From my experience, there are two ways to account for the equipment and its use.
The one that is used most often is to simply build the cost of the equipment into your overhead. This means that it affects your hourly rate that you charge out on a day in day out basis.
The second is when you have a peice of specialty equipment that has a limited and somewhat specialized use. This can include larger equipment like lifts or smaller equipment like some of the specialized test equipment. If you can assess the amount of hours of work it may generate, you can create a special hourly or flat rate charge related to the use and assessment of results of such equipment. In effect creating a mini business plan and mini revenue stream within your business. This is seen most often with bucket trucks where the hourly rate is for truck and electrician.
However, It is important to build these equipment costs into your business in one form or another to ensure that the equipment is paying for itself as Reno says, earning you money.
