Receiving Loan Payments

When you receive a customer's Buy-Here/Pay-Here loan payment, the software applies it using the true-daily-earnings method. Interest is accrued on a daily basis much like any other vehicle loan. The software will apply the payment to cover any upaid interest first, current interest next, and then principal.

If the customer has not paid enough money to cover the amount necessary to become current on the loan, the software will show the customer as being late on their payments.

To receive a customer's loan payment, first click to select and highlight a customer's name within the customer loan list as described in the Customer Payments section of this manual. Once the customer has been selected, click on Receive Payment button.

You may also receive payments for a selected customer by clicking on the Dealer Financing menu at the top of the screen and selecting the Make Payment option in the pull-down menu.

The software will display the Customer Payment window with the customer's name at the top. Along with the customer's name, the software also displays the cutomer's next outstanding payment amount, when that payment is due, and the amount the customer needs to pay to become current on Buy Here/Pay Here loan payments. The software will show the current loan principle, the current interest due, unpaid late fees, the current payoff total, and other pertinent loan information.

Note: The amount a customer needs to pay to become current on the loan includes the currently due payment. Therefore, if a customer is current and never misses a payment, the software will still show that this customer needs to make a payment to become current. For example, John Smith pays $100.00 due on the first day of each month. He is current on all payments. On the first of this month, he makes his payment, and you enter the payment into the software. On the second day of this month, John Smith is technically due to pay another payment of $100.00 to become current even though this payment is due on the first day of the following month. The reason for this is that the payment is still due even though he has not passed the due date of his payment. In other words, a due date is not when the payment is actually due -- a due date is the last day a payment will be accepted before a late charge is assessed.

Enter the customer payment date in the Payment Date box. Be sure you enter the correct date the payment was received. The software automatically fills in the Payment Date field with today's date. You may override this if you wish. When entering dates, you have the option of using the calendar funtion. Simply click the calendar button to display the calendar. With the calendar displayed, you may move through different months and click on a specific date. Clicking on a date will automatically enter that date into the date field. You may also add or subtract days to a date that has already been entered by pressing the + or - keys when the date field is highlighted and the calendar is not displayed.

Note: Interest is calculated on a daily basis so the correct payment dates are very important.

Enter the payment amount in the Payment Amount box.

Enter the payment method in the Payment Method box. Click the down arrow to display a pull-down menu of payment method choices. To apply a payment but not count the money received in any of the software's profit reports, select Misc Credit.

Enter the name of the person receiving this payment. You may use the drop-down box to select a name from a list. This list comes from the names of the salespersons entered into the Staff Maintenance window.

You may enter late fees charged and paid into this window. If you have previously checked the box labeled Prefill, the software will calculate the appropriate late fee to charge using information you entered into the deal and set up when entering your Buy-Here/Pay-Here finance source in the Bank Maintenance window.

If appropriate, you may also enter a total for any miscellaneous fees you have decided to charge the customer as well as a description of what those fees are for.

Once all information has been entered, click on the Apply Payment button. This will apply the payment to the customer's account and recalculate current balances. The program will also display a preview screen containing a customer payment receipt which you have the option of printing.

Note: Once a payment has been applied, a unique transaction receipt number will be assigned to this payment. This allows you to track payments received and payments missing (if someone at your dealership were to purposely delete a loan payment from a customer's account). Printing the Receipt Report and sorting by receipt number is a convenient way to look for missing payments.