Still on Windows 10? How to fund a business PC refresh without draining cash

Windows 10 reached end of support on 14 October 2025. Businesses can pay for Extended Security Updates for up to three years, but the price doubles every year. For most small businesses, replacing older PCs is the cheaper fix, and a short technology lease or equipment loan lets you swap the whole fleet without emptying the account.

A year on, plenty of small businesses are still running Windows 10 on the front counter, in the back office and on the boss’s laptop. The machines still turn on, the software still opens, and replacing ten computers never quite makes it to the top of the list. This guide explains what’s changed, what staying put really costs, and how businesses are funding the refresh. For the product itself, see our page on technology equipment finance.

What actually happened to Windows 10?

Microsoft’s lifecycle page for Windows 10 confirms end of support on 14 October 2025. Since then, devices no longer receive free security updates, bug fixes or technical help.

For organisations that can’t move immediately, Microsoft offers a paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) program. The key points for a small business:

• It covers security updates only. No new features and no general technical support.
• Commercial devices can be enrolled for up to three years, with Year One having started in November 2025.
• It’s priced per device, and the price doubles every consecutive year.
• It’s cumulative: if you join in Year Two, you pay for Year One as well.
• Devices need to be on Windows 10 version 22H2.

So the longer you wait, the more expensive it gets to stay put, and at the end of three years you still need new machines.

Why does an unsupported PC matter for a small business?

Unsupported software becomes a growing target because known weaknesses stay unpatched. That’s not abstract. The Australian Signals Directorate’s Annual Cyber Threat Report 2024–2025 puts the average self-reported cost of cybercrime for a small business at $56,600 per report.

The government’s cyber advice has long treated end-of-support products as a priority: check the end dates for everything you rely on, plan the upgrade before support ends, and recognise that some older computers simply can’t run newer software, so hardware may need replacing too.

There are also quieter costs. Older machines are slower, staff wait on them, specialist software vendors stop supporting old platforms, and some insurers ask about patching and supported systems when you renew a cyber policy.

Pay for updates, or replace the fleet?

Path	Upfront cost	Ongoing cost	Where it ends
Do nothing	None	Rising risk, slower machines	Forced replacement after a problem
Buy ESU for every device	Low per device	Doubles each year	New hardware needed anyway
ESU for a few, replace the rest	Moderate	Small and shrinking	Fleet fully modern within a year or two
Replace the fleet now	Higher	Repayments if financed	Supported devices, fewer headaches

For many businesses, the sensible middle path is ESU only for the one or two machines tied to specialist software that can’t move yet, and replacing the rest now.

How can a business fund a PC refresh?

Replacing ten or twenty devices at once is a lumpy cost, and it lands on top of everything else. Financing spreads it out.

Technology lease. You pay to use the devices over a set term and return or upgrade them at the end. Good for businesses that want a predictable refresh cycle. See finance leases.

Equipment loan or chattel mortgage. You own the devices from day one and the lender takes security over them. Suits businesses that keep devices until they’re worn out.

Unsecured business loan. Typically $5k to $500k, sized on turnover and bank statements. Useful when the project includes migration labour, networking and setup that an equipment lender won’t fund, or when you want one facility for the lot. See unsecured business loans.

Because computers lose resale value quickly, lenders generally keep terms short, roughly in line with how long the devices will be useful, and lean on your cash flow more than the hardware.

If you’ve got an IT quote sitting in your inbox, send us a short enquiry and we’ll talk through which structure fits.

Should you refresh everything at once or in stages?

Both work, and the right answer depends on your cash flow and how much disruption you can carry.

All at once means one project, one round of staff training, one set of setup costs and every device on the same platform from day one. It also makes the finance simpler: one quote, one contract, one repayment. The downside is a busier changeover weekend.

In stages spreads the work, but it leaves part of the fleet unsupported for longer and can mean paying ESU on more machines in the meantime. If you stage it, replace the most exposed devices first: anything used for banking, payroll, email and customer data.

A useful rule of thumb is to finish within one ESU year, so you don’t pay for a second, more expensive year on machines you were going to replace anyway.

What should go into the quote?

A tidy quote makes financing easier and avoids surprises:

1. Hardware: desktops, laptops, monitors, docking stations, with model numbers.
2. Setup: imaging, data migration, installation and disposal of old devices (with secure data wiping).
3. Software: perpetual licences on the invoice; subscriptions listed separately.
4. Networking: if the refresh includes new switches, Wi-Fi or a firewall, list them.
5. Support: any managed service contract, quoted separately as an ongoing cost.

Ask your IT provider which existing machines can be upgraded rather than replaced. Newer devices may only need the operating system upgrade, which shrinks the amount you need to finance.

Illustrative example

Illustrative. An accounting practice with 14 staff is still running Windows 10 on 11 desktops and three laptops. Two machines run an older practice management add-on that won’t be supported on the new platform until next year.

The IT provider quotes $38k for 12 new devices, monitors, setup, data migration and secure disposal of the old machines. The practice buys ESU for the two specialist machines to bridge the gap, and finances the rest on a three-year technology lease with an option to upgrade at the end. Staff move across over two weekends, so client work isn’t interrupted. The practice’s cyber insurer is told at renewal that all but two devices are on a supported system, with a dated plan for the last two.

Our page on IT business loans covers how lenders see IT providers themselves, if you’re on the other side of this conversation.

What about tax?

Ask your accountant how the purchase should be structured. The ATO’s instant asset write-off page lists a $20,000 limit for each asset (not the whole order) for eligible small businesses in 2025–26, which most individual PCs fall under. Leased devices are treated differently from owned ones, so check before you choose the structure, and confirm the limit for the current income year. If cyber protection is part of the same project, our guide to funding a cyber security upgrade covers the rest.

Ready to retire the old machines?

Every month on unsupported machines is another month of risk, slower work and rising update costs. A planned refresh, funded so the cost is spread over the devices’ useful life, is usually cheaper than the alternative.

The enquiry takes about 60 seconds and there’s no credit check when you first enquire. We don’t push your details out to a pile of lenders, so you won’t get a flood of calls. A real person reads your enquiry, looks at the IT quote and calls you to talk through options. Please fill the form in accurately, including the full project cost, so the first suggestion we make is the right one.

Find out how to fund your refresh →