Entering loans, interest, and loan payments Follow

Loan entries are money you've received that you'll need to pay back to the lender. When you enter a loan, you'll specify your loan's interest percentage and length, and LivePlan will calculate the interest and payments automatically. The app also incorporates the correct principal and interest payments into your financial statements.

Note: Don't enter your loan payments as a separate expense. LivePlan adds them to the forecast for you.

Note: This feature assumes you are following a standard repayment schedule. Want to pay a loan off faster than required, incorporate a balloon payment at the end, or otherwise customize the payment schedule? In those cases, see Adding a loan with a custom payment schedule.

Adding a new or future loan

Use this method for loans you'll place anytime after the start date of your forecast.

1. Click on the Forecast tab, and then click Financing:
   
2. Click the Add Loan button:
   
3. Enter a name for the loan, and select the month in which you'll receive it:
   
4. Enter the amount of the loan, the interest rate, and the length of the loan:
   
   
   
5. Click Create Forecast Item. The loan will appear in the Financing table under Amount received. You'll see the monthly payment Payments and the balance of your debt for this loan under Balance: 
   

Adding a pre-existing loan

Pre-existing loans are loans you receive before the start of your forecast. The steps for a pre-existing loan differ slightly from those for a future loan. 

1. Click on the Forecast tab, and then click Financing:
   
2. Click the Add Loan button:
   

3. Enter a name for the loan, and select Before plan start date under When will you receive it:
   
   
   

4. Enter the amount you still owe on this loan as of the start date of your plan:
   

5. Indicate how many payments you have left to make before this loan is paid off:
   

6. Finally, enter the interest rate for this loan:
   

7. Click Create Forecast Item. This loan and its payments will appear in the Financing table with the same organization as the new loan described above.
   
   

   Note: If you own an up-and-running business, you'll need to provide your total asset, liability, and equity balances as of the start of your LivePlan forecast. Please see Entering starting balances for an existing company for more details.

Adding a loan with a custom payment schedule

If you need to represent a loan that doesn't match the standard repayment schedule, please see Entering a loan with a custom payment schedule. 

Adding special types of loans

Sometimes, your loan will have special terms. The links below offer instructions for some common types of specialty loans:

• Entering a loan with deferred payments
• Entering a loan with deferred interest
• Entering a loan with interest-only payments
• Entering a pre-existing loan with customized payments
• Entering convertible debt

Viewing the payment schedule of a loan

To expand the payment schedule of a loan, click on the triangle to the left of "Financing," as indicated in the following screenshot:

This will show additional detail for all financing entries, including the principal and interest breakdowns.

Clicking on the arrow again will collapse all financing entries into the condensed view. 

Where does this entry appear in the financial statements?

(For more details, read How LivePlan handles loans and other financing.)

Only the interest portion will appear in your Profit and Loss table when you enter a Loan or an Other entry. This is because the interest is the only actual cost your business incurs in the loan:

Loans will appear on one or two lines of the Balance Sheet, depending on their length. A loan that will be paid back within 12 months appears as Short-Term Debt. A loan of longer than 12 months will be divided into Short-Term Debt and Long-Term Debt. For more on this, read What is the difference between short-term debt and long-term debt?

In the Cash Flow, similarly, loans (or portions of loans) may be considered Short-Term Debt or Long-Term Debt: