[jasomill]

Sure, but there can also be tax advantages to buying outright. Germaine to the discussion of SaaS is the fact that, in the case of packaged software, I can either elect to deduct 100% of the purchase price immediately (up to a certain annual dollar limit) or depreciate it over three years. All other things being equal, a $3,000 deduction this year beats a $1,000/year deduction for the next three years.

[walshemj]

Well in a lot of places you can discount interest payment against profits - which is why those ghastly debt back buyouts that make money for the banks sort term but saddle a company with unmanageable debt are so popular.