A 2009 version is now being developed so as to encompass the latest regulations to come into force. Basically, its "The Consumer Credit Act 2006 Post Contract Information Requirements" and "The Consumer Credit (Information Requirements and Duration of Licences and Charges) Regulations 2007"

Basically, this will need to record further information relative to movements in the account, generate automatically reminders when periodic statements fall due, and generate the statutory notices as part of the available on line documentation

June 26 2009

The changes have implemented, however revolving credit accounts have been dropped from the package. None of my customers was using this facility and the new regulations affect this type of account to the degree whereby I consider it requires a dedicated solution.

The new package is currently undergoing trial.

This software has been developed and priced especially for typical small to medium business. Competitive products can cost many times as much, effectively putting them out of the range of many start up businesses. This latest version has lots of new exiting features, while retaining the ease of use for which this application is noted. It is a complete credit finance management and accounting software covering Hire Purchase, Conditional Sale, and Personal Loans. (Act and Non Act). All of these agreement types are handled from a single screen, this allows you to browse and locate records with ease. Handles single, joint, or several borrowers/hirers. Once only entry of customers regardless of repeat business, with all transactions automatically logged against the relevant customer for future reference.

Includes FastTrack Legal. A complete litigation management, accounting, and workflow monitoring system. (Extra): Read about Fast Track Legal

Also includes Virtual Organiser, a complete workflow and contact management facility.

Calculates 2004 regulations settlement quotations for equal installment agreements, agreements where an introduction fee is charged on the first installment, where a documentation fee is charged on the last, where fees are charged on both the first and last installment, where final installment is a 'balloon' payment, or were a fee is charged on the first, and the last is a 'balloon', and also 'short term loans'. It is also suitable for 0% interest agreements with a facility to enter a penalty rate for the charging of overdue installments. Installments can be weekly or monthly and include Protected Payment Plan or similar. All installment agreements are completely "free form", that is you can enter the details of any type of agreement that you like, within certain bounds. An agreement can have several joint borrows, and/or several joint guarantors.

Full on line Default Notice, Termination of Hire, Settlement Quotes, Reminders, Bankers Order Mandate, plus many others. Goods related Default Notices are automatically formatted according to whether or not the Customer has paid more or less than one third of the total price, or whether or not the agreement is Act or Non Act. Repossession invoicing. Payment entry from bankbook slip numbers or direct, with payment slip number search facility. 

Includes both Rule of 78 tax accounting and non Rule of 78 accounting with full audit trail. Also bad debt accounting on Rule of 78 and non Rule of 78. (This last feature reconciles the interest element credited from previous years with any payments made since plus anything a repossessed vehicle may have been sold for). Please note that although settlement calculation is now subject to the 2004 regulations, accounting practices will need to continue to use whatever method has always been used. Accounting practice needs to be consistent.

There is an installment calculator with APR return, and split figures where a Protected Payment Plan or similar is included, and the figures need to be separated on the agreement. 

Read about APR in agreements.    [APR]

Facility to levy account charges for items such as reminders etc, and automatic charging of penalty interest on overdue payments where an agreement is zero APR, according to a preset penalty rate. If an account is checked to charge penalty interest, this is automatically updated each time a payment is entered into the system. A message box will advise amount. If a customer stops paying, it can be manually updated ready for printing out the Court papers.

Data export facilities to Microsoft Excel enables possible integration with a variety of accounting packages.

Individual accounts automatically update on the click of a button. Requires NO "daily update routines".

This is quite a package developed over a number of years. I have a  finance company of my own that I have run since 1973. I therefore feel that I am in a position to understand the requirements.

£995 PC, £1,245 local network.

Full Description

The application runs from a main switchboard. From here you can navigate to anywhere at the click of your mouse.

On this latest version, miscellaneous items have been 'farmed off' to their own separate switchboard shown bellow.

Clicking "Accounts" opens to the main account screen.

Opening screen shows common account information such as the customer(s), guarantors, and the account reference number. Opening view is Customers (borrowers).  Customers and guarantors can be single or joint, or any realistic number.  Tab controls allow entry/viewing of information relevant to that particular type of account, and will change automatically for different account types.

Second tab control (Instalment agreements): Here you enter the details of the account.  You can enter an unequal first payment that includes an acceptance fee (optional), ANY number of main installments, and an unequal final installment that includes a documentation fee, or final payment that is a "balloon" payment. Installments  can be WEEKLY, MONTHLY, or ANNUAL. You can also enter a premium in respect of Payment Protection Insurance, and any interest charges. The program will regard these as separate transactions when incorporated into a goods related account. When incorporated into a personal loan, the figures will be inclusive.

Third control  shows current settlement figure (calculated under rule of 78), current discount, arrears of payments, date of last payment, un-expired time of agreement, total paid, and Default Notice information for goods related accounts. Arrears and total paid will be split into figures related to main goods related agreement, and the personal loan in respect of protected payment insurance; if applicable.

The screen has been designed for fast scrolling records and searching facility. Therefore figures will not populate until needed. The effect is triggered by clicking a button.

The fourth tab has a mass of buttons which open on-line documentation. These include reminder letters, settlement quotes, default notices, terminations of hire, slip numbers (explained later), and an account report. Plus many other on line documents. Each time a document is produced, the event is automatically logged and used to track work flow. Further, the event is logged against the customers (s) and can be used in the future to assess credit information when considering further business with that customer.

Messages that you could expect to see:

"The amount that you are entering is not equal to any installment due under this agreement. Advise check your figures."

  "Your customer has made the correct first payment amount, but the amount that you are entering is not equal to the main installment."  "Advice check your figures"

  "You are entering a payment with a future date!"

  "Your customer has made the correct first payment amount, and now appears to be making a second payment that includes the documentation fee" "Advise check your figures"

  "Your customer didn't make the correct first payment, and the payment that you are entering isn't equal to the main installment."  "Advice check all the figures"

  "Your customer hasn't made the first payment, and the payment that you are entering isn't the correct first payment amount"

If you find these messages a nuisance, you can turn them off. Pity Microsoft doesn't take a leaf out of my book.

Clicking "Enter" will automatically evaluate the payment being entered against the outstanding balance of the original installment agreement. If the payment being entered is greater than this figure, the payment will be automatically apportioned between repayment of the amount due under the agreement and extra charges such as default interest. The "Extra Charges" account is maintained separately and will automatically debit default interest if the account is checked to do this. This makes dealing with clients who 'overpay' and have to have money returned, much easier.

Virtual Organiser: A tool for workflow and contact management.

An exiting addition is what we call the Virtual Organiser. Every time that a reminder, Default Notice, or whatever, is produced, the event is logged in the program. This is then evaluated against the current status of the various accounts, and the information used to produce a task list. You can also enter future tasks manually. This task list is available in the Virtual Organiser together with lists of tasks completed. These are viewable by a date selected from a calendar bar on the left. The organiser will automatically open to today's date by default. It looks good, does the job well, and is pleasant to work with. See for yourself.

Other pages show delinquency, payments due in (on the date selected), contacts ( these are customers and brokers) with in-program emailing facility, and pages for memos. The little buttons to the right of each line entry will open the related credit account screen. When the task is completed, the entry will disappear from the 'To Do' list and appear under 'Done'.

Installment Calculator

This is capable of handling virtually any type of agreement with or without Protected payment plan or similar. The premium for the PPP can be charged at the same rate as the loan ,or at 0% interest. 

Look here it is:

Clicking the "APR" button will produce a screen that returns the APR on both the main agreement details and the split items. See?

There is a "Report" button here that you can use to generate a report that you can fax to your broker so that he can enter correct figures into the agreement.

Other features:

Slip Numbers

If your customers pay their installments direct into the Bank, you can enter the payment slip numbers into your computer before you sent out the book. You can then locate the relevant account from the slip numbers as they appear on your Bank statement.

On line Documentation

There is a full range of on line documentation available at a single click of your mouse. Default Notices (Automatically drawn for you dependant on whether the customers has paid more or less than 1/3 of the total HP price, whether or not the agreement is Act or Non Act), Terminations of Hire, Reminder Letters, Consumer Credit Act Settlement Quote, Dealer Settlement Quote, Advice of Account Settled, Advice of Account Settled (inviting new business) and Bankers Order. THERE IS NO NEED TO ENTER INTO A MAIL MERGE DIALOG. The are actually well over a hundred different letters, reminders, Default Notices, etc available. This is a sample of the kind of letter you would send to a new account that is payable over a bank counter. You would enclose an agreement copy and a bank giro credit book. An individually designed letterhead graphic is part of the service! Many of these letters and documents are created for you at run time, by a process known as concatenation. If you don't know what this means, don't worry about it. But basically, its a method by which a program can create text when needed without the necessity to actually store that particular document or variation of it. This keeps down the size of the software's main file.

You can see a sample. This is in html format, so when you have finished, click "Back" on your browser. Sample Letter

Court Actions

There is a facility to automatically print out County Court Summons and Particulars of Claim. There are useful hints contained in this option, which virtually tell you exactly what to do. This saves a fortune in solicitor’s costs.

Date Defined Accounts

There are available reports, both Rule of 78, and non Rule of 78, showing in respect of each Hire Purchase account the total paid and interest element. The date range that you enter can be for a financial year, a week, a month or whatever suits you. Another useful feature is the bad debt analysis reports. These give the bottom line on your actual loss when an account is written off.

Fine Tune

The application has a facility to fine-tune each account in respect of a "buffer zone" for the customers arrears and also for the DISCOUNT FOR EARLY SETTLEMENT. This is best explained by example.

Suppose that you get a request for a settlement quotation, say from an insurance co. You look at the screen and see that there is a payment due only two days away. You type the number 3 (i.e. 3 days) into the DISCOUNT TUNER and hit the button marked "Refresh". Immediately the settlement figure increases by £70.  We do have to say though, the inclusion of facilities like this are to be used at the sole discretion of the user, their inclusion with the application should not be taken as an inference of the legality or otherwise of their use. This is primarily intended for the circumstance were a request for a settlement is received say at ten to five, just as everyone is packing up to go home. If the next installment is due the next day, and it will be the next day anyway before hard copy can be posted out, this facility can then be used. 

There is a similar facility that can be applied to a customers arrears. You can apply this in special circumstances so that a customer for whom a special arrangement has been made, can be given more leeway in respect of arrears.

Error Trapping

There is a saying about computers, "Garbage in, garbage out". There is nothing that the program can do to stop you entering incorrect figures, however, it will prevent you from missing out important data. There are other built in features that at least warn you if you are making a potential error. Apart from this, our code contains error trapping procedures according to accepted current best practice. There is also what we call our "Error Wizard" which checks the information that you enter for missing values.

User Details

When you purchased the program, you company details will have been entered into the application for you. If you change address or phone number, you can easily make the necessary adjustment yourself. All on line documentation will than automatically change. Only the username, i.e. the name of your company will be permanently written into the program. This is to prevent piracy.

Licence

Iris Computers Ltd are licenced Microsoft Office developers. You will be issued with your own End User Licence Agreement (E.U.L.A.) with the application.

Use Office Links

This application is a Microsoft Access application. This means that it is fully integrated with the other programs included with the Microsoft Office suite. Obviously, mail merge is possible with Microsoft Word, however due to the on line documentation, hardly necessary. However, this does have other possibilities. Again, these are best demonstrated by example.

Suppose that your finance co does really well. So well in fact that you run out of money! You would then need to see your Bank Manager. Well, first you could export data to Microsoft Excel. This could be used to create a very impressive pie graph. This would be in full colour and illustrate the growth of your book debt and corresponding profits. This could then be incorporated in to a presentation prepared on Microsoft PowerPoint.

It is reasonable to assume that your Bank Manager would be suitably impressed.

(The above Office Links features require require Microsoft Office Professional pre-installed on your computer)

THE ABOVE APPLICATION IS FULLY YEAR 2000 COMPLIANT

Price £995 + VAT including interactive help files in Internet Explorer format and collection agent laptop module.

Local Networking, (non client server,2 disks, software application plus admin module). Allows you to set permissions for each user by means of a simple control panel.  Security features include shut down after 3 unsuccessful password entries, and cracker proof password encryption. Add £250 + VAT per extra licence.

Client server versions subject to special quote.

FastTrack Legal Litigation management, accounting, and workflow monitoring system. Add £200 + VAT

Purchases/Accounting features now included, see "Accounting"

Note. The application can be purchased in its basic form for £995. Extra features can be purchased at a later date and are activated by a release code. IDEAL FOR START UP BUSINESSES!

If you are an existing user and would like the latest version of the help file, you can download it here. If you are a prospective purchaser, it is also a good way to learn more about the program.