For each home loan and mortgage stored in Home Loan Interest Manager, it is important to understand the difference between the loan amount and the loan balance.
In simple terms:
The following example will quickly show the difference:
If a person took out a mortgage for 100,000 three years ago, and they currently have 75,000 left to repay, then:
You need to set up these two amounts correctly in Home Loan Interest Manager, so that the summary screen and reports provide you with the correct information.
When you add or edit and account you will be prompted to enter a Loan Date, Loan Term and Loan Amount, all of which refer to the original amounts you agreed to borrow from your lender or bank. This information is normally found in your home loan or mortgage contract.
When you add or edit statements (or any transaction within a statement) you will be prompted to enter the statement balance. This figure reflects what you currently owe and will increase and decrease with each transactions entered.
If you follow this simple rule when processing you loan and mortgage statements, then your information will be correct:
The statements you create in Home Loan Interest Manager should have the same date range and opening balances as the statements sent to you by your bank, and you should create one transaction in Home Loan Interest Manager for each transaction that appears on your statement.