30 October 2026 · Document Services Australia
Most offices read the monthly figure on a copier lease and sign. The ending is where the cost hides, and it arrives three to five years later when nobody remembers what was agreed. Here is what happens at the end of a copier lease in Queensland, what the agreement usually says, and what to do about it now and then.
The three endings
- Return it. You give the machine back to the finance company, or to the supplier acting for it, at your cost for the collection unless the agreement says otherwise. The data on the hard drive is yours to think about before it leaves.
- Renew or extend. The lease rolls on, month by month or for a new term, at the same payment for a machine that is now five years old and fully paid for. This is the ending that costs the most and the one most agreements default to.
- Buy it. You make an offer, or pay the figure the agreement names, and the machine is yours. Worth doing only if it is in good order and cheap to run; a five year old machine with a service agreement behind it can be a sound buy.
The rollover clause
Many Australian copier leases say that unless you give written notice in a window, often 90 days before the end date and not earlier than 180, the agreement renews automatically for a further 12 months at the same payment. Miss the window and you pay another year for a machine you have already paid for. Read your agreement now for the words renewal, extension, rollover or notice, and put the notice date in a calendar with a reminder a month before. Write the notice, send it by a method you can prove, and keep the reply.
What the end of term should cost
Nothing, if you give notice on time and return the machine as agreed. The costs that appear are the renewal you did not cancel, collection and freight, a charge for the machine's condition, and a payout if you end early. Early payout is usually the remaining payments less a small discount, so ending a 60 month lease at month 36 is dear; that is why a shorter term on a dearer monthly figure is often the cheaper agreement, and why we quote 36 months first.
What to do now, at any point in the term
- Find the end date and the notice window, and set the reminder today.
- Ask the supplier, in writing, what the end of term options and charges are. The answer is a measure of the supplier.
- Six months out, get a second quote on the replacement, with the trade in and the collection of the old machine included. We will check the one you have.
- If the machine still suits and runs well, ask for the buy out figure before you ask for anything else.
How we do it
Our rental and managed print agreements end with the machine collected or replaced on a date you know in advance, with no automatic renewal at the old payment and no charge for giving the machine back in fair order. Rental, lease and finance in Brisbane sets out the three ways to pay and what each means at the end; copier lease against a managed print agreement tells the two apart; and copier prices by model has the monthly figure for the machines we quote most, if you are pricing the replacement.
Independent, and on the tools
