<PAGE>

                             31.1 THE RULE 15d-14(a)

I, George Springsteen certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Commonwealth Income &
Growth Fund II (the Registrant);

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Registrant as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The Registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financing
reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the
registrant and have:

              (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
              such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
              supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
              Registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
              known to us by others within those entities, particularly during
              the period in which this report is being prepared;

              (b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
              caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
              designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance
              regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the
              preparation of financial statements for external purposes in
              accordance with generally accepted accounting principals;

              (c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
              controls and procedures and presented in this report our
              conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
              procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report
              based on such evaluation; and

              (d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
              internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
              registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth
              fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has
              materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect,
              the registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

     5. The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based
     on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,
     to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's
     board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

              (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
              design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
              which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's
              ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
              information; and

              (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
              or other employees who have a significant role in the
              registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

/s/ George S. Springsteen
---------------------------
George S. Springsteen
Chief Executive Officer
August 12, 2003