Commission Structure Explained
Equipment finance broker commissions typically range from 2% to 8% of the total funded amount.* The lender pays the commission -- not the borrower. It is the lender's cost of acquiring the deal. You find the business, package the application, place it with the right lender, and when it funds, the lender sends you a check.
Where you land in that 2-8% range depends on several variables:
- Deal size -- Larger tickets typically carry lower percentage commissions, but the dollar payout is higher. A 3% commission on a $300K deal ($9,000) beats a 7% commission on a $30K deal ($2,100) every time.
- Credit quality -- Stronger borrowers (A and B credits with years in business) mean less risk for the lender. Commission percentages may be slightly lower, but deals close faster and more reliably.
- Lender commission schedules -- Every lender sets its own rates. Some pay flat percentages, others use tiered schedules based on deal size or volume. Knowing which lender pays what is part of the job.
- Equipment type and industry -- Commission norms vary by vertical. Medical equipment, construction, transportation, and restaurant equipment each have their own typical ranges based on market dynamics and deal complexity.
- Your volume with a lender -- Brokers who consistently send quality deals to a lender often earn better commission tiers over time. Reliability gets rewarded.
In the vast majority of equipment finance transactions, the borrower is not charged a separate broker fee. The lender compensates the broker as a cost of origination. The borrower gets financing, the lender gets deal flow, and the broker earns for making the connection and packaging the transaction.
*Commission ranges reflect typical industry structures and vary by lender, deal type, credit quality, and market conditions. These are not guaranteed rates.
What Do Brokers Actually Earn?
The only honest answer is: it depends entirely on what you do. But here is the math so you can model it yourself.*
Per-Deal Commission Examples
Small Ticket -- Restaurant Equipment
$2,400$40,000 financed at 6% commission
Fast close, simple documentation. A food truck needs a commercial fryer and prep equipment. Submit, fund, collect.
Mid-Market -- Construction Equipment
$8,750$175,000 financed at 5% commission
Used excavator for a site work contractor. Standard credit package. Moderate complexity, strong payout.
Larger Ticket -- Medical Equipment
$12,250$350,000 financed at 3.5% commission
Imaging equipment for a radiology practice. More documentation, longer timeline, but one deal pays more than five small-ticket closes.
Big Ticket -- Manufacturing Line
$15,000$600,000 financed at 2.5% commission
CNC machining center for an aerospace parts manufacturer. Lower percentage, but the dollar amount speaks for itself.
Monthly Income Scenarios
Part-Time / Early Stage
$3,750 - $7,500
- 1-2 deals/month
- $75K avg deal
- 5% avg commission
Working 10-15 hours per week or still in your first few months. Building pipeline, learning the process, closing what comes in.
Full-Time / Consistent
$16,875 - $28,125
- 3-5 deals/month
- $125K avg deal
- 4.5% avg commission
Dedicated broker with an active pipeline, referral relationships forming, and repeatable deal flow across a few verticals.
Experienced / Scaling
$40,000 - $64,000+
- 5-8+ deals/month
- $200K avg deal
- 4% avg commission
Established broker or small shop. Larger deals, repeat clients, multiple referral channels, and possibly sub-brokers or a small team.
*All figures are illustrative examples based on typical industry commission ranges. Actual income depends on individual effort, deal quality, lender relationships, market conditions, and numerous other factors. These are not projections, promises, or guarantees of earnings at any level.
Factors That Affect Your Income
Two brokers can start on the same day with the same training and end up in completely different places twelve months later. Here is what separates them.
Deal Volume
This is the single biggest lever. More funded deals per month means more income. Volume is a direct function of daily prospecting activity. There is no hack or shortcut. Brokers who make 20-30 outbound contacts per day build pipelines. Brokers who make 5 do not.
Average Deal Size
A broker closing $200K deals earns more per transaction than one closing $40K deals at the same commission rate. Deal size tends to increase naturally as you gain experience and move into higher-value verticals. But it is not worth chasing big deals early -- close what you can while you learn.
Industry Vertical
Some industries produce larger, more frequent deals. Construction, medical, and manufacturing tend toward higher ticket sizes. Restaurant and small-business equipment skews smaller but closes faster. Specializing in one or two verticals lets you build deep expertise and referral networks.
Lender Relationships
Brokers with strong lender relationships get better commission tiers, faster approvals, and priority processing. Lenders reward brokers who send clean, well-packaged deals consistently. This takes time to build but directly impacts your per-deal earnings and close rate.
Full-Time vs. Part-Time
Part-time brokers can earn meaningful supplemental income, but building consistent deal flow requires consistent effort. Full-time brokers who treat this as their primary business ramp faster and produce more. The pipeline rewards daily attention -- not bursts of activity followed by silence.
Repeat Clients and Referrals
A contractor who finances one dump truck will finance another. A CPA who refers one client will refer ten. Over time, the best brokers spend less time cold prospecting because their existing relationships generate warm deal flow. This is how the income compounds year over year.
The Income Timeline
Anyone telling you that you will earn $20,000 in your first month is selling you something. Here is what a realistic timeline actually looks like for a new broker.*
Pipeline Building
This is the grind phase. You are completing training, getting approved with lenders, learning deal packaging, and starting outreach. You are making calls, sending emails, attending local business events, and building your initial prospect list. Revenue during this phase is typically zero. That is normal and expected. The work you do here determines everything that follows.
First Deals Close
Submissions start converting. Your first commission checks arrive -- maybe one or two deals per month. More importantly, you learn what a fundable deal actually looks like in practice, not just theory. You start to see which verticals respond to your outreach and which lenders match your deal flow. Average monthly income might be $3,000-$8,000 depending on deal sizes.* This is the phase where most people who quit do so. The ones who stay are the ones who make it.
Consistent Production
Pipeline compounds. Repeat clients surface. Your first referral partners start sending deals. You develop a rhythm: prospect, submit, follow up, close, repeat. Monthly closings become more predictable -- 2-4 deals per month is common for a full-time broker at this stage. Income stabilizes and grows. You stop wondering if this works and start thinking about how to scale it.
Scaling
You know your lenders cold. You have repeat clients who call you when they need equipment. Referral partners feed your pipeline. Deal sizes tend to increase because you are comfortable with larger transactions. This is where brokers either stay solo at a comfortable income or start building a shop -- adding producers, expanding verticals, and multiplying their deal flow.
*Timeline and income ranges are illustrative and based on typical broker ramp patterns. Individual results vary significantly based on effort, prior experience, market conditions, training quality, and other factors. This is not a projection or guarantee of income at any stage.
The Bottom Line
Equipment finance brokering is not a salary. It is a business. The income potential is real -- brokers who build consistent pipelines and close deals can earn well into six figures annually. But that income is not handed to you. It is earned deal by deal, month by month, through prospecting, packaging, and relationship building.
The brokers who earn the most are not the ones who found a secret. They are the ones who showed up every day, built their lender relationships, specialized in verticals they understood, and never stopped filling their pipeline. There is no passive version of this.
If you are comparing this to a W-2 job, understand what you are trading: guaranteed income and benefits for uncapped earning potential and independence. That trade is excellent for some people and terrible for others. Be honest with yourself about which category you fall into.
The right support structure -- lender access, deal tools, training, and live deal support -- does not change the fundamental effort required. But it compresses the timeline from "figuring it out" to "funding deals." That time savings is worth real money when every month without production is a month without income.
Want to See the Commission Math for Your Market?
Every broker's path is different. Talk to us about your background, your target verticals, and what a realistic income timeline looks like with Broker-in-a-Box support behind you.