Operational leasing: how does it all work

It doesn't matter if you have a large company or a small business. A day will come when you have to deal with the financing of company cars, and it will probably come very soon. In the meantime, you browse the Internet, you have asked your acquaintances about their experience, and you're trying to get an idea of what your options are. But the amount of information and concepts is so confusing and annoying that you'd rather pair all your socks at home and file the tax return a month earlier than having to actually dive into this area.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs in the Czech Republic are still coming to terms with the use of operational leasing, which is already quite common for larger companies. However, the share of operational leasing in overall financing of company cars is growing every year both in the Czech Republic and abroad. The concept of operational leasing is best conceived if you imagine the car as a service. You only rent the car or cars from the selected leasing company for a certain period of time, usually for three or four years. You pay the calculated monthly installments and the leasing company takes care of the rest. Under normal circumstances, with operational leasing you don't have to worry about, for example, vehicle maintenance or tire replacement, because you lease the cars as an all-inclusive service (more or less). You will have much more time left for your own business. Of course, each leasing company offers different services and different conditions. The seemingly best price may turn into a higher price once you account for all the services and the like.

Entrepreneurs often consider the operational leasing only because of no upfront costs. You don't have a lot of cash, and yet you can afford a little luxury in a car that would otherwise be difficult to reach. However, others are often discouraged by the perceived high price of the installment and also by the fact that after three or four years they will not keep anything in their hands, as the car is returned to the leasing company. This makes operational leasing different from financial leasing, where you need to pay a certain percentage of the value of the car at the beginning of the contract to make a down payment, yet the car remains in your property after the lease period. Still, with financial leasing, you will pay for all services, repairs and other costs, which makes it a more expensive service, and the costs are more difficult to plan. In case of operational leasing, you can buy the car at the end of the lease.

Maybe you would like to give it a try with the elegant and charismatic ŠKODA Karoq. With a lease period of 3 years and with yearly mileage up to 25.000 km, it can be had at CZK 9311 per month.

It is still very difficult for many people to accept the fact that they do not own their car. But others will look for new and modern ways to get from point A to point B, and then operational leasing can be a friendly solution. We have therefore summarized all the advantages and disadvantages in order to make your decision easier. If you're still hesitating after reading this article, try and take a look at how we approached the 7 biggest myths about operational leasing.