Costing major equipment acquisition expenses

This module will help you estimate the cost of acquiring major pieces of equipment. You may not need this information if you have already included equipment costs with supplies.

What is major equipment? There is no precise answer to this question.

A rough rule of thumb might be to say that any piece of equipment that costs more than $1,000 is a major piece of equipment.

By this definition, major equipment would include

• cars or trucks
• copy machines, or
• printing presses.

Equipment that is not major would include

• bicycles, and
• typewriters.

Equipment that could be in either category would include

• motorcycles (depending on cost, local availability, and serviceability)
• computers
• portable generators.

• If the program involves more than a few hundred people, include some means of transport for the program supervisors to visit and deliver supplies and materials to the classes. Plan to use available local equipment or animals if possible.
• If motorized vehicles are to be purchased, expect maintenance and repair costs to be two or three times those of a country in the West.
• Add 10-20 percent to your estimate for the costs of shipping and importing equipment. These costs are almost always higher than the best estimates.
• Do the same for equipment operating costs.

• Ask questions like the following:

  • What distances must be traveled by supervisors?
  • Is public transportation available for travel to program sites and for delivering materials, supplies, and equipment?
  • What does it take to support the needed equipment in the program locale?
  • Will there be importation costs?
  • What amounts will be needed for repair and maintenance of equipment?

• Determine whether the piece of equipment can be or should be purchased locally.
• Determine the purchase price of the piece of equipment, including taxes.
• Estimate buying, shipping, and importation costs for the equipment.
• Make a list of replacement parts needed for the equipment over the lifetime of the program.
• Estimate buying, shipping, and importation costs for these parts.
• Estimate any setup costs such as special wiring, a garage, security systems, or special environmental equipment needs.
• Calculate training costs to train people to use the equipment.
• Estimate operating, maintenance, and repair costs.
• If depreciation is a required cost, prepare a depreciation schedule.
• Compute any income the piece of equipment may generate if it has users outside of the program. This amount will need to treated as a credit to the program.

• Funding a literacy program
• Preparing a budget for a literacy program
• Costing a literacy program

• Task module: Costing major equipment acquisition expenses
• In task module: Determining program costs
• In task module: Costing a literacy program
• In task module: Preparing a budget for a literacy program
• In task module: Funding a literacy program, by Stephen L. Walter and Trudy K. Stewart (general editor)
• In task module: Identifying resources needed for a literacy progra..., by Stephen L. Walter
• In task module: Planning a literacy program, by Stephen L. Walter
• In modular book: Plan a literacy program, by Stephen L. Walter, Barbara K. Trudell (contributor), and Trudy K. Stewart (general editor)
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 25 October 1999

© 1999 SIL International