Entering a loan with a custom disbursement or payment schedule Follow

The standard loan entry in LivePlan calculates equal monthly payments. But let's say you want to set up a loan with quarterly payments, or a balloon payment at the end. Or perhaps your loan will have multiple disbursements. You can always use the flexible Add Other option to enter a loan with custom disbursement and repayment terms. 

LivePlan will still calculate the interest automatically if you need, but you'll be able to enter the loan's timing and payments flexibly.

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

   

3. Enter a name for the financing:
   

4. Indicate the annual interest rate, if any:
   
5. Indicate whether you'll pay this financing back within 12 months:
   
6. Click Next.
7. Enter the amount of money you'll receive and when you'll receive it. You can enter a single amount in a single month or amounts in multiple months, depending on how your loan is structured:
   
8. Click Next.
9. Enter the amount you plan to pay back each month or year against the balance:
   
   

   Note: the default setting in LivePlan is for one year of monthly detail. If you need more years of monthly detail in order to enter future payments more accurately, you can easily change that setting.

10. Click Save & Close. This loan and its payments will be displayed in the Financing table.

Adding special types of loans

Custom loans can take many different forms. The links below offer detailed 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

Where does this entry appear in the financial statements?

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

When you enter a custom loan, only the interest portion will appear in your Profit and Loss table. This is because the interest is the only true 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: