Leasing a printer usually makes sense for growing Michigan businesses that want predictable monthly costs, bundled service, and a painless path to new technology every few years. Buying fits best when you print heavy volumes for 7+ years, have strong in-house IT, and want Section 179 tax benefits. Most small and mid-size offices land somewhere in between, which is why Kraft Business Systems pairs lease options with managed print services for a clearer total cost of ownership.
Leasing vs Buying Printers: A Cleaner Way to Choose
Picking between leasing and buying an office printer looks simple on paper. It rarely is. Your monthly cash flow, your tax position, your print volume, and your IT team all tug the decision in different directions. Pick wrong and you pay for it every month for three to five years.
So let us walk through this the way we would for a Grand Rapids accounting firm or a Traverse City manufacturer sitting across the table from us. Short answers. Honest trade offs. Real numbers. No vendor spin.
By the end you will know which path fits your office, what questions to ask any dealer, and how Kraft Business Systems structures agreements for businesses across West Michigan, Detroit, and the Upper Peninsula.
Average annual printing cost per employee across paper, toner, energy, and support
Printing is rarely the single biggest line item in an office budget. But it is a steady drain. Businesses spend between one and three percent of revenue on printing, and roughly 23 percent of help desk tickets touch a printer. Fixing the lease or buy question properly is how you get that cost under control.
Lease or Buy: A Two Minute Summary
Before we go deeper, here is the honest executive summary.
Lease if you want:
- Low upfront cash outlay and a predictable monthly bill
- Newer color multifunction printer features without a five figure check
- Bundled service, toner, and parts rolled into one invoice
- A clean upgrade path every 36 to 60 months as technology shifts
- Lease payments expensed as an operating cost on your books
Buy if you want:
- Long run cost savings on a device you plan to run for 7+ years
- Full ownership, zero contract, and no monthly commitment
- A Section 179 deduction up to $2,560,000 in 2026
- Complete freedom on supplies, service vendors, and firmware
- Stable, lower print volumes and in house technical talent
Neither path is automatically smarter. And yes, some offices are better off with a hybrid setup where small desktop printers are purchased and the main color MFP sits on a lease.
What Does Printer Leasing Actually Include?
A printer lease is a fixed term rental agreement, usually 36, 48, or 60 months. You pay a flat monthly fee for the hardware and, in most Kraft Business Systems agreements, a separate service contract covering toner, parts, and labor. At the end of the term you return the device, renew, or buy it out.
FMV vs $1 Buyout: The Two Leases You Need to Know
Two lease structures dominate the industry, and confusing them is one of the most common mistakes office managers make.
- Fair Market Value (FMV) Lease: Lower monthly payment. At lease end you can return the copier, extend the term, or buy it at fair market value (often 10 to 20 percent of original cost). Best for offices that want regular technology refreshes.
- $1 Buyout Lease: Higher monthly payment. At lease end you buy the machine for a single dollar. Functionally a financed purchase. Best for businesses confident they will keep the device long term.
What Is Usually Bundled
Most business class printer leases include a cost per page service agreement. Your monthly bill covers the hardware lease and a flat per page rate for black and white and color prints. Toner ships automatically before you run out. Technicians come on site for repairs. Firmware and security patches get pushed remotely.
So leasing is not really about the hardware. It is about outsourcing the entire print environment to a partner who keeps it running.
Think of it as the difference between buying a car outright and subscribing to a service plan. One is a one time decision with long tail costs. The other is a rolling commitment with predictable monthly bills. Both have their place. And both punish the business that signs the wrong contract for the wrong reasons.
A good dealer will also audit your existing fleet before quoting anything. Why pay to lease three devices when two new MFPs plus a desktop laser would cover the same output for less? Our team sees that pattern constantly when we walk into offices across Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.
What Does It Actually Cost? 2026 Pricing
Vendors love to talk in ranges. Here is a cleaner look at 2026 lease and purchase pricing for common business devices.
| Device Class | Monthly Lease | Purchase Price | Typical Volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic B&W MFP (25-30 ppm) | $89 to $150 | $800 to $3,500 | Up to 5,000 pages/mo |
| Mid Color MFP (35-50 ppm) | $150 to $450 | $4,500 to $12,000 | 5,000 to 20,000 pages/mo |
| Advanced Color MFP (50-65 ppm) | $300 to $700 | $10,000 to $18,000 | 10,000 to 35,000 pages/mo |
| High Volume Production (60+ ppm) | $450 to $1,200+ | $15,000 to $70,000+ | 25,000+ pages/mo |
Per page pricing also matters. Black and white prints usually run $0.01 to $0.03 each. Color prints run $0.055 to $0.09 each on bundled service contracts. That per page number is where the real margin lives; negotiate it.
Average savings businesses see after switching to managed print services bundled with a lease
A five year lease at $300 per month totals $18,000. A comparable outright purchase might run $11,000 plus service contracts. So yes, leasing looks more expensive on a spreadsheet. But the spreadsheet misses downtime, toner stockouts, technician calls, and the cost of your office manager chasing parts.
Section 179, Depreciation, and Why the IRS Cares
Tax treatment is where leasing and buying split hardest, and most buying guides skip over it. Here is the plain version.
If You Buy
Printers, copiers, and multifunction devices qualify for Section 179 expensing. For the 2026 tax year you can deduct up to $2,560,000 in qualifying equipment in the year you place it in service. The benefit begins to phase out at $4,090,000 of total equipment purchases. Both new and used equipment qualify if used for business at least 50 percent of the time. Your CPA can confirm the specifics, but the practical upshot is that a cash purchase or $1 buyout lease can produce a sizable first year deduction.
If You Lease (FMV)
Monthly lease payments on a true FMV lease are generally deductible as ordinary business expenses. You do not own the asset, so Section 179 does not apply. But the steady monthly deduction flattens your tax picture and keeps cash available for other priorities. Some businesses actually prefer this predictability over a large one time write off.
Bonus Depreciation
Bonus depreciation has been phasing down each year. Check current IRS guidance, specifically Publication 946, or ask your accountant before assuming any specific percentage. Kraft Business Systems is not a tax advisor, but we can walk you through how other West Michigan businesses structure their purchases.
What Buying Guides Never Mention About Ownership
Owning equipment looks cheaper until the third year arrives. Here is what often gets missed.
- Toner is priced as a consumable weapon. OEM cartridges for a color MFP can run $300 to $500 each. Annual toner spend alone can rival a year of lease payments.
- Service contracts are not optional. A business class copier without a service plan is a paperweight waiting to happen. Expect $800 to $2,500 per year for coverage on a mid range device.
- Parts fail on a schedule. Fusers, imaging drums, transfer belts, and pickup rollers all have rated lifespans. Replacement costs can run into the thousands.
- Security patches lag on older firmware. Unpatched printers are a known attack surface. The CISA and NIST guidance on network printer security keeps getting stricter.
- Technology refresh is on you. When a newer Workplace Hub or cloud print platform launches, your five year old device may not support it. Upgrades mean another capital project.
None of this means buying is wrong. It just means the true cost of ownership is rarely the sticker price.
Who Should Lease, Who Should Buy?
Skip the generic advice. Match your office to one of these profiles.
Lease Makes Sense For
- Growing offices adding staff and print volume year over year
- Color MFP users who care about current finishing features and scan workflows
- Healthcare, legal, and accounting firms with compliance driven security patch needs
- Businesses without a dedicated IT person to troubleshoot printer issues
- Companies valuing predictable operating expenses over balance sheet assets
Buying Makes Sense For
- Low volume offices running a simple $400 desktop laser for 2,000 pages per month
- Businesses with stable print volumes and no growth plans
- Companies using Section 179 to offset a strong tax year
- Organizations with capable in house IT that can handle maintenance
- Offices already sitting on devices that still perform well and hold parts availability
The Hybrid Model
Most real offices are hybrids. Buy the $350 desktop laser next to the front desk. Lease the $12,000 production color MFP in the copy room. That split keeps your capital outlay small on the big device and your hassle low on the small ones.
10 Questions to Ask Any Printer Leasing Company
A printer lease is a multi year contract. Treat it accordingly. Before you sign anything, ask for clear written answers to these.
- Is this an FMV lease or a $1 buyout? Get the end of term options in writing.
- How many pages per month are included for color and for black and white?
- Can you show us the overage rates per page if we go over?
- Is toner included? How is it ordered and who pays shipping?
- What is the guaranteed technician response time for service calls?
- Are firmware and security updates included, or billed separately?
- What is the early termination fee and how is it calculated?
- Can we swap devices mid lease if our needs change?
- Is there an automatic renewal clause and how do we opt out?
- Who owns the data on the hard drive at lease end, and how is it wiped?
If a dealer hesitates on any of these, keep shopping. Every Kraft Business Systems agreement answers these in plain language before a signature lands.
How Kraft Business Systems Helps Michigan Businesses Decide
We do not push a single answer. Every office has a different print pattern, budget, and risk profile. Here is what happens when you work with our team.
Free Print Assessment
We walk your office, count devices, pull usage data, and map your current total cost. No sales pressure.
Device Right Sizing
We spec the exact machine your volume justifies. No oversold color MFPs sitting idle in a back hallway.
Flexible Lease Structures
FMV, $1 buyout, rental, and purchase options with terms ranging from 24 to 60 months.
Bundled Managed Print
Toner auto ships, technicians respond within four business hours across West Michigan, and usage reports land in your inbox monthly.
Security First Setup
Hard drive encryption, user authentication, and firmware patching aligned with NIST and CISA guidance for printer security.
Local Michigan Support
Offices in Caledonia, Grand Rapids, Traverse City, and Southfield mean a real person on site when a jam will not clear.
Our broader managed IT services and cybersecurity programs also connect cleanly with a managed print deployment. One vendor, one bill, one point of contact.
Printer Security: The Forgotten Decision Factor
Printers are computers. They have hard drives, network cards, and firmware. Yet most businesses treat them like toasters. And attackers have noticed.
Modern business class printers now store scanned documents, route jobs through cloud services, and expose admin panels on your LAN. A neglected copier is a quiet side door into your network. Guidance from CISA and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework now explicitly names networked printers as managed infrastructure.
Why Leased Devices Often Win on Security
- Firmware updates are pushed as part of the service contract, not left to office staff
- End of life devices get sanitized and retired properly by the lease provider
- Hard drives are encrypted and optionally wiped at lease end
- User authentication and pull printing features come standard on newer models
- The refresh cycle naturally replaces devices before their security posture decays
If you own a device, all of that falls on your team. It is doable. But it is work, and it rarely gets prioritized until something bad happens.
Why Local Matters for Michigan Offices
National mail order vendors look cheap until a jam blocks the Monday morning invoice run. Then you are on hold with a call center in another time zone while your office waits.
Kraft Business Systems has served Michigan businesses since 2005 from our Caledonia headquarters. Our technicians are W-2 employees, not contractors, and our service areas cover Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Traverse City, and the Detroit metro down through Southfield. So when your Kyocera, Canon, or Sharp device goes down, a truck rolls the same day in most metros. That response time shows up directly in your productivity numbers.
Our local copy and print services team also handles fleet audits for multi location businesses, which helps healthcare networks and school districts standardize equipment across sites. If you run branch offices from Marquette to Ann Arbor, that matters.
Printer Leasing vs Buying: Your Questions Answered
Is it cheaper to lease or buy a printer long term?
Buying is usually cheaper on a simple total dollars basis if you keep the device 7+ years and run it lightly. Leasing tends to come out ahead once you factor in service contracts, toner, downtime, and the cost of a technology refresh. For most offices running a mid range color MFP, a 48 month lease with managed print lands close to or below a matched purchase plus service plan.
What is the typical lease term for a business printer?
Most leases run 36, 48, or 60 months. Thirty six months gives you faster refresh cycles; sixty gives you the lowest monthly payment. Forty eight months is the sweet spot for most Michigan offices. Shorter than thirty six is rare and usually more expensive per month.
Can I end a printer lease early?
Yes, but expect an early termination fee. Most leases calculate it as the remaining monthly payments plus a buyout. Some contracts are harsher than others. Ask for the specific formula in writing before signing. Kraft Business Systems agreements spell this out in the first page of every contract.
Does a leased printer qualify for Section 179?
A true FMV lease does not qualify for Section 179 because you do not own the asset. A $1 buyout lease is treated as a capital purchase by the IRS and can qualify for Section 179. Always confirm with your CPA before filing.
What happens at the end of a printer lease?
You have three common paths. Return the device, renew for a new term with a new or upgraded model, or buy out the existing machine. On an FMV lease the buyout is typically 10 to 20 percent of original cost. On a $1 buyout it is a single dollar.
How much does it cost to lease a printer for a small business?
Small offices usually land between $89 and $250 per month for a business class multifunction printer. Basic monochrome units start near $89. Mid range color MFPs for growing offices typically fall in the $150 to $300 range with service and toner included.
Is leasing a printer a good idea for a startup?
Often yes. Startups rarely want to tie up $5,000 to $12,000 in a copier when that cash could go toward payroll or inventory. A lease spreads the cost, bundles service, and lets you swap to a larger unit as headcount grows. But check your overage rates carefully, because unexpected print volume can balloon the bill.
Can I negotiate a printer lease?
Absolutely. The monthly rate, per page cost, included page volume, response time SLA, and end of term options are all negotiable with any reputable dealer. Ask for two comparable quotes before signing. Most Michigan businesses find they can shave five to fifteen percent off the first offer.
What happens if my printer breaks under a lease?
Under a standard managed print lease, the dealer ships parts and sends a technician at no extra charge. The dealer owns the device, so they have every incentive to keep it running. That is a big reason leasing beats owning for offices without strong in house IT.
Should I lease or buy if I barely print anymore?
If monthly volume is under 500 pages and you do not need color or advanced scanning, buying a $300 to $500 desktop laser usually wins. Leasing a business MFP for light volume is overkill. A small purchase plus a low usage toner subscription is cleaner.
Do printer leases include toner and paper?
Toner is almost always included in a managed print lease; paper is almost never included. Toner ships automatically when usage data triggers a reorder. Paper stays your responsibility, which keeps the contract simple and avoids weird shipping charges on bulky cartons.
How does managed print services change the math?
Managed print services (MPS) bundle devices, toner, service, and monitoring into one per page or per month rate. Businesses typically save around 30 percent on total print costs versus a mix of ad hoc purchases, retail toner, and break fix repairs. MPS also surfaces data you would never gather on your own, like which department is printing 40,000 color pages a month for no clear reason.
Ready to Stop Guessing on Your Print Strategy?
Get a free print and IT assessment from Kraft Business Systems. We audit your devices, volumes, and security posture, then build a lease, buy, or hybrid plan tailored to your Michigan business.
Call (616) 800-7682
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