You can use the Loan Amortisation rule in Spotlight Forecasting to record a new or existing loan in your forecast, including the principal and interest repayments.
Note: This rule is available in the Forecast and Scenario tasks.
To add the rule
In your forecast, open the Balance Sheet tab and then open the Current Liabilities or Non-Current Liabilities section.
Click Add Rule, then enter a name for the rule. This may be the name of the loan, or another recognisable name.
From the Rule Type drop-down list, choose Loan Amortisation.
Complete the remaining options as follows:
Apply Rule To - The account to which you want to record the loan liability. Journal to Account - The bank account to which the loan is paid, and from which loan repayments are taken. Interest Account - The interest expense account to record interest on the loan.
Click Next, then complete the Loan Details screen. The following options are available:
Loan Amount - This is the full value of the loan. If the loan was made in the past and you've already partially repaid it, enter the full original amount of the loan. Start Date - The date on which the loan was made. If the loan was made in the past, this should be the original start date - you do not have to set this to a date within your forecast. Loan Period - The duration of the loan. This should be the full duration of the loan, even if part of this period has already passed. Repayment Frequency - The timing of payments. You can choose Monthly, Fortnightly or Weekly payments.
Note: As Spotlight Forecasting uses monthly values only in reports, if you select the Weekly or Fortnightly option, values still appear in your reports on a monthly basis. However, for the purposes of reducing interest, the rule calculates in the background based on the frequency you select.
Interest Rate - The rate of interest due. Interest Period - The period of the loan to which the rate and repayment option applies. The duration is applied from the beginning of the loan, so if your loan has a single interest period for the full duration, you should enter the same value here as the Loan Period setting. Repayment option - Whether the repayment of the loan during this period is to be on a Principal & Interest or Interest Only basis. Add interest rate - If required, you can enter different rates and repayment options for different periods of the loan. To do this, simply click Add Interest Rate and complete the details of the new interest period.
If any payments were made to the loan other than the standard repayments, or to see the difference that would be made by a lump sum payment, click this option. You can then enter the following details:
Amount - The amount of the additional repayment. Date - The date of the additional payment.
You can also select whether the additional repayment should be used to reduce the overall length of the loan, or to reduce future repayments to the loan.
If this is an existing loan which was already recorded, either in your accounting system or by using the Fixed Asset rule, select the Loan already recorded in accounts check box.
Note: When you select this check box, loan repayments and interest are still calculated, but no loan is recorded to the liability and bank accounts you chose on the previous screen.
Click Next. The Loan Amortisation Schedule screen then shows you the details of the loan and the payments and interest amounts for each month.
Note: If you chose the Fortnightly or Weekly repayment frequency, the schedule shows only the total payments for the month.
If required, to download a copy of the loan amortisation schedule, click the Excel or PDF button. If the repayment frequency is weekly or fortnightly, this schedule gives the full details of the loan, weekly or fortnightly if required.
Click Next. The Loan Summary screen shows you an overview of the loan. If required, to show the loan summary on your report, select the Include in Assumptions page of report check box.
Click Next, add any notes required, then click Save Rule.
The loan now appears in the appropriate accounts within your profit and loss, balance sheet and cashflow forecast.
