchase.
Purchase
Month 0 always includes the equipment cost and any one-time setup cost. Monthly maintenance begins once the equipment is in use.
Current baseline
Keep this simple. Use sales or jobs, average value, and the labor time it takes before the purchase.
Expected improvement
Add the improvements you expect from the equipment. Use any one or any combination of these fields. Time savings do not automatically become extra monthly jobs unless you enter that separately.
Ramp-up
Use a short horizon for quick decisions or extend it to see how long the purchase keeps compounding.
Projection
Add your assumptions to generate a month-by-month projection.
| Month | Monthly impact | Cumulative cash impact |
|---|---|---|
| Month 0 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Worked example
If a seller spends $2,500 on equipment, saves 0.4 labor hours on each job, adds $10 to each sale, and picks up a few more jobs each month, the gain can show up from several levers at once instead of one giant assumption.
Frequently asked questions
It is the first projected month where the running cumulative cash impact becomes positive after the upfront purchase hit in month 0.
Because not every saved hour turns into a paid job. If you believe the new capacity will be filled, enter the additional monthly sales or jobs yourself.
No. This version is intentionally limited to cash purchases so you can see the simplest month-by-month impact first.
That means the purchase does not recover its cost within the forecast window under the assumptions you entered. Try a longer horizon or revisit the improvement estimates.