BYO / Self-Managed Novated Lease — Employer Checker

Many employers technically permit BYO (self-managed) novated leases — where you arrange your own financier rather than using the one bundled by your employer's salary packaging provider.

Self-managed leases often offer significantly more competitive effective interest rates than bundled arrangements — this alone can make a meaningful difference to the net cost of the lease over its full term.

This option is frequently obscured or actively discouraged by incumbent salary packaging companies, whose revenue includes a margin on bundled finance. In some cases, when asked directly, consultants have been known to deflect or misrepresent whether this option exists.

This page is a community-maintained record of confirmed employer policies.

What is BYO / self-managed finance? You source your own finance independently, while your existing salary packaging company continues to handle payroll deductions and FBT administration as normal. The financing and the administration are handled by two separate parties.

How it works in practice

The key thing to understand is that two parties are involved in a BYO lease, each handling a separate role:

  • BYO finance specialist (aka Third Party Introducer) — sources and arranges the actual finance through their lending panel (think: a mortgage broker, but for your novated lease)
  • Your existing salary packaging company (e.g. Paywise, Smartleasing) — continues handling the payroll deductions and FBT administration as normal

These two sides operate independently. Your packaging company does not need to initiate or approve the finance; they simply process the salary deductions once the lease is in place.

The process typically looks like this:

  1. Contact a BYO specialist directly. Provide your vehicle details, preferred lease term, annual kilometres, income, and postcode. The specialist generates a quote showing your fortnightly cost and effective interest rate.
  2. Review the quote. Compare the rate against what your packaging company would offer. Rates vary based on your credit profile — good income, assets (e.g. a mortgage), and low debt generally improve what the lender will offer.
  3. Submit a credit application. If the quote looks competitive, the specialist runs a formal pre-approval through their lender panel.
  4. Receive approval. Once approved, the financing is confirmed.
  5. Provide your dealer contact. The specialist contacts your car dealer directly to request a tax invoice for the vehicle.
  6. Sign the lease documents. The specialist prepares documents for both you and your employer to sign. Your employer's role is administrative — they're not arranging anything, just authorising the payroll deduction.
  7. Finalise the admin arrangement with your salary packaging company. Using the documentation provided by the BYO specialist, you return to your existing salary packaging company (e.g. Paywise, Smartleasing) to set up the ongoing payroll deduction arrangement. They handle the FBT administration and fortnightly salary sacrifice from this point forward.
  8. The lease settles. Your salary packaging company begins processing the deductions as normal. The BYO specialist's job is done.
Know of another employer? If you have first-hand knowledge that your employer permits — or explicitly disallows — BYO finance for novated leases, contact me with details and I'll add it to the database.