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PCLOAN4
Version 4.x
Bottom Line Software
P. O. Box 1804
Burleson, Texas 76028-1804
817-447-5524
Copyright 1984,85,86,87,88
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LICENSE AGREEMENT AND WARRANTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
TO INSTALL THE PROGRAM ON A WORKING DISK . . . . . . . . . . 2
TO RUN THE PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
TO PRINT A SCHEDULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
MENUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
MAIN MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
LOAN AMORTIZATION MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
LOAN CALCULATION MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
RULE OF 78THS CALCULATION MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
HELP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
OUTPUT OPTIONS MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Setting output options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Selecting the report format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
INTEREST OPTIONS MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Setting interest calculation options. . . . . . . 12
Simple interest loans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1) Principal amount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2) Number of payments to amortize . . . . . . . 15
3) Number of payments per year . . . . . . . . . 15
4) Number of interest only payments . . . . . . 15
5) Payment at which loan balloons . . . . . . . 16
6) Interest rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
7) Date of note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
8) Date of first payment . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
9) Payment type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Interest included . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Plus accrued interest . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
10) Payment amount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Rule of 78ths loans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1) Principal amount of note . . . . . . . . . . 18
2) Total finance charges . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3) Total amount of note . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4) Number of payments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5) Payment amount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6) Date of note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
7) Date of first payment . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
8) Number of payments per year . . . . . . . . . 20
Correcting errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Customizing. Remembering option settings. . . . . . . . . . 21
Setting foreground and background colors . . . . . . . . . . 23
Bugs and errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Reporting bugs or errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Requests for future versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
New feature request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
LICENSE AGREEMENT AND WARRANTY
I have read and agree to the following license agreement.
The program and the users manual contain valuable
intellectual property and trade secrets of Bottom Line Financial
Software, Inc. I understand that I may make as many copies as I
want for backup but I will not sell, rent, loan, give or
otherwise transfer possession of any copy of the program or of
any other materials supplied to any person or other entity.
This product is supplied with only one warranty. Within 30
days of receipt, if this product fails to perform any advertised
function, I may return it postage prepaid, with a printout of
any erroneous result, or a written description of the advertised
function which failed, for a full refund. Computer rounding
differences are not considered to be erroneous operation.
Bottom Line Financial Software, Inc. disclaims any other warranty
expressed or implied, including without limitation, the
warranties of merchantability or fitness for any purpose.
INTRODUCTION.
PCLOAN4 is a program to help you with loan calculations and
with loan amortization schedules.
PCLOAN4 was designed by a retired bank president who has
negotiated, originated and collected over 30,000 commercial
loans.
PCLOAN4 is quite complete and will perform almost any
calculation needed for a business or personal loan which is
amortized in multiple payments.
PCLOAN4 has on line help for most functions but is designed
in such a manner that if you understand the loan, you will not
need much help to use the program.
PCLOAN4 is distributed on an unprotected floppy disk. It can
be copied to another floppy or to a hard disk with the DOS Copy
command.
TO INSTALL THE PROGRAM ON A WORKING DISK.
Place the distribution disk in drive A:.
Log on to drive a: by typing the command
A:<return>
then type the command
menu<return>
You will find options on the menu to install the program on
either your hard disk, or a floppy disk in drive b:
Select the option of your choice.
If you do not wish to use the install programs supplied, you
may simply copy the files PCLOAN4.EXE and AMORTIZE.PAR wherever
you like.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 2
General installation.
To copy the program from any disk to any other working disk,
you must first turn on the computer and boot it up with your
normal DOS diskette. when this is accomplished and your screen is
displaying the normal dos prompt A>, perform these steps.
Determine the drive letters for the source and the
destination drives you intend to use. In the following
instructions, the source drive is S and the destination drive is
D. You must replace S and D with the Drive letters for the drives
you will be using in your system.
To copy from drive A to drive B, replace the S in the
instructions with A and replace the D in the instructions with B.
1) Place you working diskette in drive D:
2) Place the PCLOAN4 diskette in drive S:
3) Be sure the doors are closed properly on both drives.
4) Type the following command lines:
copy S:pcloan4.exe D:
when this copy is complete,
copy S:amortize.par D:
5) Press the <Return> key to end each copy command.
On some keyboards this key is marked <Enter> or with a
broken arrow that looks something like this <---'.
6) When each copy is complete, the screen will display a
message that says
1 file(s) copied.
TO RUN THE PROGRAM
With a copy of the program on your working disk and the
working disk in drive A, type the following command,
A>pcloan4<return>
After a few seconds wait you will see the sign on message.
At the bottom of the screen you will see a message that say
<Return to continue>. Press the <return> key and you will get the
main menu.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 3
TO PRINT A SCHEDULE
PCLOAN4 will print these different types of schedule.
1) Normal simple interest amortization.
2) Constant principal payment plus all accrued
interest.
3) Rule of 78ths amortization schedule with accrued
interest paid.
4) Rule of 78ths rebate schedule with rebate amount
and payoff.
To print a schedule, you must first be sure that output is
sent to the printer. From the main menu, select the output
options selection and turn on the printer output. At this point
you may turn on or off the output to the screen, the text file,
or the data file. For long schedules, it is recommended that
screen output be turned off.
To print either a normal or a constant principal payment
schedule, select option 1 from the main menu. This will take you
to the loan amortization menu. Select option 1 again on the loan
amortization schedule. This action will take you to the data
input screen. Enter the data requested. For the Constant
principal reduction loan, the question "Does the payment amount
include the interest" is answered "N". This answer will alert the
logic of the program to provide constant principal reduction and
collect all accrued interest in addition to that amount.
To print the rule of 78ths amortization schedule, select
option 1 from the main menu to get to the loan amortization menu.
then select option 2 "Amortize rule of 78ths". These actions will
take you to the data input screen and you will be asked to enter
the data about the loan.
To print the rule of 78ths rebate schedule, select option 1
from the main menu and then option 7 from the loan amortization
menu. You will be asked for exactly the same data as for the
amortization schedule but the report will be different.
If both reports are needed, it is not necessary to reenter
the data for the second report. Simply answer by pressing
<return> when you are asked for the line number of the data item
to change.
Setting the Date. The date printed on the report comes from
the computer system date. You computer may ask you for the date
when you boot it up. If it does, the date you give will be
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 4
printed on the printed reports. If it does not, your DOS disk has
a command called DATE which will allow you to set the date. See
your DOS manual if you have trouble with the DATE commands
MENUS
PCLOAN4 is completely menu driven. You will have no commands
to remember.
There are seven menus. This is what they do.
------------------------------- MAIN MENU--------------------------------
OPTION NO: DOES THIS:
1) Amortize a loan. Takes you to the amortization menu
2) Loan Calculations. Takes you to the calculation menu
3) Review or change output options. Takes you to the options menu
4) Review or change interest options Takes you to the interest option
menu
5) 5) is not used
6) 6) is not used
7) Save (remember) ...options Save the interest and output option
settings to a file. They will be
retrieved and used again next time
you use the program
8) Help. Takes you to the help menu
9) Return to DOS. Exits the program and returns to
DOS
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 5
-------------------------- LOAN AMORTIZATION MENU------------------------
OPTION NO: DOES THIS:
1) Amortize simple interest loan. Accept data and print a schedule
2) Amortize rule of 78ths loan. Accept data and print a schedule
3) Review or change options. Takes you to the output options
menu
4) Review or change interest options Takes you to the interest options
menu
5) Reset all variables. Reset all data so you can start
over
6) Display a calendar Display a calendar for any month
from 1901 to 2099
7) Rebate schedule rule of 78ths Compute and print a rebate schedule
8) Help. Takes you to the help menu
9) Return to main menu. Takes you back to the beginning
(You must do this before you can
quit.)
Options one and two on this menu print an amortization
schedule. The only difference between them is the method of
computing the interest. Option one uses the method selected from
the interest options menu. Option two uses the rule of 78ths.
Both schedules will show the same balance due or "payoff" amount.
Most lenders quote "payoff" or "rebate" figures on rule of
78ths loans. If you want these figures instead of interest
accrued and paid, select option seven to print a rebate schedule.
The rebate schedule will list both the rebate and the payoff.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 6
--------------------------- LOAN CALCULATION MENU-----------------------
OPTION NO: DOES THIS:
1) Calculate payment. Option 1 through 4 calculate the
amount redquested when the other
amounts have been entered.
2) Calculate number of payments.
3) Calculate amount of loan. three
4) Calculate interest rate.
5) Reset all variables. Reset all data so you can start
over
6) 78ths calculationsTakes you to the rule of 78ths calculation menu
7) 7) is not used
8) Help. Takes you to the help menu
9) Return to main menu. Takes you to the beginning menu
------------------------ RULE OF 78THS CALCULATION MENU-----------------
OPTION NO: DOES THIS:
1) Calculate payment. Option 1 through 4 calculate the amount
requested when you have entered the
other variables.
2) Calculate number of payments.
3) Calculate amount of loan.
4) Calculate interest rate.
5) Reset all variables to 0. Not used.
6) Calculate rebate factor Calculate the rebate factor and the
amount of the rebate at any payment
date.
7) 7) is not used
8) Help. Takes you to the help menu
9) Return to main menu. Takes you to the beginning menu
The 78ths calculation menu allows you to calculate the
payment amount, the number of payments, the loan amount or the
interest rate for a rule of 78ths loan. This is not a true
regulation Z installment loan calculator but is adequate for
personal use. If you need more capability in this area, a true
Reg Z installment loan calculator is available from Bottom Line
Software.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 7
Option 6 calculates the rebate factor and the rebate amount.
Rule of 78ths loans have the entire interest amount included
in the amount of the loan. It will be listed on the face of the
note as Finance Charge. Credit life and accident and health
insurance charges are also subject to the same rebate
calculation.
To calculate the rebate, select option 7 from this menu and
enter the data. You will be asked to enter the total number of
payments in the contract, the current payment number and the
amount of the charge to be rebated. The input screen will look
like this:
Total of charge to be rebated........: #########.##
Total number of contract payments....:
Total number of payments made........:
Rebate factor........................:
Rebate amount........................:
The total charge to be rebated is the Total Finance Charge
from the face of the note. (Or alternatively the credit life
insurance charge, or other charge). Each such charge should be
rebated separately. This is the way the lender will do it because
the insurance companies pay the insurance rebate while the lender
pays the finance charge rebate.
For a quick estimate however, you can add all these charges
together and compute the rebate on the total.
The total number of contract payments is the total number of
payments in the contract. This amount will be listed somewhere on
the face of the note. Look for "Number of payments"
The total number of payments made is the number of payments
which have matured since the beginning of the contract (whether
or not they have actually been paid.) If they have not been paid
when due, there will be late charges due.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 8
If the contract was a three year contract beginning January
first 1985 with the first payment due on February first 1985, the
Total number of payments made would be:
As of Number of
this date Pmts made
02-01-85 1
03-01-85 2
04-01-85 3
05-01-85 4
: :
: :
etc etc
Rebates are computed as of payment dates. If you
need a payoff as of March 15th, you would select the April first
payment date and use 3 as the number of payments made. Compute
the rebate and then subtract it from the contract balance.
After entering the requested data, the rebate factor and
amount will be computed and displayed on the screen. You can get
a printed report by holding down the shift key and pressing the
PrtScr key. (Be sure the printer is ready or you will lock up
the computer!)
--------------------- HELP MENU ---------------------I can help
you with questions on the following topics.
Which would you like?
1 Principal amount of note.
2 Number of payments for amortization.
3 Number of payments per year.
4 Number of interest only payments.
5 Balloon payment number.
6 Interest rate per annum.
7 Dates (both).
8 Payment includes interest? (Y?N).
9 Payment amount - 0 = I compute it.
Esc Return to main menu.
The information presented by the help facility is necessarily
brief.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 9
------------------ OUTPUT OPTIONS MENU--------------------------
If you select the output options menu, this is what you can do.
off 1 Print report to printer.
off 2 Print report to ASCII text file.
off 3 Print data file containing transactions only.
on 4 Print report to console.
MM-DD-YYYY 5 Set fiscal year end.
0-0 6 Partial report - periods to report.
7 Reset all options to beginning values.
A 8 Set report format.
9 RETURN TO PREVIOUS MENU.
To set these options, you press the number key indicated for
each option.
Setting output options
Option 1 determines if the report will be sent to the
printer. If option 1 is off, the report will not be sent to the
printer. To send the report to the printer, press the "1" key on
the keyboard. You can use either the numeric keypad or the type
writer keypad. Either will work.
When the 1 key is pressed the word "off" displayed to the
left of the option number will change to "on". If you press the 1
key again, the "on" will change back to "off". Try this a few
times. The option will switch from "on" to "off" and back each
time you press the 1 key.
Options 1 through 4 work exactly the same way. When you have
them all set the way you want them, press the 9 key and you will
return to the point in the program from which you came to this
menu.
The reports you produce now will be printed (or not printed)
according to the output options you have set. Each output option
is independent of all the others. Any option can be on or off. It
is possible to turn all output options "off". If this is done,
the calculations will be performed but nothing will be printed.
An interesting but nonproductive exercise.
Output option 1 through 4
These options allow you to specify where the report will be
printed.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 10
Option 1 sends the report to the printer. This option is
initially turned off. If you want the report printed, you must
turn it on.
Option 2 will cause the report to be printed to a text file
on your disk. The file will have the name AMORTIZE.TXT. This file
will contain only the schedule of payments. It will not have any
of the header information. You may load this file into your word
processor and add any type of header information you like. An
example of the use of this feature would be to add the name of
your company to the report header. Another example might be to
print payments 24 through 36 and add them to the body of a letter
describing the loan.
Option 3 will cause the report to be printed to a file named
AMORTIZE.DTA. This file will contain only the raw data from the
payment schedule. This file can be loaded into your word
processor if you like or it can be typed on the screen or printed
on the printer if you want to see what it looks like.
This file will be of use only to programmers however and
they will know how to use it so no examples will be given.
Option 4 causes the report to be printed to the console. If
this option is turned off, the report will not be printed on the
screen. This is very handy when printing long reports to the
printer because the screen report pauses every 12 payments for
the operator to inspect it. This pause will also stop the printer
until the operator indicates it is ok to proceed by pressing the
return key.
When printing long reports turn output option 4 off.
Option 5 allows you to set a fiscal year end. If it is set,
interest paid will be reported at the end of each fiscal year
end. If this date is not set, the program will set December 31,
and report interest for each calendar year.
If you select option 6, you will see a message at the bottom
of the screen. You will be asked to enter the number of the first
payment to print. When this has been entered, you will be asked
for the number of the last payment to print. These numbers will
be displayed to the left of option 6. All schedules printed will
begin and end with these payment numbers until you reset the
numbers. These numbers are reset for you when you change from a
simple interest loan to a rule of 78ths or vice versa.
If you do not set these payment numbers, the schedules will
begin with payment 1 and continue for the number of payments you
specify as the total number of payment for amortization or until
the loan is paid off.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 11
Option 7 resets the output options to their beginning or
default values. This will result in the report being printed to
the screen only.
Option 8. Selecting the report format. This option allows
you to choose between two report formats for simple interest
loans.
option A or option B. Option A prints a blank column for you to
write the date the payment was received. Option B replaces this
column with the total payment amount.
Option 9 will return you to the point in the program from
which you came to this menu. There are several places in the
program which will allow you the opportunity to come to this menu
and set or reset the output options. When you have the options
set as you want them, then 9 key will take you back where you
started.
----------------------- INTEREST OPTIONS MENU-------------------
1) Set basis 360 day year - 360 divisor.
2) Set basis 365 day year - 360 divisor.
3) Set basis 365 day year - 365 divisor.
4) Set negative amortization.
6) Set fiscal year end (MM-DD-YY)."
7) Reset all options to beginning values."
8) Help."
9) RETURN TO PREVIOUS MENU."
Setting interest calculation options.
To set the interest calculation option, press the number key
that corresponds to the interest option desired. To set the
360/360 option, press the 1 key (not F1). The word "on" will
appear to the left or the option you selected and "off" will
appear to the left of the other options.
To set the 365/365 option, press the 3 key, (not F3). The
word "on" will appear to the left of the 365/365 day option and
"off" will appear to the left of the other options.
Interest options. What do they do?
Options 1-3 set the basis for calculation of interest. There
are many methods of calculating interest. Each method results in
a slightly different interest amount.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 12
The normal method of computing an amortization schedule is
method 1, a 360 day year and a 360 day divisor. This method
assumes all months are 30 days long and results in charging 1/12
year interest each month or 1/4 year interest each quarter. etc.
All payments are computed assuming the 360/360 basis. This
is the only option which will result in the balance being exactly
zero after the payment of the final payment. Even this method
will not come out exactly if interest only payments or
Option 2, 365 day year, 360 day divisor. This is the method
used by many banks and other lenders. When computing the interest
using this method, the actual number of days between payments is
calculated. For example:
Payment date Days charged
Jan 1
Feb 1 31
Mar 1 28 (or 29)
Apr 1 31
May 1 30
Jun 1 31
Jul 1 30
Note that the number of days charged is the same as the
number of days in the preceding month.
This method results in computing interest for every day of
the year. The catch is that the divisor in the interest
calculation is 360 instead of 365. The interest formula used by
this method is
Principal X Rate X days
interest = -----------------------------
360
This formula charges 1/360th of a year interest 365 times a
year. The amount of interest actually charged is greater than
method 1 by the fraction 365/360 or 1.01389. An increase in the
amount of interest collected of almost 1.4%. This becomes quite
significant when dealing with many loans.
Option 3, 365 day year, 365 day divisor. This method makes
no assumptions. It charges interest every day, 365 days (or 366
days) each year. It uses 365 as the divisor however so the 1.4%
difference of the 365/360 day method does not occur.
This method is required by some government guaranteed loans
like the SBA or FMHA.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 13
Option 4. Set negative amortization. Normally the program
accumulates unpaid interest and collects it when possible but
does not add it back to the principal. If the negative
amortization option is set, the unpaid interest will be added
back to the principal after each payment.
Option 6, set fiscal year end. One of the most common uses
of an amortization schedule is to determine the amount of
interest paid on the loan in order to deduct it for income tax.
This option allows you to set a fiscal year end. If you do not
set the year end, December 31 is assumed. As the schedule is
printing, each fiscal year end, the amount of interest paid
during that year is reported.
Note that this is interest actually paid. If the payment
date is not the same as the fiscal year end, there will be
interest accrued but unpaid at year end. This situation is called
a timing difference. If you use accrual accounting, you will have
to make the adjustment manually.
Option 7, Reset all (interest) options to beginning values.
This will reset all options to the default values. These
values are 360/360 interest computation.
ENTERING DATA
Simple interest loans.
When this screen is printed, you will be asked for each item
in the order they are presented on the screen. The computer will
print a message in the message area. This message will tell you
what to enter and occasionally how to enter it.
1) Principal amount
First you will be asked to enter the principal amount.
The principal amount of the note is the face amount of the
loan, the amount on the note document. This will usually (but not
always) be the same as the amount borrowed. It is the amount on
which interest will be calculated.
You can enter any amount from $0.01 to $999,999,999.99. If
you have occasion to use the latter number, I hope it is on a
loan receivable.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 14
2) Number of payments to amortize
Next you will be asked to enter the number of payments to
amortize.
This number is the maximum number of payments the program
will process. The loan balance will be amortized until the
balance is zero or until the number of payments to amortize has
been processed.
When this number of payments has been amortized, processing
will stop even if the balance is not zero.
3) Number of payments per year.
The number of payments per year is simply the number of
payments the debtor is expected to pay each year during the life
of the loan. If payments are required monthly, the number of
payments per year is 12.
Examples
payments number of payments
required per year
weekly 52
semi monthly 24 eg. first & fifteenth
every other week 26 eg. every other Friday
monthly 12
each fourth week 13 eg. every fourth payday.
quarterly 4
thirdly 3
semi-annually 2
annually 1
The number of payments per year may be any integer from 1 to
365 and the calculations would be correct but the payment dates
will not be computed correctly with any other number of payments
per year.
The program will therefore restrict your entry to one of
these options and will not allow any other number to be entered.
4) Number of interest only payments
The number of interest only payments will usually be zero.
It may be any integer number. The amortization routine will not
collect any principal payment until this number of payments have
been collected charging only the interest due.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 15
If the number of interest only payments is greater than the
number of payments to amortize, the program will never charge any
principal. It will collect interest only to the end of the
schedule.
If the payment amount entered is larger than the interest
due, the excess amount will simply be ignored. This type loan is
quite common in real estate financing.
Example:
Interest due 1000.00
Payment amount 1350.00
Amount collected 1000.00
Applied to interest 1000.00
Applied to principal 0.00
If there are no interest only payments, simply enter zero or
press the <return> key.
5) Payment at which loan balloons
(Final maturity)
It is quite common in real estate financing for the
amortization period to be longer than the term of the loan. A
loan might have an amortization period of 30 years (360 months)
and a final maturity or balloon payment at the end of the seventh
year (84 months).
The balloon payment is the payment at which the entire
amount is due. This is sometimes called the call date. It is the
final maturity date of the note.
The final maturity date of most notes is simply the date the
last payment matures. If no balloon payment is required, enter 0
or press <return>.
An other example. The note is payable in annual installments
based on a ten year amortization schedule but the entire amount
unpaid is due on the fifth anniversary. the balloon payment would
be payment number 5, the fifth payment.
6) Interest rate
The interest rate is entered as a percent or as a decimal
number.
Twelve and one fourth percent can be entered as 12.25, or it
can be entered as .1225.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 16
7) Date of note.
8) Date of first payment.
Dates must be entered as MMDDYY. Zeros do count and are
necessary. To enter June 18, 1985, type the following six key
strokes:
061885
The result on the screen will be
06-18-85
The date entry routine was designed for persons familiar
with ten key. It allows very simple error correction. If you make
a mistake, just start over at the beginning. Simply keep entering
numbers until you like what you see on the screen. (Backspace
does not work.)
9) Payment type
Interest included
Plus accrued interest
Does the payment amount include the interest?
There are two commonly used methods of quoting loan
payments. In the first and most common method, the interest is
included in the payment amount quoted. When a payment is made,
the interest due is calculated and deducted from the payment
amount. The amount remaining is applied to the principal balance
of the note. This results in all payments being the same amount.
This is the normal manner in which loan payments are quoted.
In the second method, the loan amount is simply divided by
the number of payments to be made and the result is quoted as the
payment amount. In this case it is understood that all accrued
interest is due each payment date in addition to the principal
payment.
When a payment is made on this type note. the interest is
calculated and added to the quoted payment amount to arrive at
the amount of the total payment. This method results in a larger
total payment in the beginning but the payment declines over the
life of the loan as the interest amount declines.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 17
10) Payment amount
Enter the payment amount or zero.
If you answer zero or <return>, The program will calculate
the payment amount according to the prior information you have
given.
If you have specified interest only or balloon payments, it
will ignore them and assume the payment you want is the payment
necessary to amortize the loan over the number of payments you
specified as the number of payments to amortize.
If you enter a payment amount, it will use the amount you
enter. (For better or worse!)
If you specify interest only payments and allow the program
to compute the payment amount, the payment amount it uses will
not completely amortize the loan unless you also specify a
balloon payment.
If you want interest only, and complete amortization WITHOUT
a balloon payment, use option 1 on the loan calculations menu to
calculate the proper payment for you.
For this to work, you must trick the program by telling it
to amortize the number of payments from the end of the interest
only schedule to the final payment. This is the total number of
payments less the number of interest only payments.
Rule of 78ths loans.
1) Principal amount of note.
When using the rule of 78ths, there are quite often several
charges added to the amount of the loan before computing
interest. These might be such things as credit life insurance
premium, filing fees, etc.
The amount to enter here is the amount shown on the note as
the TOTAL AMOUNT FINANCED.
2) Total finance charges.
This amount will include the interest charged on the total
amount financed. This amount will be labeled FINANCE CHARGE or
TOTAL FINANCE CHARGE on the loan.
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3) Total amount of note.
This is the total of everything. All the payments scheduled
for payment on the loan will add up to this amount. This amount
will be found on the note labeled TOTAL OF PAYMENTS.
This amount can be entered at this time but it is best to
enter a 0 or just simply press the <return> key and let the
program calculate the amount from the previous data entered. This
practice will give you a check point. Check the amount the
computer displays against your former figures. If they do not
agree, you have made an error somewhere.
4) Number of payments
This number is the number of payments the program will
process. The loan balance will be amortized until the balance is
zero or until the number of payments to amortize has been
processed.
When this number of payments has been amortized, processing
will stop even if the balance is not zero.
If you allow the program to compute the payment amount for
you, it will calculate a payment amount that will exactly
amortize the loan in this number of payments.
5) Payment amount
The program expects to calculate this amount for you and
will do so if you enter a zero or simply press the <return> key.
If you enter a payment amount you may receive a message
telling you the amount is too large or too small. If you ignore
this message, the program will use the amount you entered and do
the best it can.
If you want to change the amount of payment, you will be
given the opportunity to do so.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 19
6) Date of note
7) Date of first payment
Dates must be entered as MMDDYY. Zeros do count and are
necessary. To enter June 18, 1985, type the following six key
strokes
061885
The result on the screen will be
06-18-85
The date entry routine was designed for persons familiar
with ten key. It allows very simple error correction. If you make
a mistake, just start over at the beginning. Simply keep entering
numbers until you like what you see on the screen. (Backspace
does not work.)
8) Number of payments per year.
The number of payments per year is simply the number of
payments the debtor is expected to pay each year during the life
of the loan. If payments are required monthly, the number of
payments per year is 12.
Examples
payments number of payments
required per year
weekly 52
semi monthly 24
monthly 12
quarterly 4
thirdly 3
semi-annually 2
annually 1
The number of payments per year may be any integer from 1 to
365 and the calculations would be correct but the payment dates
will not be computed correctly with any other number of payments
per year.
The program will therefore restrict your entry to one of
these options and will not allow any other number to be entered.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 20
NOTE
The rule of 78ths is a formula which was devised for
amortizing monthly amounts. The formula will work for other
periods of time but the results will not be what you might
expect. For a given finance charge, the yield or APR will
decrease with the length of time between payments.
Check this out for yourself by entering a loan and writing
down the APR. When the schedule is completed repeat the process
with the same numbers but change the number of payments per year
from 12 to 4 then to 2 and finally to 1. You will see the APR
decline with each change in the payment frequency.
If you are borrowing money, this is great. If you are
lending it WATCH OUT!
Correcting errors.
When you have entered all the data for a loan, you will be
asked if the data is ok. If it is, you simply respond "Y" or "y".
If you have made an error, or simply changed your mind and
want to change something, respond to this question with a "N" or
a "n". You will then be given the opportunity to change any thing
you have entered.
If you make a change that would require a change in the
payment amount, you may enter the new payment amount or change
the payment amount to 0 and let the program compute the new
payment amount for you.
Customizing. Remembering option settings.
Option 7 on the main menu allows you to save your interest
calculation and output options to a disk file. These options will
be read by the program each time you run it and they will be set
for you just like you used them last time.
If you have a special need, you can change the options for
one schedule and then not save them. Next time you run the
program, you old options will be reset.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 21
The name of the file which contains your options is
AMORTIZE.PAR. The PAR is an abbreviation for parameters.
The AMORTIZE.PAR file contains the following data:
courtesy=Bottom Line Software
output=printer
output=screen
OUTPUT=TEXT
output=data
basis=360/360
display=off
background=01
foreground=07
This is what it means.
The words on the left side of the = are the options which
can be set from this file. The words on the right side of the =
are what they are set to.
The output options can be set to printer, screen,
text(file), or data(file). Any or all of these options may be on
at the same time.
The basis option can be set only to one option at a time,
360/360; 365/360; or 365/365.
The courtesy message can be set to any message you like but
it must be only one line. Maximum of about 75 characters.
The display option.
When PCLOAN4 is run, it checks to see if the display option
is "on". If it is, PCLOAN4 displays a screen showing you the
setting of all options. If the display option is off, this screen
is bypassed.
This file allows you to save your favorite output options
and your interest computation option. You may also set a courtesy
message. This message will be printed at the top center of every
printed report.
The output=printer means the program will send all reports
to the printer.
Output=screen sends all reports to the console.
Output=text sends all reports to a text file on your disk.
The filename is AMORTIZE.TXT.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 22
The output=data sends all reports to a data file on your
disk. The name of this file is AMORTIZE.DTA. This file will be of
no interest to you unless you are a programmer.
Basis=360/360 sets the basis to the 360/360 option.
Display=off turns off the display that tells you what
options are set when you first run the program.
Courtesy=Bottom Line Software causes "Bottom Line Software"
to be printed at the top center of each printed schedule.
Setting foreground and background colors
Background=01 sets the background color to 01.
Foreground=07 sets the foreground to 07.
Remember, the leading 0 is required and there may not be any
spaces before or after the = sign.
The color codes are:
0 Black
1 Blue
2 Green
3 Cyan
4 Red
5 Magenta
6 Brown
7 White
Other color combinations are possible, see your Basic manual
for additional color codes. read about the COLOR statement.
Color combinations cannot be set from within the program.
They can only be set by editing the parameter file with a text
editor or word processor.
How to change the AMORTIZE.PAR file.
You can save the options you have in effect by using option
7 on the main menu. This option however does not allow as much
flexibility as using an editor to edit the file. If you do not
have an editor, you can use your word processor if it has an
option to save a file in ASCII format. If you cannot find an
option to save a file in the ASCII format, do not use your word
processor on this file. The results will be unpredictable.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 23
If you use an editor to edit the AMORTIZE.PAR file, you must
not place a space before or after the "=". You may use either
upper or lower case characters.
You may turn an option off by simply deleting it from the
file. You may also turn an option off by inserting any character
before it.
Example:
courtesy=Name of your company, Inc.
output=printer
output=screen
;OUTPUT=TEXT
basis=360/365
display=on
Make a backup copy of the file AMORTIZE.PAR and then edit
the file to look like this. Notice the output=data line has been
deleted. Copy your edited version of the file to the same disk
that contains the PCLOAN4 program and start the program.
Note: The file must not have more than nine lines.
If the display option is "on". When PCLOAN4 signs on, it
will tell you what options are set. and that the courtesy message
is "Name of your company, Inc."
Interest will be computed by the 360/365 day method and
output will go to the screen and the printer. The text file and
the data file options are "off".
Each printed report will have "Name of your company, Inc."
centered at the top of the report.
Bugs and errors
A bug is a problem with a program that causes it to produce
erroneous output or to do something unexpected or otherwise
unacceptable. An error is more generic. It might be a serious bug
or only a misspelled word.
Please keep in mind that the program cannot do everything
for everybody. If it will not do something you need done, that
does not constitute a bug or an error. If you need a feature that
is not available, refer to the section on requests for future
versions.
There are so many different combinations of amounts, rates,
payments, dates, partial schedules, interest only periods and
balloons that I cannot possibly test them all.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 24
It is possible that you may find a combination that does not
work at all or that produces erroneous results. If you do, you
have discovered a bug. I would sincerely appreciate it if you
would report it to me.
Reporting bugs or errors
Bug reports should contain all available information about
what you were doing before the error occurred. This is very
simple to report.
Turn on your printer, be sure it is selected or on line, go
to the data entry screen, hold down the "Shift" key and while you
are holding it down, press the "PrtSc" key. This will cause an
exact duplicate of the data input screen to be printed on the
printer. Next go to the output options screen and repeat the
procedure.
Do not switch from simple interest to rule of 78ths or back
during this procedure. Switching from one method to the other
will cause all the data variables to be reset and you will loose
your set of conditions you are trying to report.
In addition to the screen printouts, please provide the
information on the problem report form in the back of the manual.
Requests for future versions
New features are constantly being added to PCLOAN4. Future
versions are expected to have the features most needed by users
but this is only possible if users make their needs known.
Supporting material is very important in requesting a new
feature. It is necessary to know exactly what information is
needed, how it is to be calculated and how it is to be used. If
there are accounting or legal (usury law) considerations, they
must also be explained in detail.
See the form for requesting a new feature. It is in the back
of this manual
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 25
Bottom Line Software Date ___________
Problem report
PCLOAN4 version _______
Name ______________________________ Type of problem (check one,
or more)
Address ______________________________ [ ] Problem with program
Address ______________________________ [ ] Problem with documents
City ______________________________ [ ] Problem with display
State ______________________________ [ ] Problem with printer
Zip ______________________________ [ ] Other problem
Computer used:
Brand _________________ Model ______________________
Memory(K)_________________ Operating system MS-DOS or PC-dos
Video card ______________ System version ___________________
Printer brand & model ________________________________
When I do this,
_____________________________________________________________________
This is what happens,
_____________________________________________________________________
I can make it work right if I,
_____________________________________________________________________
I would prefer for it to
_____________________________________________________________________
Other details you think might be important?
_____________________________________________________________________
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 26
Bottom Line Software Date ______________
New feature request
Program name _____________________ Version ___________
I need to do this:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
I need this because
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
The amounts should be calculated like this:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
The report should look like this:
Column Column Column Column Column Column Column
name name name name name name name
Please enclose a sample copy of all notes, calculations, reference
material and anything else you have to insure accuracy.
AMORTIZE Bottom Line Software Page 27
