Is printing and graphics a central concern of your business? If it is, the value of that equipment can make up a solid portion of your business' overall assets. However, that equipment is often misrepresented in terms of value in your balance sheet. Because this type of equipment often has a long lifespan, equipment depreciation rates used in tax tables may reduce your equipment's value to zero long before it has stopped providing value for your business. Here's a quick look at the kind of equipment you can get an estimate of value with during a graphic arts printing equipment appraisal.
What Kind of Equipment is Evaluated During a Graphic Arts Printing Equipment Appraisal?
- Sheetfed Offset Presses: Used for a wide range of different printing purposes, sheetfed offset presses are often at the heart of businesses that provide a number of products in different sizes, including newspapers, advertisements, postcards and similar paper products. Because sheetfed offset presses deal better with this range of sizes, it provides superior flexibility in daily operations.
- Web Presses: Producing documents using huge rolls of paper rather than individual sheets, web presses deliver efficiency and economy for many businesses, providing a better option for mass production operations. However, it represents a serious investment for many businesses, which can be rolled into your balance sheet for more accurate figures.
- Pre-Press Equipment: From high-end computers that are designed to handle the burden of graphics design to the specialty equipment you use for providing proofs to clients prior to mass production, your pre-press equipment keeps orders rolling in without getting in the way of your mainstream operations.
- Bindery Equipment: As anyone in the business can tell you, what the product looks like on the press can be very different than the finished product. Folders, stitchers, trimmers and similar machinery help turn loose paper into a quality finished product, with sharp folds, quality binding and neat edges.
- Materials Handling Equipment: When you need to move pallets of paper or other material to keep your presses rolling, the equipment you use in this process is the lifeblood of your business, keeping things from grinding to a halt when a new shipment arrives or a machine needs to be replenished to continue getting the job done.
- Shipping Equipment: Unless you run a local-only shop, you're probably going to have to ship your products to your customers. Whether it's shipping scales, conveyor belts, packaging machinery or similar equipment, being able to get your finished product boxed and out the door helps keep your workspace free for operational purposes.
By having a graphic arts printing equipment appraisal performed on your business, you can ensure that you have an accurate estimate of the value of your business assets, giving you a more accurate balance sheet. When presented in an appraisal report from an accredited equipment appraiser, you can use this information to help in a range of different situations, whether it's filing an insurance claim after an equipment fire, appealing a bad tax assessment or securing financing for growing your business.