Contents - Index


Adding New Deals

Main Menu - File - New Deal -or-

This is the only way to add new deals (leases or purchases) to ALMSys. New deals are added in a wizard- fashion.

Account Page
The first task is to determine the account number for the deal. Account numbers are unique to each person (or business or family), and may be reused for additional deals for the same person (or business).

You may type in the account number or use the search fields to look in the database to see if the person already has an account established.

After determining the account, please select the location to which this deal belongs. If you only have one location, then location zero will automatically be selected for you.

Note: You may change a deal that was recently added that has had no additional payment history information added. In this scenario, make the deal current on the main menu and then enter the new deal screen. A button should appear in the upper, right-hand corner that will allow you to reload the lease. You may then go through the new deal wizard again, make your modifications, and resave the deal.

Typically, you will be Manually entering deal information. In the case that you have software that automatically creates ALMSys new deal files, then you can load this data via the From Deal File button. Contact support for more information on software that creates ALMSys new deal files.

If you chose the From Deal File button, then you will be asked to locate the new deal file. Once located, press the Open button. The data will be scanned. If there are any miscellaneous capitalized or non-capitalized costs that are not recognized, you will be given the opportunity to either create a new master code for the cost, to select the correct master code from a list of existing codes, or to bypass the cost altogether.

New deals may also be added from a copy of an existing deal. Choose the Copy from existing deal to begin this process. Then, use the Search Fields box to select the list of deals from which to choose. Finally, click on the deal and press the Use Selected Deal button. (You may also double-click on the deal in the list.)

If you have ALMSys Quotes installed, you will be able to press the From ALMSys Quotes data button in order to retrieve a deal from ALMSys Quotes to add to ALMSys. The account number is ignored and the Internal Account Number that was entered into the quote will be used as the account number in ALMSys. The Quotes' Internal Account Number MUST be set up or the pull into ALMSys will not work. Normally, you get a full opportunity to review and recalculate the deal being imported. However, if the deal includes payment skips, then you do not get that chance and you will be taken directly to the funding date screen. This is because recalculating the lease would erase all of the skip information that was set up. Since the deal was already calculated using the same calculation routines, the re-calculation is not necessary.

If you are an XSellerator user, a Search XSellerator for Deal panel will be displayed to the right of the account number search panel. Enter look-up data into only one of the fields provided and press the Search XSellerator button. All of the fields (except Vehicle Sales ID) will accept partial data. If you wish to import data from a non-lease deal, then please check the "This is a non-lease" box. If more than one deal is found that matches the data entered, a list will be displayed from which to choose. ALMSys will retrieve your data from a number of XSellerator files and then perform the deal calculation for you. If master codes are needed for AMP/Tax or Lease Charges, they will be automatically added. ALMSys double-checks its calculations against what XSellerator calculated for the deal. You will be informed if a difference in the resulting monthly payment is found. In any event, a new "XSellerator" subpage on the Calculate page has been added. This new subpage is described below. (GST/PST Note: If a new AMPTax master code is created for GST or PST, then ALMSys will attempt to copy ledger information from an existing GST/PST master code.)

Deal Info Page
This page is used to provide the basic information for the new deal. You must provide information for all of the fields, except Control Number. The Control Number field is your internal tracking number for the deal. Using the vehicle's stock number is a very common practice for this field.

The VIN field is required. If you are tracking collateral that does not have a VIN, then you must provide a unique (serial) number for the collateral. This number may be less than 17 positions.

The Lease/Loan Date is the actual date on which the contract was signed.

In the blue Odometer Calculations area, vehicle ending odometers (for leases) may be calculated by supplying the starting odometer, the annual miles/kilometers allowed, the lease term (in months), and pressing the Calc Ending Odometer button. If you already know what the lease end odometer "not to exceed" setting is to be, then you may simply enter it into the Ending Odometer field.

Press Next to continue. You will be taken to the Calculate page.

Calculate Page
This page is used to provide the information necessary to calculate the deal. There are many subpages for additional information that is usually necessary to calculate the deal.

Main Subpage
This is where you perform the calculation and see the resulting amounts. Start by entering the base value of the vehicle in the Capitalized Cost: Base field. Additional charges (or credits) are entered on the Charges page as described below.

If the End Value is zero, then check the $0 box. End values may be calculated for you by clearing out the End Value field and entering the Residual %. When the deal is calculated, the End Value will be filled in.

If the Interest Rate is zero, then check the No Rate box. An interest rate is required for a deal calculation. If you use a money factor to determine the monthly payment amount, then fill in the Money Factor field and check the Yes in the Use Money Factor box. When the deal is calculated, the Interest Rate will be filled in.

The Term of the deal is the number of periodic payments.

In the Calculation Options box, there are four items that need addressing. First, you need to select the Calculation Type . "Spreadsheet" is the most common. ("Standard" is not recommended; please use "Standard with Interest" instead.) Second, you need to tell the calculation if the first payment is to be "rolled in," or capitalized as part of the deal. "No" is the most common answer to this question. Third, you need to select the Payment Frequency from the list. Monthly is the most common selection. Fourth, you will need to answer the Automatic Prorate question. "No" is the most common selection. If you select "Yes", then a prorated amount will automatically be calculated for you and added to the deal. For leases, this will show up as a due on delivery item. For loans, it will be added to the cap. cost.

Below the Base Options box are two calendars for inputting the first and second payment due dates. When you click on the first due date, the second due date will be calculated for you, based on the payment frequency. If you are doing semi-monthly payments, set the first calendar to the first payment due date, and the second calendar to the second payment due date. These two days will be used for the remaining payment schedule.

Press the Calculate button to calculate the deal.

Note: Any of the main 5 values in the Base Values box may be calculated for you by providing the other 4 values and pressing the Calculate button.

When all of the subpage entries have been and the payment is calculating correctly, press the Next button.

Charges Subpage
This is where you input the miscellaneous add-on charges and due on delivery charges to the deal. The left side of the page is for non-capitalized (due on delivery) charges, and the right side is for  or capitalized (added to the deal) charges. 

Charges are added by:
  • Select the charge type by pressing the down arrow in the first field in the box above the darker grid. If the charge type is not present, press the button, provide a unique master type code and description, and then press Save & Exit. (Master code charges may be specified as non-taxable, which would only affect a capitalized charge.)
  • Type in the amount of the charge.
  • Press the + button.

    The new charge will appear in the grid below and the totals will be updated accordingly. You will still need to recalculate the deal on the Main subpage.

    Charges may not be changed once they have been added. You may delete a charge by clicking on the charge in the grid and then pressing the button in the lighter box above the grid.

    The Cap. Cost Reduction field is a special field that affects the totals on both sides of the screen. Positive cap. cost reductions will lower the net capitalized cost and increase the due on delivery.

    The Cap. Reduction from Trade field will work like the Cap. Cost Reduction field only if the check box is marked to include it in the due on delivery calculation. (This check box is set by default in the Location Maintenance.)

    For Canadian deals, specifying Lien on Trade data may (or may not) affect the GST/PST tax calculations. GST Registrants will always pay full GST and PST taxes. If the lessee is not a GST registrant, then indicate whether or not the PST is also affected (lowered) by the lien on trade.

    Taxes Subpage
    This page is used to provide the monthly tax breakdown. Each tax entity should be defined separately. These entities are referred to by ALMSys as Additional Monthly Payments. (See the How To section in help topic Tax / Additional Monthly Payment Master Code Maintenance for more details on additional monthly payments.)

    The grid on the right contains a list of all of the defined codes. If there is not a corresponding tax code for any of the taxes that you will need, press the Add Tax Code button and define them before proceeding.

    To assign a tax code to the deal, simply click the "X" column of the corresponding code. The "A" column is for specifying whether or not taxes are accumulative. (See the How To section in help topic Tax / Additional Monthly Payment Master Code Maintenance for more details on accumulative versus non-accumulative taxes.) 

    The Selected so far field will contain the total percentage of the tax codes selected. Upon calculating the deal (on the Main subpage), then Taxes Calculated grid will contain the results of your selections and the calculated monthly amounts.

    If you need to calculate a tax off of a reduced base payment (because it contains non-taxable amounts), then you may override the percentage by checking the Override Percentage in the grid, and then entering a percentage into the Override Percent field. This percentage would be the percentage of how much of the base payment is taxable. For example:

    Base Payment = $395.47
    Tax Rate = 5.5%
    Taxable Portion of Base Payment = $110.73, or 28% (110.73 / 395.47 = .279995954)

    In this example you would go to the tax rates that have been marked for usage, mark the Override Percentage box, and then enter 28 into the Override Percent column. (You can also be more precise and enter 27.99960 if you want.) As a result, the tax will calculate as $6.09. (395.47 * .055 * .28 = 6.090238)


    Add-Ons Subpage
    This subpage is used to assign other, non-tax additional monthly payments to the deal. The most common add-on is a monthly reserve amount. 

    A monthly reserve typically reflects the profit that is built into the payment.

    An expense reserve typically reflects the reimbursement for an expense charged to the deal. 

    Add-ons assigned to the deal must have a corresponding Additional Monthly Payments master code established before they can be assigned to the deal. If there is not a corresponding tax code for any of the add-ons that you will need, press the Add AMPTax Master Code button and define them before proceeding. For monthly reserve and expense reserve codes, make sure that you define the master code with the correct options. (See the How To section in help topic Tax / Additional Monthly Payment Master Code Maintenance for more details on additional monthly payments.)

    Whether the add-in is taxable or not, or if will appear on a statement is controlled by the AMPTax master code definition.

    You will need to recalculate the deal on the Main subpage after making your selections on this subpage.

    Prorate Subpage
    For deals that have deferred the first payment beyond the contract date of the deal, you may have ALMSys calculate the prorated rental payment for the period between the contract signing and the due date of the first payment.

    The resulting amount will be added on the Charges subpage. (If you already know this amount, you can simply go to the Charges subpage and add it manually.)

    Follow the steps on the screen to calculate the prorated payment. There are two methods of calculating the prorated payment. The per diem method will simply divide the total monthly payment amount by 30 days, and then multiply the result by the number of days that the first payment is deferred from contract signing. The interest rate method will calculate daily interest (much like a loan), based on the interest rate provided.

    You will need to recalculate the deal on the Main subpage after completing this subpage.

    Other Subpage
    This subpage contains deal calculation options that do not fit a specific category.

    Sales Tax Fixer
    Some calculation programs use different calculation methods to determine non-taxable portions of payments. If the deal contains a non-taxable charge and ALMSys is not calculating the tax in the manner that you desire, then you may fix it here. Simply enter the desired tax amount, select the charge that is non-taxable, and press the 3. Click here. button. ALMSys will take you to the charges page, add an "Other" charge, and make calculated adjustments until the desired tax amount has been reached.

    Evened Out Principal (Leases only)
    By default, ALMSys calculates a lease as a finance lease. You may override this so that each month's principal is the same amount. This is much like how book depreciation is calculated.

    Am. Sched. Subpage
    This subpage will convey the calculated amortization schedule. You must calculate the deal before the amortization scheduled is displayed. Press the Print button below the display to print the schedule.

    Press the Set up Payment Skips button to modify the amortization schedule to allow for payment skips. See How Payment Skips Work for help in this area.

    XSellerator Subpage
    Only XSellerator users will see this subpage. It will convey XSellerator and ALMSys calculation data. It is primarily to be used to troubleshoot discrepancies between the two software products. If you find an error in the import process, PLEASE Print and fax this sheet to ALMSys Support so that the error may be addressed.

    Funding Page
    This calendar is used to specify the date on which the deal was funded. It may be different than the lease/loan date (and even in a separate month). ALMSys will use this date as the deal posting date and the first payment posting date (if a due on delivery payment is made).

    If you are balancing your portfolio based on receivables, then you should always set this calendar to the date of the first payment due.

    Press Next to continue.

    Names Page
    If you are resaving a deal, or if you are adding a new deal for an existing account, then you will be shown this page.

    This page is used to define the borrower and co-borrower for the deal. Follow the onscreen instructions.

    Press Next to continue.

    Finish Page
    This page is used to review the data that has been input for the deal. If the deal is a lease or a loan, then you will be shown a  Calculation Results panel as well. Review this data carefully.

    If you are adding a deal that has the first payment due on delivery, you can specify whether or not you would like ALMSys to automatically post this first payment for you. The payment would be posted with the deal posting date that you selected.

    If you are adding a deal that has the first payment deferred, you can control whether ALMSys bills for only the normal payment amount or for the entire due on delivery amount plus the normal payment amount. Normally, you would leave this as "No." However, if you are a leasing company and wish to track the total due on delivery amounts, then you would change this to "Yes." In either case, no monies are posted as "paid" for a deferred lease.

    Press the Finish button to save the deal to ALMSys.

    Upon finalizing the deal, you should review all of the screens in the deal maintenance area (on the main menu) and fill in the fields that were not provided by the new deal notebook.